November Newsletter '12

Greetings,

Well the hurricane really made the headlines this month. We completely didn't see it coming. Emily wrote two really good articles from her realm of ministry as she serves as the 5th and 6th grade teacher, and as she has recently begun a "children's church" ministry in our fellowship. Finally, there's the traditional Halloween dress-up to Spanish Wells.

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The Hurricane From No where

Hurricane Sandy started out as a tiny weather disturbance below Cuba and I fully expected it would amount to little more than a tropical depression with a little wind and rain. Boy was I wrong! Even as it neared our island I spoke with the other staff members and we all agreed that it didn't appear strong enough for a full boarding-up of the school, and our principal barely made the call to cancel school… that' s how underwhelming Sandy started out.

Then as the winds rose I awoke at 3 am the night before the storm to see that she had increased to a category 2 after passing Cuba (normally storms lose power after making landfall). I immediately began boarding up the school with a hammer in one hand and flashlight in the other, I had run out of time.

Sandy didn't do any extensive damage to the school, but it made an enormous mental, physical and emotional drain. All of us staff members who live on campus had had our fill of the hurricane (even though we played around in some of the early high winds). Needless to say, clean up will continue for a few weeks, and nearing the end of one semester we're already worn out with this mess to drain us all even more. Please keep the school in your prayers and the staff as well.

Click HERE for the Sandy BEFORE & DURING article
Click HERE for the Sandy AFTER article

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Ministry and Service

Emily has been finding new ways of serving and one of her giftings is working with children. For years in college she directed the Sunday school ministry at a local church, and now she has started, for the first time ever in our congregation, a Sunday service that is crafted just for children.

Our church services can be long, and its difficult for the little ones to sit through the whole grown-ups service. We find that it is beneficial to worship as a family, but the lessons that children interact with are a different level than what most preachers are delivering on Sunday morning. So, once the preacher takes his stand, the children are dismissed to the fellowship hall for a service just for them. Emily does a great job with a fun energetic and Biblical based message that all the kids really enjoy.

She is also serving at Windermere in a much needed capacity as our primary 5th and 6th Grade teacher. She just loves her kids and they're doing very well. Although it has its challenges, Emily does a great job.

Click HERE for her article on Children's Church
Click HERE for her article on Teaching the 5th and 6th Grade

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Update

Well the month of October ended with Halloween and Micah made the best Peter Pan. We had so much fun with our friends Ryan and Melissa Yates and their little boy Isaac, who was a superstar football player. Spanish Wells is always a special place to visit and we're getting more and more positive relationships over there. We're just so blessed to have been given such wonderful friends.

November is our Spiritual Emphasis Week at Windermere and we have a special guest speaker coming in. Stay tuned for an update on that coming next newsletter.

I'm presently traveling to the US for a conference concerning our Bible College at Windermere. I have some amazing students and since its our first year conducting the school I thought it best to make sure I've got as much 1st-hand information from headquarters as possible. Its also a much needed break after the hurricane. I'll be spending Sunday speaking at my home church in Wisconsin and with my family, and then heading down to the conference later in the week.

Click HERE to see Micah and Isaac's Halloween Pictures

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Prayers and Praises

Praise for safety through the hurricane
Praise for our college classes and God's leading to expand the school's ministry
Praise for the avenues of ministry that God has given us

Please pray for all those affected and injured by Hurricane Sandy
Pray for safe travel for me during my visit to the US (it is hunting season and the deer are everywhere)
Pray for our students during Spiritual Emphasis that they would turn to God while they are young and would seek Him with all their heart

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Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and your involvement in our ministry with God's mission. To find out more about support CLICK HERE.

- Ryan Emily and Micah