and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:21-24
I am teaching my first "class" this year and loving it, but there is so much more prep-work than when I just work one-on-one with students. I have 4 sophomores and 2 juniors in my resource Algebra class. While they each have a history of struggling with math, I am so proud of how far they have come in the first weeks of school. The beauty of this class is that the focus is on the students learning the material and not on their grades. With the small group setting and extra teachers working with me, these students are able to receive individualized support as they work through a subject area that they find challenging.
The academic support department at BFA is working to put in place individualized goals for each of our students this year. A colleague and I were able to put together a workshop on goal writing for the rest of the department, as we both have experieicne from working in special education in the States. Between this and helping two new resource staff members adjust to their roles I have been kept busy in my role as resource room supervisor.
I am excited to be co-leading a weekly, small group for 5 freshmen girls. It has been wonderful meeting with these lovely girls each Tuesday night and beginning to learn more about them. I had the opportunity to share my testimony the second week and then my co-leader Libby, shared hers the following week. The girls are now sharing their testimonies. These girls have hearts open to Christ and a willingness to share their struggles and hard questions with us. I am looking forward to watching these girls grow over the next four years together.
My one-on-one resource sessions have thankfully started out very smoothly. Most of these students worked with me last year, so we have a routine in place and a familiarity that has been easy to build on this year. While I am often working on building academic skills or tutoring in a specific subject during these sessions, I love the diversity that they can sometimes bring to my week. I have occasionally had the joy of learning piano notes, listening to a student pracitice an original piano piece, commissioning a piece of art work, as well as listening to the personal struggles of a student and praying with her.
Future Plans...
Black Forest Academy has asked the staff members for their plans for the next 3 years in order for to prepare appropriately for recruiting new staff. I have given my decision to stay at BFA and continue as the resource room supervisor. I am planning to stay with TeachBeyond as a career missionary. While currently, I see myself staying at BFA for a very long time, if in the future God calls me elsewhere, I will faithfully follow him there.
Side Notes...
I appologize for the longer period of time between my last update and this one. I was out for a whole week with the flu and it set back a number of things on my To-Do list. Thankfully, I am fully recovered now.
Over the summer, BFA closed one of the dorms that was outside of Kandern in order to move the students closer to the main campus. After doing so, they began working with local officials to turn the old dorm into housing for some of the refugees in the area. TeachBeyond owns the building and will be developing a program, not only to provide the housing but also to help these refugess as they integrate into the German community.
Please Pray...
For Christ to remain my first desire and my center in all my work, activities, and friendships.
For my grandmother, who was in and out of the hospital in the past month for surgery and then compications that followed. She is now back home but prayers for continued healing would be greatly appreciated.
For someone to help in my Algebra class on a regular basis after the end of this month. A retired math teacher, who is here for a short term trip, has been helping but will head home to Canada Nov. 1.
For wisdom as I guide new resource staff members in their roles this year.
For my sinus headaches to stop; this fall I have had more than I normally do.
For provision of the $200/per month that I need to be at full support; that God would move in the hearts of people and churches who are considering joining as finiaicial partments in this ministry.