Hope

This month we have been reading the novel Hatchet in my Intermediate Middle School ELL class.  For those of you who haven't read Hatchet, it's about a young 13 year old boy who survives a plane crash in the wilderness of Canada.  He is forced to survive all by himself with only the clothes on his back and a hatchet that his mother gave him.  While my kids believe the book to be boring, I find it quite intriguing.  

The main character, Brian, continues to believe that he will be rescued, which in return, gives him hope to survive.  I then discussed the idea of "hope" in someone's life and how devastating the absence of hope in someone's life can be.  Without hope in each of our lives, what is our purpose?

For a homework assignment I decided to have my kids answer the question, "What gives you hope?"  Their responses were interesting and I thought I'd share them with you.  Some of these students are greatly searching for truth and a constant hope in their lives.  Please be praying for them as we continue to discuss the idea of hope. These answers are all from the brains of middle school students.     

1. "It gives me hope by just thinking about all the good things.  And trying to be brave and stay strong. Trying to encourage myself.  And pray to God." 

2. "God gives me Hope.  I know that God is with me and that I will be protected.  Even when I'll die I would know where I go.  I would spend my life with God and I wouldn't be depressed."

3. "I get hope from my friends.  This is because friends help me when I had a hard time.  They make me feel good also when we chat.  They also make good memories because we played for a long time."

4. "My hope is found in my health.  This is because if your health is bad, you will die.  Being healthy saves you money.  Also, if you are healthy you can do more things."  

5. "My parents are my hope.  They help me with my homework.  They brought me to this school.  I'm really happy about it.  Also, my friends give me hope so if I am down, they bring me up again."

6. "My dreams when I get older give me hope.  I don't know will happen when I get older, but I think I will find new hopes.  I am alive to go to school, because I have hope that my future will be awesome if I study a lot.  I sometimes think that I don't have any hope for living.  However, I am greedy so I don't want to lose my life."

7. "My hope is the phone and my future.  My phone makes me do many things such as call, messenger, SNS, listen to music, internet and some kinds of connection.  Also, in my future I hope to have a great job."

  

What gives YOU hope?

Psalm 39:7

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

    My hope is in you.

Prayer

Good evening (or morning depending on where you are in the world) :).  For this post I'd like to share a few prayer requests for various events, conversations, students etc.  I know I have many friends that are prayer warriors and I THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your consistent prayers.  The Lord has continually showed his faithfulness and answers said prayers.  

Prayer Requests:

1. Leading a group of 41 people (31 students/10 adults) to Romania for a mission trip during Spring Break

2. We are still in need of a 7-passenger van to take everyone and hoping the Lord provides soon

3. Started mentoring and discipling a group of girls 

4. I have received many new non-Christian students in my classroom and hoping their hearts are softened to the message of the gospel

5. Decisions about the next school year and to be obedient to the Lord.  

Thank you and let me know how I can pray for you!  

Romania 2013

Last year I led a team of 20 students along with 9 other leaders to Cornesti, Romania.  We went to serve a missionary couple, Doug and Roberta Moore, who had started a home, River of Life, for abandoned women and children.  While there, we laid a cement driveway, a foundation for an addition to their home, leveled their fields and put on a kid's program for the children of Romania.  It was an incredible experience and I have decided to lead this trip again!

This year we are taking 30 students as well as 10 adults for a total of 40 people!  We have a lot of excited students and adults who are ready to serve these people again.  This year we have chosen a theme for our trip titled Not to us.  We were inspired by the verse in Psalm 115:1 that says...

Not to us, Oh Lord; but to YOUR name be the Glory.  

We want this trip to be about Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ.  We have a handful of non-Christian students that are coming and my prayer for them is for their hearts to be softened to the love of Jesus Christ.  

Our work projects will be a little different this year.  We will be laying some more foundation for some elderly homes, building a secure fence and putting on our kid's program again.  It will be hard work but we are excited to help these missionaries.  

Doug and Roberta Moore's ministry is based off of support and therefore money has always been an issue for them.  The Lord has continued to provide for them in miraculous ways which just gives more testament to the greatness of God.  However, we still wanted to help them as much as we could.  Therefore, this past Friday night our Romania team threw a Fundraiser Event at our school, The International Christian School of Vienna, titled ICSV's Got Talent.  Over 120 people showed up to our event and we raised approximately 1.200 euro.  Check out pictures below!

Our Romania team would greatly appreciate your prayers as we continue to prepare for this trip.  Pray for unity amongst the students, preparations would continue to go smoothly and for hearts to be softened to the love of Jesus Christ. 

 

I made my creative students make the backdrop during class

Some students who helped plan the event 

Girls getting Henna done at the Henna table

Getting our photo with the mascot

ICSV students enjoying the event

I work with such talented people

Middle school students who wrote, sang and performed their own skit

A successful event!  

A Sweet Reminder

A colleague shared this verse with our staff last week and I was reminded once again as to how GREAT this God we serve truly is.  In the midst of sin and tribulation, God continues to share his grace and love to such a depraved generation.  Never give up hope for those who are lost.  The grace of Jesus Christ is mighty to save all those who call upon His name.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.  Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:12-17

A January post that should've been in December

This Christmas I received the best present of all! Well, three gifts actually.  My family came to Vienna to spend Christmas with me!  We had a wonderful time touring Austria, munching on kepabs and Schnitzel, drinking glühwein whilst exploring Christmas markets, taking pictures, laughing and creating incredible memories.  It was wonderful sharing my "other" life with my family and allowing them to experience what I do everyday.  They even came to my school on the day they landed (jet lagged and all) to meet some students and fellow colleagues of mine.  Check out some of our pictures below!

Ornaments at the Christmas Markets

On the train to Hallstadt and Salzburg

Hallstadt

Showing the fam how to eat fish

David and I 

Acting out scenes from the Sound of Music tour 

Mis padres :)

City of Salzburg

Exploring the Salzburg Castle

:)

Sweet sunset on Christmas Eve

:D

David ran into some old friends in Salzburg!

Last day in Vienna with my family 

Created, chosen and loved

“You are the sons of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.  For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."

Deuteronomy 14:1-2

Füssen, Germany

Sometimes, just knowing that God willingly created, chose and loves a sinner like me, is more than enough to make it through each day and this life.  Today I am thankful for a God that will NEVER let me go and pursues me amongst my constant rebellious actions.  

I'm sorry I haven't posted recently!  More to come soon!  

Fighters

This school year I have the privilege of coaching one of my favorite sports to the High School girls, volleyball!  They are a spunky group of girls that I have come to love more deeply than I thought I ever would.  They are a group of 19 energetic, hardworking, crazy divas that keep my life very entertaining.    I am currently coaching both Varsity and Junior Varsity teams which has made for quite a hectic schedule.  In addition, I am required to take German classes this year and therefore our practice and game schedule has been greatly affected.  I, thankfully, have a great assistant coach and four captains who have filled my role when I cannot be there.  

ICSV Eagles

This year I really wanted to teach my teams a valuable lesson about Christ.  I was praying for these teams all summer and nothing was placed on my heart.  It wasn't until two of my captains told me that there were some issues on our team that needed to be addressed that the Lord placed the verse Exodus 14:14 on my heart.  "The Lord will FIGHT for you and you only need to be STILL".  (This is a verse the Lord has been using in my life a lot recently.)   I knew that the Lord wanted to teach these girls about being a fighter and knowing WHO is truly on your team.  

I was excited to pour this concept into the girls and to discuss this with the team.  We had a team meeting before one of the games and I told them that as a team, we need to be fighters.  We need to fight for our team, our school and most importantly, Jesus Christ.  Fighting on a team is not about being self-fish or having an attitude, but choosing to sacrifice desires in order to better the team.  And, when you are weak or feeling weary (Isaiah 40), to believe in a God who is fighting for you and you just need to be still.  I soon saw the girls take this concept to heart and to begin to play as a self-less team.  They were wise with their words, generous with gifts of encouragement, and respected the other teams through every win and loss.  

JV girls on their way to a game

While the Lord was showing these girls how to be self-less fighters, he was also teaching me how to be a self-less leader.  I believe the Lord calls people to be leaders in order to clip our wings and humble us.  I, too, learned that I am incredibly self-fish and depend too much on myself instead of the Lord.  I have learned to apologize to teenagers, to be patient after I've repeated myself a million times and was reminded that the soul of the girl is more important than the ability to play a sport.  Our season is almost done, and while I will be thankful for a break, I will greatly miss these lively, beautifully chaotic high school girls.  

Varsity tournament in Salzburg

"Don't be afraid.  Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

2 Kings 6:16 

Elisha the prophet to his servant when they were encircled by the Arameans.  The Hidden Army of the Lord, fighting for his people.