Happy New Year! The Capeharts have now been in the Philippines a full year and we are still glad we came, although we do miss the rest of our kids (we have Angel with us, of course) and the grandbabies.
While our Christmas break was peaceful and uneventful, we cannot say the same for many here on Mindanao and in Davao. A strong storm swept through, and several lost their lives in other towns in the area during mudslides. Many people lost their homes here in Davao because of the flooding, including four of the staff from school, and most of the members of a local church of Christ near the river. Just before Christmas there was a devastating fire at one of the local malls, and 38 people lost their lives. One of them was a graduate of the school here and she has close ties to many of our friends and co-workers. She had been married just six months. Please pray with us for all those whose lives were touched by these disasters.
Our new Head of School who started with high hopes this fall had sudden and life-threatening health problems and had to leave Davao with scant notice. He is currently stopped in Singapore as his health issues made it difficult for him to continue flying to the U.S. Please pray for his health, his family, and their finances. You see, their new baby was born here in the Philippines and his paperwork is not yet completed so the young wife had to stay behind with their 2 month old and their 18 month old. She has been sick with a major ear infection. Wendi has been walking over to her house (about a 15 minute walk) most days to play with the kids, hang out with a little one while Mom has to run errands, and taking advantage of the chance to dandle little ones on her knees again. Because school is not in session yet, Bill has been able to take Angel to the office while he works on upcoming plans, and occasionally take the 18 month old to the playground at the school to run off steam for an hour or two, which makes caring for the little ones much easier. Juggling an infant and toddler at 55 is much different than it was at 35!
Bill is looking forward to this next semester. He is hoping to make some headway in the vocab / language ability of a sweet Korean 5th grader, and help a ninth grader get a better grasp on pre-algebra,and is working with seven students twice a week as English Language Learners (ELL). He will be working with those two students individually every day. Then there is another student with ongoing behavioral issues. Bill has heard the possibility of expulsion mentioned, and he is worried about that. He is also looking forward to helping teachers handle some students with behavioral issues in the high school and hopes to have more interaction with them. Bill also substitutes for classes for other teachers as needed and puts in may long hours at the school every day. In addition, we’ve started a weekly Bible study with some of the familys from church here at our house.
With the loss of the Head of School Bill will be taking a more active role in the accreditation process. Our principal has really been spearheading it, but relied on the HoS to lead a subcommittee.
Losing the Head of School was tragic, painful and difficult. FIA recently became independent from Faith Academy in Manila and had to create its own board, policies and all the legal requirements that come with that. Within the last three to four years we have had about four people fill that position, and we all hoped that particular kind of limbo was over.
The board is now looking for new Head of School. Please pray for FIA Board and leadership at the school.
Wendi's work supervising Study Halls has ended. She has offered to fill in substituting for the younger students' language classes as needed, and to work at the library any time they need her. In addition, she'll be working two hours a week with a fifth grader Korean student to help her improve her reading and vocabulary development, and she'll be helping two Korean couples on English conversation two hours each week, with the extra time planning that takes in between meetings. She hopes to find more opportunities to serve in this way.
We continue with our weekly lessons in Visaya, the local dialect.
We’ve been here one year now and each day can see more clearly why we are here. Our God has been faithful in sending us here and we have worked to ensure that we are doing what HE wants us to do while here. We would also appreciate some prayers for wisdom and direction as to what the Lord would have us do when we return to the U.S. We have several ideas- all of them just sort of wild and crazy and about as solid as a sand castle on the beach at the low-tide mark. We'll share more about them next newsletter!
We want say a special thank you to a family who would like to remain anonymous. We have known them over 20 years and have created so many memories with them. Because of their generosity we were able to spend an entire week at a nearby resort during this recent Christmas break. This is the first time that we have gotten away since we have been here, and it is the first real get away with just the two of us (and Angel) we have had since we combined a work trip for Bill with a two day honeymoon 35 years ago. It was extremely peaceful and refreshing. We give thanks to God for each of you, for we are only able to be here now because of your prayers and financial gifts.
Please continue to pray for us that He may use us to the fullest, in whatever way He deems necessary during this next year, and beyond.
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