New Beginnings

A change in routine.  That is what the past two months has been for me. It has been wonderful and exhausting all at the same time.  To explain this a bit more you need to know I started a new personal relationship last month as well as classes starting again this month.

We hope to share more of our relationship as time goes on, but this is the basics:
We both argued with God about each other.
Neither of us wanted to start a relationship just because other people said we would be good together.
On our first date we were already talking about this being a decision to love because we felt God brought us together for the purpose of marriage.
It's very difficult explaining us in a way that people understand because we aren't following the typical "first come love" pattern.
After just 2 weeks he officially proposed and I said yes.
We are living in faith and cultivating love for each other.
We both understand that God comes first and he is why we are marrying.
He is my new ministry partner because one of our confirmations that God brought us together is that our visions for ministry are so complimentary.
His name is Jun Apatan, he is Filipino, and he is a child of God.

I  hope to share more details about Kuya Jun throughout the next few posts, but here I want to share about the start up of new classes.  As I shared last time there is a new class on the beach front of the neighboring barangay.  It was a suggestion from Kuya Jun and it has been a big success so far.  The first week I had 24 students when I was expecting only about 6 or 8!  I was gone the second week and was nervous they would all forget and not come back, but I had 22 this past week😆  There are so many I might have to talk to the barangay Captain about using the barangay hall instead of the little cottage on the shore.
I also have a strong showing for my Thursday night intermediate class.  My Saturday morning ladies haven't returned,  but instead I have a small group of young girls that are doing beautifully with vocabulary expansion.  The Saturday evening group returned the first week with some new people as well. They didn't all return the next time, but the new people brought friends so it was still a good size class.
I tried to add a weekday evening basic class, but I only had one person show up and she wasn't really basic so she joined the Thursday crew.  The last classes are the new advanced ones.  We will meet once a month for reading and once for writing. I was prepared to start with reading,  but it overlapped with a trip to Leyte so we postponed the start to August.  The first writing class is in two days... I'm excited and nervous at the same time.
Overall I have had more than 50 student each week.  I've been glad to have Kuya Jun around to help and lend support.  He is my walking Visayan dictionary!  He can be a distraction at times, but also beneficial as a test subject for my activities and source for new ideas.


PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Students continue to return
2. Future expansion of ministry
3. Kuya Jun and I's relationship
4. Future building/projects
5. My furlough planning

Month of Relaxation

June has been a month of rest and relaxation with a bit of travel too.  I taught through the summer and most of my students were going to be busy with the start up of regular school so this teach decided to take a break from lesson planning for the month of June.  I'm glad I did!

I got to visit some new friends in Tagbilaran City and Panglao on the other side of the island.  I got to spend some days with my goddaughters.  I even travelled all the way to Manila to visit fellow CTEN missionaries. Then I spent some time meeting pastors from another Christian orginazation based in Cebu and Leyte.  It is nice to be able to expand my circle of friends.  I now have places I can go to take a break from direct ministry.

If you were to ask me which part of these visits was my favorite I could choose.  Each had it's blessing and renewing factor.   I have been feeling lazy as I go through these things so I am glad it is now July.  I will be starting classes again next week!  People are excited and I am hopeful for some new students😀

As of right now there is a vague plan for 7 class times they can choose from.  Two new ones are only once a month for my advanced student to practice reading and writing.  I will also try a new location for one of my Saturday classes.  It is exciting to think about how this semester will turn out because I was so blessed last semester.

Also, keep a look out for some additions to the ministry.  I am starting a partnership with one of the locals that will potentially lead to a new branch of supporting education for the local high school kids.  Sponsorship is a big thing, but we will be looking to see how we can physically help them as well as financially.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Classes starting
2. Future expansion of ministry
3. New partnership
4. Future building/projects