School days, school days...life at Shofar has taken on a new dimension with the beginning of the school year. We've arrived at the end of the first week of school and the total enrollment is hovering at 42 students. The students seem to enjoy the ciriculum and many have jumped right in to using their netbooks. In fact, the enrollment was slightly higher than expected, which meant that Tim & Sharon needed to take a trip into Cebu to pick-up a few additional netbooks for the students. We worked late into the evening on the first day of school to get everything set-up and ready to roll for the year.
The guys also spent some time wiring up the additional desks that were purchased to accomodate the increased enrollment. Fortunately, all of the desks are fully wired and nobody had to feel the lovely jolt that come from 220v wire (much).
We've also been able to prepare new blackboards for the school. Believe it or not, you can actually find chalkboard paint in the Philippines. Laura, Andrea, and Ben spent an afternoon braving the potent fumes of the paint in order to give the teachers a nice, quality chalkboard.
This Wednesday was also our last session with the youth group at Freedom in Christ. We arrived at church just in time to find out that the church had a brown out...which is an issue if you are counting on electricity for a video presentation. Fortunately, we were prepared with Plan B: a full battery operated projector, speaker, & netbook; so we were able to finish the"Keep Climbing" series, power or not. It was actually a really cool evening with the youth as we all gathered around a few emergency candles and had our final session together by candle light - something none of us would have thought to do. What Satan means for evil, God uses for good.
Today, we worked on some of the final projects that we have on our list and are beginning to make preparations for the next team. Among other things, we were able to paint the new CR so that it will have a better chance of weathering the Filipino humidity over the next year.
The guys also spent some time wiring up the additional desks that were purchased to accomodate the increased enrollment. Fortunately, all of the desks are fully wired and nobody had to feel the lovely jolt that come from 220v wire (much).
We've also been able to prepare new blackboards for the school. Believe it or not, you can actually find chalkboard paint in the Philippines. Laura, Andrea, and Ben spent an afternoon braving the potent fumes of the paint in order to give the teachers a nice, quality chalkboard.
This Wednesday was also our last session with the youth group at Freedom in Christ. We arrived at church just in time to find out that the church had a brown out...which is an issue if you are counting on electricity for a video presentation. Fortunately, we were prepared with Plan B: a full battery operated projector, speaker, & netbook; so we were able to finish the"Keep Climbing" series, power or not. It was actually a really cool evening with the youth as we all gathered around a few emergency candles and had our final session together by candle light - something none of us would have thought to do. What Satan means for evil, God uses for good.
Today, we worked on some of the final projects that we have on our list and are beginning to make preparations for the next team. Among other things, we were able to paint the new CR so that it will have a better chance of weathering the Filipino humidity over the next year.
We also have a new dog hanging around Shofar. Her name is LaMange (because everything sounds better in French). We're trying to see how fat we can make her before we leave.
Keep praying for us as things draw to a close for this trip; we're praying for you all at home. We'll talk to you soon.
Keep praying for us as things draw to a close for this trip; we're praying for you all at home. We'll talk to you soon.
8 comments:
Great update. It's cool to hear that the kids are excited to get back started. I checked google translate and it says that "la mange" means "eats". Probably an appropriate name for a dog in the Philippines.
So Ben, I'm guessing that you were told that you couldn't leave Shofar unless you were wrapped in plastic. hehehe I'm praying that you all make the most of what time you've got left over there. C-ya soon!
Good thing you had ny batteri[s] :)
awesome post Mike! Candlelight ministry...LUCKIES! I remember attempting to fatten up Fatty, gotta love our Shofar dogs..
That is so great that we were able to accommodate more students than expected. Praying for end of trip strength and looking forward to seeing your faces! :)
What kind of ritualistic dance is Laura doing?
Awsome to hear that the school has extra kids. Glad to hear they are happy to be back at school! Ben whats up with the outfit?
C u soon.
~Hartung
Thank you for keep'n us all posted - and all the photos. How exciting about having more kids than expected!
Laura D
I just realized that the Title was based on the Alice Cooper song. Hey, it only took me 4 days to realize.
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