A Week Full of Love

Grandma Jackie came back for a visit!

We got invited to our sweet Syrian friend's b-day party.  They had so much cake and a unique tradition.  Andree turned 4, so he had to cut the cake with Naiyah and him holding the knife.  And then, they each had to feed each other a piece.  I am not sure if we did not just commit to an arranged marriage:)

For Valentine's our sweet helper Ms. Marshall made heart pizzas for "Red Day" at preschool.

We got to make special crafts sent from sweet sponsors.

The number heart hop was super fun!

One of our sweet moms made us a pinata to break open.

Getting us all in the pictures was a little challenge.

Lunch was rice as usual.  But the surprise was lunch at WISE was red, pink, and white rice.

We got and delivered Valentine's from each other.

We served a special Valentine's dessert to widows and widowers.

Our students were great servers.

And Bro. Dave gave a great message on the history of Valentine's with Christians to end the great evening.

Ladies Retreat

This past week 2 of our long supporting churches were here from Bachelor Creek in Wabash, IN and Elizabethtown, KY to help out at WISE.  It is always such a blessing to have churches come see where they are investing, meet the students they are helping, and get to know them better as partners in this ministry.

And one of their gifts was their ladies speaker, Linda Mirante, who came to lead a retreat here for the ladies of St. Vincent.  What a blessing to be refreshed and strengthened through laughter and teaching.

We made banners 

and bracelets together.

These are my neighbors, moms of my preschoolers,

and sweet friends.

And they had brought 21 in their group, so their 14 men kept all the kids entertained while we met.

Several of the guys just rocked babies for the night.

Then we bused everyone home, which took about an hour as some walked far to get here.

And on the way home, the ladies asked if we could do this every month, I wish:)

Retreat in Trinidad

The team from Campus House and Brice went to Trinidad this past week.  Our retreats are 3 fold:

1. To encourage ministers and graduates in their ministries

2. To share through worship, messages, and relationships Christ and His love for us with the people

3. To recruit future students to come to WISE.  

Please pray for the people there as they serve and grow.

Starting off the New Year....

We started off the year with the Campus House group from MU coming in the last day of the New Year.  They helped so much this past week.  Rebuilding a fallen wall.

Building a new shed to hold supplies.  Ms. Marshall was so excited to see that so she doesn't have to help haul preschool toys everyday in and out.  And even more exciting was her news of getting married.

Pam and Dave Ferguson, our new staff couple, arrived!

The Campus House threw a big Mizzou party for the bowl game.

They got to help a lot with the flood victims on the leeward side of the island.

Having dessert and fellowship with students at our place.

Lance spoke at church about Jesus' love and showing that by washing the disciples feet, so in turn staff and students washed their feet to show our love.

Christmas Time at WISE

Christmas time anywhere is so very special because Jesus came to us.  And because some of our students are far from home and Holidays are hard without family, we always try to make Christmas so meaningful and special.  

For our kids it is a time of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

This year our Syrian friends asked us over for Christmas Eve.  They said it was just fingerfoods, so we all ate before.  And well, fingerfoods to them means you use your fingers, not just appetizers.  So, we were so full that night!  And we all had a good laugh over the mix-up!

Our kids together have a blast!

That night there was such stormy weather that ten people lost their lives on the island from landslides.  Many lost their homes.  Please be praying for these hurting families.  This view of us driving home felt like we were back in snow with all the mud and rain.

Christmas Morning we went to church and the kids sang a special.  Then, later in the afternoon we all had a big meal together giving the students a break from the Kitchen that day.  We played games.

Praised God with candlelight.

Felt like we were with family.

And exchanged homemade gifts with one another.

Merry Christmas!

One Crazy Weekend

Our neighbor's son got married this weekend.  Everyone knows them, so we figured it would be a huge wedding.  Counting our family and the bridal party i think there were 20 people.  But it sure was beautiful.  

Sweet friends and past student.

Lots of love. Pray for their lifelong commitment to the Lord and one another.

Ms. Marshall (preschool assistant) and her boyfriend Elvis were the wedding attendants!

Then, we went caroling with the students.  They passed out verses, invitations to church, and candy mints.

The students wouldn't let us miss any houses along the way.  They even made a sign for us to carry.

And the last event of the weekend was a fun party for all the kids in our local community.  Where we live just up the hill is considered one of the poorer areas, so each year "Toys for Tots" hosts a party for all the kids and passes out gifts.  They kids all put on a show for us.  

We got invited, and I have to say the past thoughts of college days before living on the mission field filled my head.  I recall putting gifts in the bins at Wal-mart for toys for tots.  But, I never thought one day my kids would be receiving one of them.  I felt like our kids have so much already and tried to decline, but our area kids insisted we come to see them perform. It was a new experience, and since it went past the 3 hour time allotment and was time for us to head to night church, we left before gifts could be passed out.  It was perfect timing that my kids weren't taking other's toys and also not having to feel left out.

A Night in Bethlehem

To see the program the students performed to the community several times please go to:

http://youtu.be/-MteweI_JIE