I can hardly believe almost two months have gone by since the last time I updated! On August 22, school started and my schedule became very full very quickly! The week before school started, I did my first teacher training for the year, and then after classes started, I began informal observations that led to formal observations and written reports for the teachers. Additionally, we took the teachers to the beach for the day on September 1, and from September 11 to 18, we had a team come down to do construction and children’s ministry and a Women’s Conference! On top of all of that, the school administration threw a surprise birthday party for me on September 6, and in mid-September I moved to a new apartment!
The teacher training was held on August 14, and in it I presented some of the same ideas from the training I had done in April to remind the teachers about the importance of strong classroom management, including setting class rules and using a seating arrangement that allows the
teacher to move easily around the classroom. Many of the teachers have embraced both of these concepts, and the improvement in the behavior of their students is clear from last year to this year! The picture to the left is from the training as I presented a "sample" first day of school with some of the teachers as my "students." We also reviewed the school-wide discipline plan that we put into place last January to remind teachers of the importance of using the demerit/detention and award system, as well as to address any concerns or unclear aspects of the plan. Using a plan such as this one is a new concept here, so it will take some time for the teachers to truly adopt it, but they have been utilizing it. As well, at our “Welcome Back” meeting for the parents we explained the plan and afterward several parents commented that they liked the plan and were supportive of it!The other main focus of the training was to introduce the teachers to the Reading Program we started for the third through eighth graders. Over the summer a group of students who went to the Church of Christ Youth Camp in Grundy, VA, raised money for the school here to buy books for the library, and with that money, 140 books were purchased. These were primarily books of fiction in Spanish, including C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series as well as several other well-known works of children’s literature. The
picture to the left is of one of our librarians next to the books for the Reading Program. The teachers were excited about the concept, though books are such a commodity here that even the librarian expressed concern over letting the students take the books home! Despite their initial excitement, only a few of the teachers have begun using the program, but according to the librarian, the sixth grade students have been avidly reading the books, and this is encouraging.One of the things that I have to continually remind myself of is that change comes slowly – “poco a poco” as we like to say here – and that all that happens at the school and in my ministry is under God’s control, not mine. God has continually been showing me that my focus needs to be on Him and what He has called me here to do, and that He will accomplish His purposes in my life. Through various situations, I have seen God working and this has strengthened and encouraged me. I have the tendency to want to control everything and think that things are not good unless they are exactly as I want them to be (essentially perfect), but God continues to show me that I am not in control, and that He does a much better job of orchestrating situations and circumstances than I ever could. As a recent devotion taught me, I am trying to focus on working toward excellence over perfection and focusing on the positives in a situation instead of seeing only the challenges.
One clear positive was the day at the beach with the teachers! One of the pastors we are connected with here lives and works in Puerta Plata and each year, he opens up his home to allow the teachers a day of fun and fellowship at the beach. This was great time of building relationships with the teachers, and I was incredibly blessed by the day which included swimming, gathering shells, and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation!
For normal days, however, my schedule at the school has me there on Monday mornings and all day on Wednesday and Friday, and during the month of September, I used my time to informally visit all the classrooms to get an idea of where to start with my formal observations, which began on October 1. I was also involved in the planning and implementation of the two parent meetings we held at the start of the year as well as an
event we had for the parents to celebrate the “Dia de la Biblia” (Day of the Bible), which is a national holiday here on September 27. For this event, the students, directed by the teachers, gave short presentations about the Bible and performed dramatizations of stories from the Bible. To the left is a picture of students in first through eighth grade presenting the books of the Bible. I was excited when the sixth grade class decided to present a parable, as a few of the students in that class had been part of the Drama Camp, and they presented the parable of The Good Samaritan in a very similar manner to how we had presented the parable for the Drama Camp!Aside from my work at the school, I am continuing to teach English classes on Monday afternoons and Saturday mornings, and I also had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Women’s Conference that a group of women from Illinois came to do for the women here. This was the second year for the conference, which grew from 90 women last year to well over 150 women this year! While in the states we have many opportunities for conferences, prior to last year, the women we work with here had never had such an opportunity, and it was life-changing for many of them! This year, we started off hearing testimonies from a few of the women who had come the previous year, and I was inspired and encouraged by their stories! We then had a great time of fellowship, worship, and sharing – all centered around being an “Embajadora para Cristo” (Ambassador for Christ). Personally, I was challenged by the lessons I learned and renewed by my time with the women from the DR and from Illinois!
On a personal note, I was blessed and overwhelmed by the love, encouragement, and support I felt from the teachers and administrators as they helped me celebrate my birthday! The party itself was a gift and a blessing, as I was feeling a bit alone, and to top it all off, there was a wonderful cake and some very thoughtful and special presents! Through the night, God reminded me that I am not alone, and while I miss my family and friends in the states, he has provided me with a Dominican “family” here, many of whom are here in the picture!Finally, in the middle of the month I moved to my own apartment – another gift from God! While living in the ministry apartment with my roommates was a great experience and one that I am very grateful for, I had not realized how much I missed having my own space until I had it again! My new apartment is one street over from the ministry center and right next door to Jen’s – one of my old roommates. We took the apartments because we liked the idea of still being able to share resources but have our own space at the same time. Both apartments are pretty small – mine is the bigger one with about 250 square feet! – but they are new, and our landlady is taking very good care of us! We also know several of our neighbors, and while there was some stress involved in moving, it has been a blessing overall!
I am looking forward to returning to the states in November and December, and I hope to have a chance to see as many of you as possible! One of my focuses for my time home will be fund raising for my ministry as well as for the school, so as always, if you know of any churches, individuals, or organizations I could talk to, I would love to hear from you! Also, we are currently putting our schedule together for teams for 2008, so if you would like more information about putting a team together, please let me know!
As always, thank you for your love, prayers, and support!
Con amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine
