Use your god-given Talents and Professional skills to 去产生影响 为着福音的缘故

“My most memorable experience while working in Middle School was my first time attending Outdoor Ed at Taal, Volcano for a hike. I had the chance to be on the island, not only that but they let me be involved in the ministry aside from working in the office. I loved being around the kids in the school ministry, singing praise songs, and sharing the word of God through storytelling.”

“Although this year has only been my second year at Faith, it seems like two years has been such a long time already. I remember my first time meeting everyone at staff retreat. I was so shy and nervous to talk to anyone and only knew a few people that were working at Faith. I had just graduated from university and coming to serve at Faith was something that I felt God wanted me to do. I was just so blessed by how friendly everyone was and hearing how much they gave up to come to the Philippines was such a humbling experience and something that inspired me to serve. Serving here has been such a great experience!

I feel so grateful to have had the chance to serve in a school with such great people who I do not just call colleagues, but also dear friends. God has given me the opportunity to teach Pre-K along with Mrs. Tara Santos. She was one of the many people who set our working environment into one that promotes professional development. This was especially apparent this year as I earned my professional license to teach. I do not think I would have managed to teach a class and study for my licensure exam without the help and support of the people I work with in Elementary. They never stopped praying for me, encouraging me, and be there for me when I needed their support. I am blessed to serve alongside people who build up and edify each other.

Next year, one thing that I am looking forward to is not only seeing our kids move on to Kindergarten, but also seeing all the other kids go up a grade! It brings me joy to see how God allows them to grow and bloom each year.

Preschoolers have taught me that you can choose to worry less and enjoy life more. There’s always something to be joyful about! This may be cheesy but their smiles and laughter remind me that when we face problems, worrying won’t solve anything and instead we can depend on and look to God. This year’s group of Pre-Kindergartners will always remind me of that. Sometimes seeing things from their perspective can help you realize and learn a lot. And like what we always say in our class, “when something is challenging, put your faith in God and just keep going!'”

“The reason that I am in the Philippines is to serve at Faith Academy, and because of that, I get to live in this beautiful country! Getting to teach awesome students on school days and explore during breaks? What could be better?

我最喜欢的地方之一是在马尼拉外的Sagada。几年前，我和朋友们在马尼拉以北乘坐夜班巴士前往Banaue，只为了去探索吉普尼往返Sagada的最后一站。我们不想与山间美丽的梯田失之交臂，我们请求坐在吉普尼的车顶上，在狭窄的道路上缠绕并徊转，穿过寒冷多云的，点缀着美丽的水稻梯田的山脉，这是我做过的最令人兴奋的事情之一。我把它比作骑在一张优美绝伦的明信片上。

住在菲律宾并不意味着我只能在“山区或是海滩”之间做选择。作为一名狂热的浮潜和深潜潜水员，我爱上了巴拉望岛上美丽、平静、温暖的Coron水域。我永远不会忘记退潮时游泳穿过石灰岩下的缝隙，到达一个美丽而宁静的海洋湖泊。Coron是我最热爱的潜水体验之家！我曾和朋友一起潜水穿过一艘二战时期被鱼雷击沉的，侧卧在海底的日本船只。我们在不同的楼层和房间里进进出出，穿过鱼雷洞，花了一些时间欣赏占据船只的美丽珊瑚。潜水真是太棒了！

I will always and forever love visiting the island of Corregidor! I love the history. I love the jungle-hiking. I love the pier-jumping. I love the hammock-sleeping. I love the monkeys (but not foolishly so – if you know, you know.) Ever since my first Corregidor Outdoor Ed, I envied the site staff who got to ride their motorbikes around the island all week, and this his past Christmas, I was able to fulfill a dream of mine by renting a motorbike for a couple of hours to shuttle people around Corregidor island!

While these are three of my favorite places to visit in the Philippines, in all sincerity, my favorite place to be is in my classroom at Faith Academy with my amazing students – the entire reason why I am here!”

“In 1995, I came to the Philippines with a group of nine other of my college mates and one of our professors. It was to be a three week trip. For me it turned into nine and a half weeks. Faith Academy’s Middle School needed a Social Studies teacher, as the teacher that was coming still needed to raise support. I had just graduated college a few months earlier so I stayed and taught Middle School Social Studies. God used my time here to burden my heart for teaching at Faith Academy. I left here saying, “I will be coming back!” And in August 2000, I was back at Faith Academy.

I love teaching in Middle School. Middle School students are a mixture of crazy, fun, creativity, and energy. I love how our students will engage in creative thinking and be self-directed learners. There are many times I am just blown away with the work that my students produce or the deep conversations we have during discussions or debates. Middle Schoolers can “rise up to a challenge”. In one activity, I had assigned students in my Philippine Social Studies class a president that they had to defend in a debate as a being the better president. One the students that had a more challenging president to defend came back and said, “Thank you for assigning me this president. It really made think about the good things he did for the Philippines.” It is moments like this make me love my job.

The other thing I really love about my job is being able to build into their spiritual lives and seeing their love for Christ increase. I had the opportunity during Outdoor Education to pray with a student as she received Jesus as her Savior. This still stands as my most favorite memory. And I can still see all of the Middle Schoolers in our traveling group cheering when she announced her salvation at a bonfire. I have also had times to disciple other Middle Schoolers. It blesses my heart to see them long for Christ.

Middle Schoolers have a lot they can teach us. Middle Schoolers respond the best when you show them that you care, when you are willing to sacrifice for them. The more that you can show how much you care, the more they will respond back to you.”