Selamat Natal dan Tahun Baru!

New Pictures

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Let us first apologize for taking such a long time to update. Before Christmas break, things were extremely busy for us at school, and we have neglected our blog. We did, however, send an email update around Thanksgiving that we preferred not to post online since our students are able to access our website. If you have not received any emails from us and would like to, please let us know!

It's hard to cover a month of time in a short blog posting, but we will try to share the highlights! God has been doing a lot of great things at SPH and we are so glad to be a part of His work! Our students have continued to be responsive to God's words, both in the classroom and in counseling with Christine. Eric has been having some great homeroom times doing devotions with his grade 10 students, and has covered some good questions and discussion during this morning time period. Just before the holiday, Eric directed a student drama for the Christmas program, which went over extremely well with the parents and staff, and he has had many requests to do more as soon as possible! No doubt he will have a lot of help and support with the awesome parents of our kids, for the upcoming dramas for second semester.

I (Christine) have been extremely busy with countless activities with the school, including more counseling, substitute teaching for some of the lower-school grades, and seemingly unending editing projects. I have also been continuing to tutor in the dormitory after school, and teach piano lessons. It is so exciting for me to be working with such amazing kids everyday, and seeing them grow as God works in their hearts, as He works in me as well.

As for Christmas, we are in our 3rd week of rest from school, and are so thankful for some time off after all the busyness. In our first week of break, we visited Ancol in Jakarta, which is a sort of amusement park with rides, games, food, etc., and stayed in a nice hotel right on the ocean! We posted a few photos from our trip. We had a great time, and may go back again, since we didn't visit all the parks there, including a water park that looked like a lot of fun.

For Christmas Eve and Christmas day, we had parties with the other expats houses, and it was such a blessing to be able to be together and fellowship with our friends from Canada and America, who understand how we feel being away from our families at Christmas, and can share in our celebrations together. On Christmas day, we went to our friends Steve and Julia's house along with the other expats, and had a wonderful American meal complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie! We played some games and had a gift exchange, and had a great time just being together. Praise the Lord for good friends to share this time with!

Last night for New Years' Eve, We had a party at our house, and most of the expats were able to come. We made some good food (we sent Samini home for the holiday), and played games and hung out until midnight. Then, at 12, most of our neighbors had large displays of fireworks that we watched from our backyard. Some were even right over our house! A few minutes later, a huge thunderstorm began and added greatly to the noise, although, we didn't stay up much longer because we're not used to being up so late. Then this morning, I counted down again until noon, since it was midnight at home, but it wasn't very exciting.

The best thing that happened over break (in my opinion) is that Eric bought me a piano! When we first arrived here, we searched for months for an electric piano that fit everything I wanted, (full keyboard, weighted keys, pedal, etc.) but was a cheap enough price for us to afford. After giving up several months ago, Eric decided he really wanted to buy me one for Christmas, and sure enough, we found one with everything I wanted within our budget. What a wonderful husband I have!

Some things to pray for:
1. Mr. Gaylord has now officially left SPH and our new interim headmaster, Mr. Jim Rawlins, will be starting his position when school starts on the 7th. Please pray for a smooth transition for both of them.
2. Eric has a busy week ahead of him, preparing for our return to school and making lesson plans for second semester.
3. Our students, who are scattered all over the world at this point, for their safe travels on their way back here. Also for the dorm students, that they will enjoy these precious few weeks with their parents, and be able to have a smooth transition moving back into the dorm.
4. Eric's hearing aids are not working well at all, and we need to buy new ones, which cost about $4,000. This is a huge expense for us, and it may be a long time before we can save up enough money. Eric really needs these to be able to hear his students in the classroom, and it has been very difficult to have only semi-functional hearing aids for all of first semester. Pray that the Lord will provide for us, as He has always done in the past.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and our ministry here. We pray that God will continue to use us for His glory and His purpose for our lives. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as well as our students who do not know Christ, and desperately need to feel His touch on their lives. We hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a happy New Year as well. We would really like to hear from you; how you're doing, what you did for Christmas, and how we can pray for you too! Please write to us. :o)

God bless you!

In Christ,
Eric and Christine