The Spring
It is crazy how time flies. So much has happened we can’t even remember when we last sent an update.
This year, so far, has both long and short at the same time. Individually and as a family we have done so much that surely, it can’t all have been done in (not even) one year! It has been amazing to see how God has used and protected each of us as we have done what God has called each of us to in this season - be it going to school or travelling and teaching.
Aleck has had so many opportunities to impart all that God has revealed to him over the years to others - be it teaching in schools or at Uniquips* or encouraging local staff in their own walks with God. It has been a very busy but fruitful time. In addition to the teaching side of things, Aleck has been working with his committee members to move the College of Communication into the next phase of development that God has been revealing to the University of the Nations as a whole, that is to move from a central governing structure to a more regional structure so that our university can truly reflect the peoples and cultures from every nation and bring it down to the people.
Mya has had an eventful spring term at school as she finalised the subjects she will be taking for the next 2 years. As she wants to be an animator when she leaves school, her subject choices are Art, Technology, ICT, Media Studies, Science, Maths, English and Religious Education. She was very excited to begin these studies, especially Art. Only have 8 subjects instead of 16 a week, it means she gets a lot more time on each subject which is very exciting for her - especially having more time to do Art. At the end of the school year, she was given an award for showing the most progress in her year, and she was given a leadership award for her contribution in a cross-border arts project that she was chosen to participate in over the course of the last year. We are very proud of her.
Micah has had a challenging spring. He has found it very difficult moving on from primary school and leaving his friends of the last 6 years behind. (He skipped his last year of primary school and went from p6 to High school as the UK prefers children going to high school at their correct age.) He loved his primary school and change has never come very easily to him. (He takes after his mother in that regard.) However besides this underlying challenge, he had a good spring. He went on an overnight trip with his class to an Adventure centre, and had a blast - banana boating, kayaking, bouldering, climbing rock walls and so on. This was definitely a hi-light for him. He also participated in an inter-schools football tournament, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
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The Summer
During July, we travelled as a family again, to Switzerland and Germany. In Germany, I was asked to run an Academic Advising seminar for the staff of YWAM Germany. It was a really great time. It was my first time running a seminar so I was a bit nervous. It helped I knew many of the people on the seminar, and I was able to get good feedback as this is something I will need to do more and more as our University flattens its structure more and more. During this time, Aleck spent time with Mya and Micah, which was special for them to get Dad all to themselves. An Island Breeze team were also staying at the base, and they put on a performance one evening for the whole town. They performed dances from different island cultures, including the fire dance which is my personal favourite.
After this we travelled by train to Burtigny, Switzerland, where we had previously lived for 5 years. It was great to be back and connect with friends again. Aleck and I tag-teamed the kids. He was teaching in the mornings on an education seminar and I was doing Admin for Tom Bloomer as he was closing up his office, in the afternoons. The evenings were great spending time with friends, swimming in Lake Geneva and having BBQ’s.
We then went to Wiler, which is in the German part of Switzerland. Aleck spoke on school here while the kids and I relaxed. This was a very rewarding time for Aleck as he discovered that this base, and the school he was teaching on were implementing his Creativeimagebeareres curriculum into the daily schedule, and other school leaders were also wanting it to be apart of their schools and were meeting with him to talk about it.
**FYI There are brand new Creative Imagebearers Videos for our online course at creativeimagebearers.com
Following our European trip, we parted ways with Aleck going on to the Uniquips in Chile and Colombia. (*Uniquips are seminars that are run to impart the vision of the University of the Nations to the people n the ground who are running the schools, and to give them the tools to do it, and a place where their voices can be heard.)
After an eventful trip with flights being delayed, changed or cancelled, Aleck finally made it, a couple days late, to Chile, and then to Colombia. These were amazing times of seeing God break through and transform the lives of the people on the ground who attended the workshops. Aleck has put together some reports below for you to read:
Cartagena Uniquip
Chile Uniquip
Aleck also went to Switzerland a couple of times at the end of August for meetings. He is part of a task force that is putting together the story of the UofN - encompassing all of our history, our present and the future of what God has called us to. This has never been done before, so it requires many, many meetings and discussions in order to work out what are the relevant, important pieces to add and what to leave out, and what it should look like etc.
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The Fall
September started with a bang! We had Mya and Micah going to High school and Aleck leaving for a month to teach!!
Mya started her GCSE programme, which means that she is now a Senior in high school, and the pressure is more intense, and the expectations are high for everyone to do well in their chosen subjects. It is also a learning curve because many of her subjects are coursework based, meaning she doesn’t necessarily write exams but has more to do with the projects she does throughout the 2-year period. Some will be due this year and some next year, and it is a bit more “random” than if you are only writing exams, which all happen at the same time at the end of the second year. So that is a bit of a challenge to organise. It is also easy to feel overwhelmed as the school has regular “tracking Assessment tests” throughout the year to make sure each pupil is staying on track for their courses, and enables them to work on weak areas early on rather than at the very end. It is a great tool but it can feel overwhelming.
Micah has gone into High school. He is a Junior and is having to adjust to a new way of doing school - walking between classes, different classes on different days, different teachers all with their own way of doing things, new friends, taking buses to/from school and so on. It is a challenge and for the most part he is doing really well. And is adjusting. He has put off playing football for a time, but is going to a youth group and the Scripture Union club at school. This is a break time club, which he actually quite enjoys. The biggest thing for him right now is finding a couple of friends that he can really get on with at school and out of school so the the doesn’t feel too isolated.
Aleck went to Kona, Hawaii to help lead another Uniquip. There were 250 people. And again, it was amazing to see how God can bring breakthroughs in such a short amount of time. He also met with quite a few people outside of the Uniquip meetings to discuss College of Communication-related issues.
From Kona, he flew to Canada for the first intensive of the masters in Team-Based Communication that he is co-leading. This is a 2-year, cohort-based degree, with a similar set up to the Masters in Christian Formation & Discipleship that he did. There are 4 modules, with self study, and 4 intensives at the start of each module. The modules are:
- Trinity, Community & Communication
- Technology, Communication & Research
- Intercultural Communication
- Team Culture, Leadership & Consensus
He is very excited to begin this, though it is a bit daunting as well. There are 5 other leaders on the team.
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Donna-Rae
As for me, I have been keeping everything running in the home, getting the kids ready for school - emotionally and physically and generally being a wife and mom. God is teaching me about interceding for my family - how to do that, what it looks like and so on. It is a challenge, because I look at my Mom, and see this amazing prayer warrior and instantly want to be like her, but I know that she has been doing it for most of my life, so I have a long way to go to be like her. I have to remember, “Baby Steps”.
My work continues to go well. With more Uniquips happening than ever before, there are more graduations taking place so that means more diplomas are being issued, especially in the developing nations. This is really great, because suddenly all these people are realising they have degrees with the UofN and can participate in a ceremony and receive their diploma. It is so empowering and rewarding for them.
With the UofN structure flattening out, it also means that we are making some changes in our operations, and so the team I am a part of have to brain storm and think through implications and put together policies etc to accommodate these changes. Thankfully it is happening slowly, as too much change is not very comfortable for me.
I also recently climbed Slieve Donard, the tallest mountain in the Mourne Mountains, in support of a couple of anti-human trafficking organizations. It was really fun - though my legs felt like jelly on the way down - and I enjoyed doing it. (The picture above is the view from the saddle - it was cloudy at the very top so no great views this time, unfortunately.)
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Prayer Points
- Aleck and the team as they lead the Master track - that they would work well together, find their strides and where they compliment each other, and that they would have wisdom as they work through the curriculum, and processing times with the students.
- Mya, Micah and I that we would have the grace to do all that we need to do and not be weighed down by his absence
- Protection for all of us as we travel - be it internationally or locally
- Micah - as he adjusts to high school; especially the emotional element. He has become very fearful, and we want to see a breakthrough in this area. We want to see him holding up the truth of who he knows God to be in him and to him, and that the truth of God would be his standard.
- Mya - as she adjusts to her new work schedule, that she would be wise in organising her time and balancing work and relaxation.
- For me as I learn to intercede for my family.
- For our finances. We are discovering that increasingly, Alecks flights are incurring extra fees such as buying food because the airline doesn’t serve food on a 15 hour flight, which is obviously affecting our financial situation.
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I hope you have enjoyed our newsletter. It has been an amazing year, and God has been so so good and faithful every step along the way.
Thank you for your friendship, prayer and support. Knowing you are standing with us and believing in us and what we are doing, is very encouraging.
We pray that God will bless you in all you are doing, and that He will give you wisdom and knowledge and grace for all that He has in store for you.
Blessings
Aleck, Donna-Rae, Mya Shae & Micah
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