We are only a few days away from school starting, and the last few weeks have seemed like a whirlwind. We have worked non-stop to make sure everything is ready, and I think we are almost there! We have one of our very dear friends, Jill Reese, arriving today to help us with some professional development, we are having an Open House on campus for all of the students and parents on Saturday, and school starts Monday! It’s hard to believe it is already here. We are all excited, but a little nervous as well. Keep us in your prayers this Monday and all throughout this school year. I know God has big plans in store for us, and this is only the beginning.
It’s hard to put into words just how many people have been a part of making this school come together. I think if I started a list of who all has been involved with this, I could honestly write for hours. From our friends and families in the States who have sent us countless amounts of support, to the multiple Dominicans who have done various things for us and helped us figure out how to make the best school in this country, to our students who have put so much time and effort into doing what they need to do to be a part of this school, to every member on our team who has worked tirelessly to get the school ready in every aspect possible...this endeavor has taken an army! Manna is beyond blessed to have so many people in so many places working together to get Manna Christian School started. I am truly humbled when I begin to think about every person who has played a part in this. I’m a big thank-you note writer, and I want so badly to write each one of you personally a thank you note, but it’s just not possible! So consider this my thank you. Thank you from all of us for your incredible, humbling support. We could not have done this without you.
I think one of the more humbling things we have experienced recently is receiving the large UPS shipment that was sent in with literally tons of school supplies! Desks, chairs, textbooks, notebooks, Poptarts (thanks Mom), pencils, paper, a copier, overhead projectors, Elmos, scissors, calculators, and the list could literally go on and on. We are sooooo grateful to everyone who was a part of this because we know how much work it was to coordinate all of this and get everything together. Specifically, thank you Laura Beth Lamb and Cassey Gibson. You ladies did so much work helping us figure out what supplies we had, what supplies we needed, and making sure the shipment got here. I am so grateful to each one of you. You are both true examples of what a servant should be, and I’m honored that both of you are a part of our team. Also, thank you, thank you, thank you to Cheryl Mynatt. Ms. Cheryl worked tirelessly to get us textbooks, desks, projectors, and additionally she sent me tons of wonderful resources to use for my math classes. I know she had a lot of help from wonderful like my mom, Mr. Lynn, Debbie Lusk, and Jill Reese, and I am sure there are countless others that put in time and effort to make everything come together, but Ms. Cheryl, you really outdid yourself and we don’t even have the words to express how thankful we are for you.
The shipment is just one of the many ways we have seen God work through people to glorify His name in this country. Thank you so very much to all of you! I cannot wait to write again and let you know about the amazing success of Manna Christian School. How do I know it is going to be success? Because God has already shown that He is for us, and if He is for us, who can be against us?
Two Daihatsu loads of supplies arrived back at camp late at night after several days of waiting for everything to get cleared through customs in Santo Domingo.
We had so many people helping to make sure everything got here okay and got unloaded.
Needless to say, we were all super excited and some of us were a little overwhelmed about the amount of stuff we got. I think Connor was the most excited out of all of us. :)
We weren't entirely sure where to start...
But we did have a lot of help!
We decided to start by just getting it all out and then organizing it.
Because every math teacher needs a huge protractor!
Finally organized and ready to go for school! These are all of the textbooks we received. We're storing those that we're not using currently in the front room of the Admin House.
Supplies for our students.
And even more supplies!
Our awesome new copier! I love making copies on it.
Connor was happy to get all of the supplies. He loves Manna Christian School. Thanks again to all of you who helped so much with this! We love you!
