We had an excellent retreat with our fellow ESIers in Czech Republic. Highlights include a real turkey dinner on Thursday night, lots of hanging out with friends we made in Pasadena, getting to meet some new friends (other teachers who were not in Pasadena), a talent show, and three times of worship and praise. The retreat concluded with a communion service that flowed into a time of prayer, reconciliation, and mutual encouragement. We are very thankful for the opportunity to worship together and pray for each other.
On Saturday morning we woke up and saw our first snow of the season, and later in the day some heavy snow squalls brought delight to some who had not seen snow falling before.
We really need times of retreating like this. While Jack and Cindy are (usually) doing well in Budapest, some of our colleagues are going through more difficult times of homesickness, living in spiritually dark places, and missing out on life back home in the states. One of our colleagues that we really enjoyed getting to know, Linda Palatinus, left her teaching job last weekend to return to the States. She had been going through a very difficult time of anxiety which was seriously affecting her health. Her husband Bill will join her just before Christmas. So that school, and ESI, must now decide how to proceed with two teachers leaving their positions. This is certainly a matter for our prayers, especially for healing and peace for Bill and Linda.
On Friday night the talent show moved into a sing-along, and one of our Christmas songs was "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (if only in my dreams.) We all realized that this time for many will be a Christmas away from home. Even though we don't have a count-down chain like Isaac and Kendra, we are so aware of how many days we have here before our reunion with family and friends in less than four weeks. Please pray that we will persevere in our work, especially as students (and teachers) begin to lose their focus.
1 comment:
you're right about that losing focus!
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