Another Rain, More Flooding & Loss at School

My phone rang on the way to school this morning and it was one of the mothers asking if we still had classes today. "Yes," I responded, confused why she would ask. Moments later upon arriving at the school, I quickly realized why she asked. Hard rains had poured down for around four hours the night before and the school had flooded...again. Unfortunately, the events of last June's flooding were not a one-time occurrence. School had to be cancelled and the kids and parents who showed up pitched in to help get the water out and clean up the mess. The hardest part was seeing so many of our precious books damaged by the water. The children put them out to dry and we are doing our best to try to salvage them, but many seem to be a lost cause. Some of the children's homes also flooded and one of our students, Emily, already lost her home this year due to the floods. It is the rainy season here until November, so there is probably more of this to come, but one thing is for sure... we are going to have to move what is left of our small library to the hallway on the second floor! Please contact us if you are interested in making a donation to help rebuild the library or repair other damages. As always, thanks for reading!

Visit to Quepos Public Library

On our class field trip to the library, El Puente students had the chance to browse the shelves and check out a book. It was the first time any of the students had visited the local library and they were excited to sign up for their own personal library card which they still carry proudly in their bookbags months later and pull out for show and tell! Our students have made leaps & bounds in their interest in reading for fun and the local library has an even greater selection of books for the students to choose from. However, due to lack of town government funding, the library is struggling to keep its doors open. If you would be interested in making a donation to the library, please email us and we will provide you with the information of the Save the Quepos Library Fund that has been set up. Book donations (either new or used) are also appreciated and will be shared between our school library and the public library.

Kindergarten graduation

Felicidades Ryan and Vielka!!

Last Thursday we celebrated Ryan and Vielka's graduation from Kindergarten! We are so proud of you guys! Great job!

Receiving the certificate from Teacher Dee


Vielka and mom enjoying Monkey Bread (their favorite treat!)

WHAT!?! I'm in 1st grade?!

Rainforest Group

Two years ago, this is how it all started. It is crazy to think about. I met Bill VanDyk when he was staying at the Villa Pelicano in Manuel Antonio. He was on his anual student Rainforest trip, and because Nicki and Logan Dykgraaf were on the trip, they stayed a few nights in Manuel Antonio...

Last year I had the chance to go on the trip with the group, and this year, the whole school was blessed by their visit. They came and spent time reading with our kids, learning songs in spanish, and praying for our school and kids. It was great to have them and see them catch the heart and vision of what we are trying to do.

Thank you for loving our kids and taking the time to connect with them! They will not forget you!


In the classroom... Singing songs in Spanish and showing off their English singing skills as well!

Bill... promising Nathan a Judy Bloom book :) He will hold you to it!



Above, Kai and below, Emily with thier reading partners!

Carnival!

For a end of the year celebration and fundraiser, we threw a small kids carnival for our kids! There were games, water fights, hotdogs, and lots of prizes! We had a great day (an answer to prayers!) and a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who helped us pull it off!




Diego by one of the favorite booths- the Pie Booth! Random people were "arrested" and had shaving cream "pies" thrown at their face... I, of course, did not escape...

After getting pied...

The girls ganging up on one of the mothers

Diego played sheriff... which included this spectacular stash and arresting innocent people (like myself) to get pied. I think I got him back though... I told the kids that every time they hit him with a water balloon I would give them each a ticket to spend on the games... thats how the water fight started... it was epic!

Below were some of the games we put together for the carnival!

The Duck Pond:

A carnival classic... each of the rubber ducks in the pond had a number on the bottom. Each number had a prize. The game kind of failed because the ducks kept tipping over, so the kids would look to see which prize they wanted and then would go look for that duck. But they had fun! Shortly after this picture was taken Ethan decided that he wanted to go swimming with the ducks too... and dove in!

The Dinosaur Dig

This game was for the younger kids... inside the sand box we kid about 50 small dinosaur eggs that had baby dinos inside. The kids dug in the sand to try to find them! Thanks to Diego for providing the "Jurassic Plant" and Janelle for her Paper Mache insight into making Dino Bones for decoration!

Paratrooper Drop:

For this game the kids went upstairs and picked out a toy paratrooper. They dropped it from the balcony and tried to get it into the red tub on the ground!

Look out below!!!

Fish Pond:

Here the kids threw a fishing pole over the board.

Someone behind the board would hook a fish that held a prize for the kid... the kids spent a lot of time in class making the fish to decorate it!

Face painting!

Johnny, of of the dads, offered to do the face painting and it was great!! The kids had everything from iguanas to stars to blow fish painted on their faces!

Sucker Tree:

Pick a sucker! if there is a color on the other side you win another!

This was a favorite...

Baseball Pitch:

Throw a strike! Johnny outlined this for us- it turned out great!

Bean Bag Turtle Toss...

Balloon Pop!

Throw a dart to pop a balloon... Also a crowd favorite

Can Knock Down

A few pictures of us getting ready....

the kids wanted to help... so they decided to paint rocks for the carnival with sidewalk chalk... great job guys!

Janelle working on the sucker tree... one of the many long work nights preparing...

Janelle Visits

Thanks Janelle!

Janelle Sievert, resource room and curriculum director at Zeeland Christian, came down to spend a week helping us organize our curriculum, train teachers, and do year end assessments. It was a joy to have her! Our kids fell in love with her at once! It was a huge blessing to have someone helping us organize and "finish well"... Can't wait to have you back Janelle!

The kids made a thank you book for Janelle with all their handprints :)

Group Hug!!

India

Friday Culture Day:India

Last week, for our culture day, we talked about the people and culture in India. Aleasha, who traveled to India through YWAM (Youth With A Mission) shared a little bit about the people, the language, the traditions, and the poverty she experienced while she was there. The kids had the chance to taste Chai- a typical hot tea drink that many Indians drink on a daily basis.

Ryan and Valeria looking at a picture of a student in India

A couple of weeks later, we were also blessed to have newly-weds Chad & Leanna Grindstaff visit us while on their honeymoon to share about their recent mission trip to India and their hopes to return there long-term.

Every Friday we take about 20 min. to talk about a different country. Because Quepos is filled with ex-pats, we often get guest speakers to come in and share about their home country and culture. I myself love the presentations, but love even more watching our students. They are fascinated by the pictures. They ask smart questions. They are engaged! They ask when we will learn Japanese, or share their desires to visit France to see the Eiffle Tower.

Students huddled around the computer to see pictures (a projector is on our wish list!)

Watching the students brings tears to my eyes. They look forward to Fridays. They know it is a day we talk about God's people all around the world. They locate all the countries we have talked about on the map, and they speak endearingly about the information they remember. They try to eat with chopsticks. They ask about the languages and clothing. They taste new foods and talk about how different isn't bad.

Christopher and Emily praying for children in India

Then at the end of each lesson, we go around the room and each student prays. They pray for the orphans in China. For the poverty in India. They thank God for Anacondas and piranas and they pray that they won't hurt anyone.

And they pray that all the kids in each country will know Jesus as their friend.

It is a little part of God's kingdom, and I am so humbled to see it in our students.

It is my continual prayer that these students will have an open heart for people around the world, able to embody the great commission-living a life that reflects the belief that their God gave his son for each and every person on earth and praying that people around the world would know the fullness of HIS love.

GO and make disciples of ALL nations...