The End of Another Year

The End of Another School Year

Another school year at Faith Academy has flown by.  I have now completed my first year in first grade.  I must confess that at the beginning of the year I was thinking, "What have I done?" The kids had no stamina for anything and it was so much work.  But as I look back, it has been an amazing year.  The children have grown so much and I fell in love with each precious one.  It was actually really hard to say goodbye to them on the last day.

One of the highlights this quarter was our Literacy day where each child had to dress as a book character.  Here are some photos:

The Cat in the Hat with the Fish in the Bowl.  

All of the class dressed as their book characters

Another highlight was a weekend on the beautiful Island of Boracay.  Okay, it became a highlight after we had completed the 15 hour boat trip sharing a sleeping cabin with 400 others, but that was an adventure in itself.  In my 10 years at Faith I have never been to the Island of Boracay, and it was lovely.

Saying goodbye is one of the hardest parts about being at Faith Academy.  The Faith Community is such a transient community.   This year in Elementary alone we are loosing 10 out of 19 teachers.  Some will be back after furlough but many are going for good.  I hate saying goodbye, but my life is always so much richer for knowing and working with these amazing people and having them part of my life even if it is just for a short time.  

At the end of year staff banquet, they always try and make the theme fun, even though there are so many tough goodbyes to be said.  This year we came as movie characters.

Unfortunately in April I got the really hard news from my parents that my Dad had been diagnosed with colon cancer which has also spread to his liver.  In early May he had surgery to remove the cancer in his colon.  It was one of the hardest things for me to be so far away when my family was going through such a hard time.  But my family did an amazing job of keeping me posted every step of the way, and so many people were praying. God has been answering those prayers and my Dad has made a tremendous recovery from that surgery. Of course there is still a long road ahead.  My Dad will be beginning chemo very soon.  

So even though I wish I can see everyone, I've decided to spend most of my six weeks home in Cape Town with Mom and Dad helping out where I can.

Mom and Dad

Thank you again for your amazing support and for your continued partnership in Missionary Kid education.  

With much love,
Wendy