A normal Sunday in Santiago... for me anyway :)

On a normal Sunday morning, I attend a small church about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. Sunday School/Church begins about 11:00 and ends somewhere between 12:30 & 1:30 depending on the day. The church itself is small, but the people are very friendly. Though I spend most of the service trying to understand the Spanish, I do enjoy and appreciate what I do understand. Thankfully they have a powerpoint that they use fairly regularly and that helps with my comprehension of what is happening. I appreciate also being able to attend with the Kunnari's. It's been a blessing to have them near, and most Sundays I join them for dinner. Their open door and hearts have been a big encouragement over the time I've been here.

Tomorrow begins week three of classes here at the school. Praise the Lord, I feel like I'm beginning to catch up a little on some things. At this time, I'm am prepping for classes from day to day and that takes up a majority of my time. But that's ok... that's why I'm here!

La Flor!

For the past week and a half of school the 7th and 8th grade Science class has been studying the reproduction system of a flower. It has been a very interesting topic to teach, and hopefully interesting to learn.



As we went through the chapter we identified, diagrammed, and constructed the reproductive parts of the flower. Then, just yesterday the girls got to see a glimpse at it from a real flower. It was fun to watch as they took the flowers a part and viewed for themselves the different organs. One of the girls got a little more into it than the others and decided to name each of the ovules she found within the ovary of the flower. :)

Science is very quickly becoming one of my favorite classes to teach. There is so much a person can do with it and it's incredible to see our Creator through His creation!

Kickoff Retreat...

Thursday morning began the Jr/Sr High retreat. The kids arrived here at the school at the usual time, but instead of going to the usual classes... they attended a retreat. This retreat differed a little from the last, simply in that it was held here on the school grounds. All of the guys stayed across the soccer field in the facultad for the ABWE Bible Instute, and the girls split up between my apartment and the one next door.

The theme for the 2 days was "Friendship". So many of the games and activities centered around working together as a group and building up each others strengths and weeknesses. Each of us teachers were asked to give a testimony regarding how the Lord used friendships in our lives while we were growing up. It was neat to hear how the Lord works.

I'm very grateful for the time to be able to work with and get to know these teens better. We have 4 new faces in the highschool this semester... actually, they're are new to me. All 4 of them have attended here before, but were either on furlough with their families or just weren't able to be here last semester.

Over all we have a pretty good group of kids here at SCA and I am excited to see how he will work this semester. I have already been encouraged by the attitude change of some from last semester.

First Day Back...

What fun to see everyone again! The school grounds were a buz long before classes started this morning... students claiming lockers, greeting each other in the traditional manner, testing out their soccer skills on the cancha, and other general mayhem abounded.

Normally on Monday morning (as well as Tuesday-Thursday) I will be teaching Bible first hour for the Junior High girls. However, this morning began with a miniature highschool instead. Immediately following the assembly I was responsible for teaching 2 hours of Consumer Math, 2 hours of Algebra 1/2 (long story behind that one), and proctoring 2 hours of Algebra 2. This will continue to be my normal Monday and Wednesday schedule for some time. Overall the classes went well and students participated equally well.


Thank you so much for your prayers! Please continue to pray for the upcoming classes and getting settled back into a routine of planning and teaching. My heart's desire is to be an example and minister to the kids here that God has put in my life. I don't know what the semester holds, nor even for sure about tomorrow... but I know the One who does!






2 Corinthians 3:5 "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;"

Back in Chile...

I have arrived! Praise the Lord for the safety He gave! All of the flights went smoothly and there were no difficulties whatsoever. The Lord even provided a little Chilean company for part of the way. Just as the flight from Denver was getting ready to land in Dallas, I discovered that the lady seated next to me was also heading to Chile and we would be on the same flight. So we chatted for a while and waited together during the layover in Dallas.

The airport here in Santiago was pretty busy this morning, but the workers were very efficient. I had my luggage and was through customs in no time at all.

Immediately upon arriving here at the school (a little before 11) I tossed my bags in my room, put on a clean shirt, and ran to catch the end of the teachers meeting. It turns out that they really hadn't gotten very far and I hadn't missed much. The meetings ended up lasting until almost 4. It really wasn't until about 3:30 that I started to feel pretty tired from the long trip and lack of sleep.

After the meetings ended Kelly and I spent a good amount of time catching up from the break. She also went with me to the grocery store to stock up on some items that I needed.

So now, here I sit... on my bed in my apartment... with my windows open and the fan blowing. Such a contrast from when I left my house yesterday morning and it was snowing! It is nice to be able to wear flip flops again!

On my way back...

I am so thankful for a wonderful break at home with family and friends. Now I sit in the Denver airport awaiting my next flight to Dallas and on to Santiago. I am scheduled to land in Santiago at 9:40 tomorrow morning Santiago time (5:40 MST).

Teacher's meetings are scheduled for Thursday and Friday... I may have to miss out on most of Thursdays... but I'm sure I will be filled in when I arrive. The weekend will probably be busy preparing for classes and school starts bright and early Monday morning.

I will update again within the next day or two... thank you for your prayers!

Short update...

Thanksgiving past a couple weeks ago now, but nevertheless I enjoyed it immensely. I was able to take a trip down to southern Chile and join the Chamberlands/Thompson crew for the Holiday. It was nice to have a little change of pace, and the fellowship was very encouraging! We were able to get quite a bit of work done at the camp, but had great fun at the same time! Monica Chamberland and I shared a cabin for the week which made it all the more enjoyable.

Ever since returning to Santiago from the holiday, time has flown! There is so much I could tell! Over the last week there have been a couple of Christmas get togethers, a garage sale, sopaipilla making lessons, regular classes... the list goes on.

With only two half days of school left, my mind is swirling with everything that I should or want to do before I fly out on Sunday. The last moments with my students will be the most precious... two of my girls will not be returning, but I'm excited to hear that there will be a new one joining us. Also, I will no longer be teaching the Pre-K next semester. I've learned so much from the little boys and will definitely miss them.

Thank you so much to each of you for your faithful prayers!