The 2015 Middle School Line Up

Can you believe it? We have started our third year at the International Christian School of Budapest this week! Some days it feels like we just stepped off the airplane, but it also feels really, really good to walk into our classrooms and have a pretty good idea of what is going on around us. Among the teaching staff there are several new faces on the middle school floor this year. While we can certainly remember what it is like to be in their shoes, now we can also tell them where to find the whiteboard markers and the good bulletin board borders and what that funky smell is. In fact, we are now among the veterans on our floor. There are two people that have been in their current positions longer than we have. The director’s wife at 13+ years and the music teacher who helped to open the school 21 years ago. It just goes to show that the turnover among the staff at international schools is dizzying and long-term teachers that can anchor the programs and students is key. Dave is excited to be teaching all of the middle school social studies classes plus a 6th grade computer class… so he can make the 6th graders cry twice a day instead of once. I (Jenn) will continue with 8th grade health. I will be helping out with expanding the health program to 6th and 7th grade students and working on the school-wide health curriculum review this year as well. The month leading up to the beginning of school has suggested that this year may be a trying and victorious year both spiritually and professionally for the middle school staff. Thank you for praying for us as we partner with you to impact third-culture kids for Christ! (Don’t know what at third-culture kid is? Check out our short video!)
Pray With Us Dave heard just this morning that after many promises, publisher errors and delays the textbooks that arrived in the Czech Republic en route to I.C.S.B. are not his new textbooks after all. The digital codes that he received in part yesterday are also incomplete. It is time to move on to plan B which means that despite months of curriculum planning, Dave is now weeks behind. Please pray with us that:
The Plan B textbooks will arrive quickly without incident.
God will use this disappointing turn of events for good
Dave will be given the energy, creativity and patience to efficiently pull lessons together without his original resources.
Please pray with us for the Middle Eastern refugees attempting to cross into the EU.
Pray for their safety and that they would receive the hope of salvation in Jesus as some hear his name for the first time during their passage.
Please also pray for the political leaders of the countries in Europe as they try to address this mass migration, protect the interests of their own countries and chart the future course of European politics.