GATE

It's summer now in the Philippines, and this summer has been filled with special events. Lots of retreats, trainings, and gatherings. I have been a bit overloaded on special events lately! What I am really in need of, now that the school year has ended, is some quiet uninterrupted days in my office, to organize things, to catch up, to clean off my desk, plan for next year. I am LONGING for some quiet days like that.

That is why, when the G.A.T.E. Seminar came along, I had NO interest in it. Of course I want to improve my teaching skills . . . but not this month! So I had to be dragged, kicking and screaming (so to speak) to this seminar. All of our IGSL Faculty were required to attend. So I did.

G.A.T.E. stands for Global Associates for Transformational Education. Their focus is on helping seminary educators teach more effectively for lifechange. It was GREAT! I learned a lot about how to effectively engage adult students, and how to motivate students to want to change. Now I am really excited about the next class I will teach. It was worth it.

But, I am still longing for some quiet days in the office.

Aaaahhhh, Rain!

Temperatures all week have been in the high nineties . . . these days you have to talk yourself into going outdoors to do anything. Some new students arrived at IGSL this week from India, and as I oriented them I found myself assuring them (repeatedly!) that it's not always this hot in Manila. I think I was just trying to assure myself! I told them it will probably be this way till June, when the rains come.

Then, suddenly today . . . it rained. Not just a little shower, but hours of fresh, cooling rain. What a gift! Love it!!!

It's been a strange week. Each day I thought it would be impossible to accomplish everything on my list. But each day God was gracious and I could see His hand ordering my day and seeing me through. The week included thorny personnel issues at work, praying with sick students, three job interviews, working on a talk for an upcoming retreat, English practice with two of my favorite students, eating too much Bengali food, and a trip to the ER with two-year old who broke his leg.

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The endless variety of my job is always a blessing. When one part makes me tired, another part always makes me smile. Tonight, the rain is making me smile. And whenever I think about my dear Michelle expecting next December, that makes me smile too (SOG with smiles). It was a tiring week, but a good one.

SOG with PIP

My mother used to carry around a small green photo album imprinted with the words "SOG with PIP". Inside the front cover it said "SOG with PIP stands for Silly Old Grandmother with Pictures In Purse".

On Easter Sunday morning, Michelle gave us the exciting news that she and Jim are expecting. They are going to become parents in December! Woohoo!!! We are totally thrilled.

I am going to become a Silly Old Grandmother! But I don't know if I will start carrying around a small green photo album in my purse. I will probably just post photos on my blog. I will be SOG with Blog!

IGSL Graduation Banquet

The end of the school year is always filled with events, all kinds of lunches and dinners and closing programs and evaluations and graduations. But I think my favorite event is the graduation banquet. It is a time of fun, of celebrating, of saying "You did it!" We eat together, sing together, laugh together, and mostly, take pictures together. Smile and say cheese!!!

Harvesting with Joy

At the end of every year, in our Partners in Ministry program, we hold a celebration luncheon to let our graduates know how proud we are of their accomplishments. Each year, a different Iron Sharpening Group (discipleship group) is in charge of the event. It's a great opportunity for the ladies in that ISG to learn about planning, setting objectives, and moving towards accomplishing goals.

This year my ISG was in charge of the luncheon. We had so much fun planning together, trying to create a program that would give glory to God and show our honor and appreciation to our graduates. It was a challenge for them to handle the various parts of the program, many of them for the first time. We called our celebration "Harvesting with Joy."

Our theme was based on Psalm 126:5,6, a passage that talks about planting seeds with tears, and later, during the harvest, bring in the sheaves with songs of joy. Some of the ladies even found the old hymn "Bringing in the Sheaves" and taught it to the audience. (If you know that song, I know you are probably over 50. Most of our students know songs from Hillsongs and Newsboys . . . but not the "oldies" like "Bringing in the Sheaves".)

The decorations were lovely, thanks to Bolyne and her crew. Bolyne has been working with me for many years now, and she loves to put her creativity to work in making beautiful memories for our dear ladies. After the program, everyone had to take turns posing for photos in front of the stage. All the ladies wore their national dresses, so that made the event even more of a great Kodak moment!

This is Boby from Bangladesh, in her role as emcee. She was wonderful!

These are the fifteen ladies who graduated from the Partners in Ministry program.

The Partners in Ministry Faculty

A Vietnamese harvest dance . . . so beautiful


This is Phailin from Thailand wearing her Hmong dress. She always has the most amazing costume.

Beth from the Philippines and Dina from Kazakhstan

Jenny from our PIM faculty with her ISG members Shova from Nepal and Trifosa from India

Ma-an from the Philippines with her ISG

Michelle from the Philippines with her ISG, looking lovely . . .

and looking wacky . . .

"Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seeds, but they sing as they return with the harvest." AMEN!

Achievers' International School

It's that time of year again, when we have to start saying goodbye. A few days ago we had the closing program at our children's school on the IGSL campus.
I am the adviser for the school, so they usually have me hand out the awards and do really important stuff like the closing prayer (smile).



It's always fun to see them do their presentations. They really are incredibly cute!

You can see that the parents think they are cute too. I think there were more photographers than performers!

These are a few of our teachers, and at the right is Vicki, who has been our principal for five years. I am so grateful to God for Vicki!

This year, a friend of one of our professors sent stuffed animals for all the kids. They lost interest in their medals once they saw the toys!

I really do love all the variety in my job! There is always something interesting, or entertaining, or inspiring. Or just cute.

A Born Teacher

My husband loves to teach! I always see his excitement level go up when he is preparing for a new class. This term, he has taught a class to our first year students called "Spiritual Movements in the Book of Acts."

This is the final week of class, then we start into all of our closing programs. Graduation is coming soon!