Close to the Finish/Start Line

There are five weeks left of school. Part of my mind is thinking, “Hallelujah! There are only five weeks left. I can’t wait for summer.” But another part is thinking, “Oh no! There are only five weeks remaining, and there is still so much I have to do or teach. How on earth did I fall so far behind my curriculum track?!” Are there any other teachers reading this? Please tell me I am not alone in this.

One thing that happened in April is my official commitment to continue with Kyiv Christian Academy into the future. Normally, any school is going to ask for at least a two-year commitment, but here, that is no guarantee. There have been multiple teachers who have come, tried their best, but did not make it through the year or, who will be leaving at the end of this school year. Even as the school is growing and the staff is growing, it is not for everybody.

New Classes

This year all of my classes were for combined grades. We had 6-8th, 9-10th, and 11-12th grades. This coming year, the middle school will likely be split, so next year I will possibly have 6th, 7-8th, 9-10th, and 11-12th. Because of this, my classes are currently on a two-year rotation. So even as I am trying to wrap up the classes I am teaching this year, I am beginning my prep for a set of classes I have not yet taught here at KCA (but thank God, some of them I did at Faith).

Kids Bible Class

This picture above is my 1st – 3rd grade Bible class trying to replicate Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting. They were each given one random disciple (or Jesus). Then they had to identify that disciple in the painting, sit in the right spot, and imitate the pose. It doesn’t work out perfect since we had 10 students instead of the 13 required. But it was fun. This past month we have walked through the Passion week to the Resurrection out of the gospel of John. One student recommitted their life. In the elementary chapels we will be doing the gospel in mid May and so please keep praying for these kids.

End of Year Activities

This past week, the high school students had their banquet, and then the very next day were the SATs. This unfortunate timing meant a few of the students skipped out on the banquet. I managed to chaperone one and proctor the next, but it is a bit easier show up the next morning for the SAT when you aren’t actually the one taking the SAT. This kind of kicks off our end-of-year activities, and we have a talent show, field days, family picnic, and the usual graduation & last bell ceremonies. With all this going on, I should be pulling my hair out. But fortunately, I cannot get a good grip.

Please Pray

1. For peace. While there is no major threat to the gas and power grid like there was this winter, there are still daily alarms and once or twice a week, significant enough attacks to keep us awake.
2. For salvations. As said, the gospel was presented in Bible Class last week, and will be presented in chapels in the days to come. I am looking forward to even more beautiful testimonies in the month ahead.
3. For the school year’s end. With all the business and busyness in the weeks ahead, pray that each of the teachers here will be able to stay refreshed and spiritually filled and focused so that we can all continue to keep the main thing the main thing.
4. For my summer plans. I am a month and a handful of days before the train to Warsaw, and from there the plane to NY. This will be the first summer since ’18 that I have been in the USA.
5. For my writing. I have been working slowly and steadily on my writing. Some of the fruit of that can be seen at TheRiverWalk. There have been an average of over 150 views a day here so this is ministry just as much as teaching. But it is one that will be difficult to keep up with in this busy month to come.

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