Quick update November 2008
Dear friends and family
Just a quick update before I travel to the UK and Switzerland to be with family over Christmas and the New Year. l do hope you all have a peaceful Christmas and that you connect well, love well as you enjoy celebrating this season with family and friends.
Thank you so much for your support and prayers for the recent school inspection at KISC. The two inspectors were very thorough and asked so many questions and wanted to see so much documentation that I thought we were not going to pass. However. they wanted to dig deep to really see if we were as good as we said we were. They interviewed/grilled me most days, hours at a time with other staff and on my own. Also groups of children too. The outcome was amazing. They passed us with flying colours in every area and said we were the best school they had ever seen in the area of security and health and safety. A relief as these are my areas of responsibility. They were also impressed that we really did live up to our values of love, care and respect and could not believe that we did not need locks on the children's lockers. They saw this as an example of the level of trust amongst us. I was thrilled and exhausted.
After the inspectors left I had a night flight to Hong Kong for an international educators Christian conference. There were 1000 of us from all over Asian International Christian Schools. The theme this year was Quest for Excellence. Four of us went from KlSC. The main speakers were challenging and inspiring. Some of you may have heard of Phil Callaway and also Dr Gary Chapman (the man who wrote The Five Language of Love and Apologies). As well as many other renowned educators. The worship sessions were great too. So I feel refreshed and enlightened as a result, but still lacking sleep. (The accommodation we could afford left a lot to be desired 16 in a small space, bunk beds. not overly clean. you get the picture!). I attended many seminars on governance, leadership, best practice in schools, maintaining healthy relationships and more.
I am reminded yet again of the importance of our relationship with God and with others, how central this is to the Christian life and how good practices at every level of institutions can result in excellent relationships as well as excellent results. I will continue to encourage this at KISC and in my own life.
I am at the Hong Kong airpon waiting for the night flight back to Nepal. My flight has just been called. I am praying for those stranded in Bangkok at the moment. We could not afford the better flight through Thailand, I am glad we did not try.
Take care and with love
Judith
July 2008 Newsletter
Dear family and friends
Grace
Thank you so much for your prayers, support, birthday cards and gifts, e-mails and letters. I continue to find these such an encouragement. Since my last newsletter many prayers have been answered, I am continuing to develop as an encourager of people and God has provided me with a number of people to support, come alongside and generally look after me since my previous friends left. In fact I feel very loved and cared for by both family and friends living in and out of Nepal - a great feeling!
The teacher training programme has a new name. KISC EQUIP (Education Quality Improvement Programmes). The influence and impact we are having in local and national schools in urban and rural areas is amazing. There are setbacks and problems, yet, through the issues closer relationships are formed with Nepali teacher trainers and teachers who want to see education improve. We have employed our first Nepali teacher trainer called Bhupendra. Please pray that he will quickly feel part of the EQUIP team and enjoy training others to seek and understand the truths in all subjects and life in general. In addition, that Bhupendra will have the same aim as the rest of the team - 'To let our lives lovingly express truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly'. Ephesians 4: 15 (Amplified Version)
Since February I have been very grateful to my colleagues at KISC as they have extended grace to me. As you know in my last newsletter I explained how overwhelmed I was feeling in my role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KISC. I have made mistakes due to inexperience and lack of time to do a job well and with consideration for all involved. I have hurt people's feelings and not always been wise in the decisions I have made. I am, however, putting into practice the five languages of apology (like the five languages of love)! I have learnt through my mistakes and feel that I am finally understanding how to take KISC forward under its new organisational structure.
These last few months have not been emotionally easy. Many of you know both my cousin's son and my uncle died around my birthday. I went to the UK for my uncle's funeral and had the privilege of giving the eulogy for him. It is hard when you lose someone you love so much. I enjoyed being able to spend some time with my aunt, cousins, and both my sisters. On returning to Nepal though I have struggled with the feeling of losing too many father figures. Two of my closest friends, Michael Hawksworth and Peter Martin, who I see as father figures here, are returning to the UK this summer. Nevertheless, I know God is my father. I was given a lovely message from a new friend I have made of God who sees me and wants to cradle me in his arms, give me unconditional love, comfort me and heal my pain. He even wants to hold me when I have made a mistake, been wrong in my actions or attitude.
KISC primary and secondary schools go from strength to strength despite the lack of fuel, shortage of teachers, strikes and riots. The primary school will be bigger than the secondary school next academic year with 90 children in it. We are still having to turn away missionary children due to lack of primary staff. Please pray that teachers will feel called to KISC as soon as possible. This week we have the opportunity of renting a property adjacent to KISC which will provide the play space for the primary that we have been looking for. Please pray that we can rent this place as it is in a nice residential street at the back of our present building and not everyone wants a children's playground next door to them!
I am excited about the coming year and all that God has in store for us. We are preparing for another musical in September. We have joined forces with the American international school in Kathmandu called Lincoln to produce the musical. It will be 'Joseph and his technicolour dream coat.' This leads us into the theme for 2008-09. "You meant it for harm, but God meant it for good", which Joseph said to his brothers when he met up with them again. They had sold him into slavery but God turned the situation round to actually save his people through Joseph. When I look back over the previous year, the difficulties of the legal status, the mistakes I have made, the need to move KISC again and much more, we can see the good that has come from these events. I pray that you will also see and be grateful for the good that has come your way this year and also be gracious to your family, friends and colleagues.
Take care and much love
Judith
Prayer points
- Thank God for my new friends Jean, Laura Beth, Chandra and Helen
- Thank God that the new KISC teachers have settled in really well
- Thank God for his graciousness to us and pray for his help for us to be gracious to others
- Please pray that Bhupendra will guickly feel part of the EQUIP team
- Please pray that a spirit of grace, forgiveness and reconciliation engulfs this land
- Please pray that the asthma that I have developed this winter will be healed
February 2008 Newsletter
The need for encouragement in tough times
Thank you all so much for your Christmas gifts, cards, prayers, letters and emails. They continue to greatly encourage me. I am sorry I do not have time to personally thank everyone and reply to you all. The move of KISC has occupied so much of my energy. I have been feeling totally overwhelmed.
Updates from my previous newsletter
Teacher training
The second phase of the Tansen teacher training took place in January. Teachers had already started to implement some new teaching methods. The Principals promised to encourage them and provide the necessary space. (At the moment in most of the schools there are 50 pre-school children in a room 4 by 3 metres!. I met with the parents (about 500 in all!) and they were keen to see the changes we were suggesting take place. The parents and teachers realise a new syllabus/curriculum is needed. Fortunately Christine Stone, one of the KISC teacher trainers, has pre-school English books ready for the new academic year which starts in April. Anne Peters and her daughter Mandy Green (friends from one of my BMS support churches) came to help out with the teacher training and the primary section of KISC. I am so grateful for their practical support, help and encouragement. Their positive attitude to everything was a good example to me.
Our legal status
While I was away over Christmas a new board to govern KISC was formed in line with Nepali Education Law. My new position on the board is called Member Secretary. However, that does not mean I take the minutes! It means I have the work and responsibility of a western style Chairperson. I have just finished writing our new Constitution for the Ministry of Education. I feel overwhelmed as I have more than enough to do as the Senior Principal of KISC and to be the main leader on the board is difficult. I have agreements to write between our new owners HDCS and KISC, new policies to write e.g. scholarships, employment, governing procedures and more. The board is now much smaller, with less parents on to help me do these things. I am working on expanding the remit of the KISC Senior Management Team and Parent Teacher's Association to help me manage KISC. Many of the old board members have spent time praying with me and trying to help me complete the many tasks I need to do. Again the encouragement I needed to not give up.
New Site
The move went well before Christmas and miraculously the 4 open floors of the carpet factory were turned into lovely classrooms and a library in a matter of weeks. The hall is still being built so KISC is a building site. I had to postpone the beginning of school for two days to make it safe for the children. We have not managed to rent any land adjacent or near to KISC yet for the children to play on. I am very disappointed about this and, for a while, found it hard to drawclose to God as I was cross with Him for not making it happen. I did spend a Saturday with a few staff and many students clearing a piece of local government owned land near to the school. We had to dig out many bricks and stones, clear up dog and human rubbish and pick up the litter. We created a flat piece of ground that the KISC children and the local community can play football on. The KISC 5-a-side goal posts are on it and it is used most of the day. The community are very grateful.
Grade 6 Trek and Activity Week
I had a great trek with Grade 6 and all the Activity Week trips went well. Thank you for your prayers. My knees held out even though we were walking 15 to 20km a day up and down mountains.
Health
My health is still frustrating me. I have had a heavy cold and cough for 3 weeks now. I am hoping the warmer weather will clear it up. Over the last month I have never been so cold in Nepal before. A combination of cloudy weather and no diesel, kerosene, petrol or electricity to power heaters in KISC or at home is, I am sure, the cause of my cold/cough.
Conclusion
God has been teaching me the importance of encouragement when things are tough. Without your and other people's encouragement I would have given up and come home. When things are tough I need to ask Him and others to help me, to be honest that I am not coping and that I am feeling overwhelmed. I need to allow others to practically help and support me. I need to also encourage others, by asking them to honestly tell me how they are doing. To, like Barnabus did with Saul/Paul in Acts, believe in the potential of others such as the students and staff, to not give up on them, to encourage them to grow and learn.
Prayers
1. Thank God for the tranformation of the 6 schools we are working in, in Tansen. To pray that the desire to improve the education in that area will continue.
2. To pray that Christine Stone's math books will be ready for April.
3. To thank God for the new site and great Activity Week we had.
4. Thank God for the 7 new secondary staff who have arrived in Nepal. Pray that their transition and settling in will go well. Pray for more primary staff and teacher trainers.
5. Thank God for the encouragement I have received and that I would continue to be an encourager to others too.
6. Pray that I find new friends to hold me accountable. Dr Rachel and her family have left Nepal and returned to Scotland. My other accountability partner Renee, has also left to return to the States.
Thursday 19 January 2012
Thursday 19 January 2012