February is past now and we are coming to the end of another quarter in one week. February was a busy month for us. The first week of February was the middle school week of Outdoor Education. We took the entire middle school plus several squads from outside schools to focus on World War II history, ecology, plus a focus on ministry. Walter was the site leader at the beach and I was the camp nurse. The first day was spent traveling to two memorials to the Bataan Death March and remembering those who fought valiantly for freedom. At the main camp, the focus was ministering to a local school, giving the gospel and playing with the students. (These last weeks at school, our students have also been raising money to cement the courtyard of the school.) At the beach site, they played a game emphasizing truths in the Christian life and also learning about sea turtles and how to protect them as well as having the privilege of releasing some babies into the sea. At the island site, they toured the island in the morning, learning how important this small island was in WW II, and then they explored the island on various hikes in the afternoon. Each night, there was a chapel speaker with a challenge to grow in their daily walk with God. We were also thankful that it was a relatively safe time with only a few sicknesses. There was one injury just 10 minutes before one of the outside groups was leaving, resulting in a broken arm, which we were able to splint before travel.
Walter had one week to prepare himself for another trip. The girls’ varsity basketball team had a tournament in Japan with 14 other schools in the Far East, mostly Department of Defense schools. They had 2 games during that week to prepare themselves for the tournament, one happened right after Walter returned from Outdoor Ed. Juliana went with Walter to Japan. That week did not turn out as he had hoped. During the second quarter of their second game, Juliana dislocated her knee and was out for the rest of the tournament. It was hard for the team
to lose one of their starters (the tallest on our team needed for rebounding and defense). We were thankful that Walter was there and able to go with her to the hospital. The girls did have a chance to share their faith with the teams they played and give out gospel bracelets. Several other parents and players asked for a bracelet as well. Even though it was not the ending we would have liked, we know that God was not surprised and we believe that He was glorified in the actions of our girls.
Thank you so much for your prayers during this busy month. We are thankful to minster here at Faith Academy, blessed by people supporting us through prayer.