February 2008

My dear friends in Christ,

What an extraordinary month! I knew that coming home now would present me with much colder weather. I had no idea that it would include every possible element – warm & cold temps, ice, snow, rain, wind and tornadoes! Not sure what God is telling us, but I, along with all of you, will be most grateful when spring arrives! As I write this article, baseballs’ opening day is 41days away! Yes!

It has been pure joy to speak with many of you personally and I thank you for your greetings and continued support during my furlough. I continue to be in touch with Grace International School and assist with questions as they come forward. Many of you ask about the status of the school and the village’s challenge of ownership. Here is an excerpt from the most recent letter from the superintendent.

GIS’ ANNUAL MONTH OF PRAYER AND FASTING

With this email we are initiating our annual GIS month of prayer and fasting (February 4- March 7 with a praise and worship time on March 8th). We’re excited to be bringing this to the attention of the GIS community because we believe prayer is powerful. We would like to invite you and our students to seek the Lord and pray with us in the coming weeks for some specific prayer requests.
God has given us specific gifts and talents and we need to choose to use these gifts and talents to further God’s kingdom. So throughout the month it will be a time of reflection and prayer seeking God’s direction and ways to making it count in our lives, our school, and our community.
“Making It Count” internally:
Property / new GIS campus
Spiritual and physical health of the GIS staff, students, and families
Financial needs for staff, property, and new building
“Making It Count” externally:
Our interaction and relationships with our Thai neighbors, authorities, and churches
Don Williams – GIS Superintendent

My friends ~ we all view prayer as powerful and we, as part of the extended GIS community, are encouraged to pray for the above school needs. Only God knows the future of the school. Our faith is relational and our prayers are important. Make them count!

With God’s Grace We Grow Together!
Your Wycliffe Missionary ~ Judy Long
If you wish to give prayerfully and/or financially, please write in care of Judith N. Long - Member #285852 to Wycliffe Bible Translators P.O. Box 628200 Orlando, Fl 32862-8200

November 19, 2007

My dear friends in Christ,

Today I received the Cherry Valley Messenger in the regular mail! As I enjoyed holding and reading that paper copy, it struck me how much we rely now on email. I rarely get print mail and when I do it is a big deal. The office staff realizes the significance of it and hand delivers mail to us. I don’t even get bills. They show up as e-bills through my online banking account. My goodness, technology is changing so many precious things!

Lest you think my nostalgia is creeping too much into my thoughts, I will admit that email is a huge blessing. I hear stories of missionaries who first served in areas like Papua New Guinea when mail took three months to reach its destination. No thank you!!! I doubt I would have made it through the first year!

Our church service this week focused on family and Thanksgiving. Each of us, adults and children took a paper leaf and wrote on it for what we were thankful. Each leaf was then taped to a branch on a tree. We had a leafy and colorful tree by the time everyone finished!! As I opened the Messenger, I thought about that tree and thanked God for your taking time to put me on the mailing list. And I thank you all for your faithfulness in this mission project. We are making a difference!

This Thanksgiving evening I will join another Wycliffe family for dinner. Then this Saturday afternoon our staff will sit down to a traditional turkey dinner and celebrate the many blessings that God provides us everyday. As you enjoy the abundance of God’s provisions, I encourage you to reach out to someone who needs the companionship of a family dinner. They are there if only we take time to consider them.

So, dear friends and family I have the following prayer requests.

Pray for the school’s relationship with the surrounding mubann. (village) A decision is forthcoming at the end of this month.

Pray that my financial support continues in a sustaining way to meet the basic benefit costs provided by Wycliffe.

Pray for safe travel as I come home for my first furlough December 21.

Praise for God’s provision that my previous year’s housemate, Beth is coming to cover the library during my absence.

See you all Christmas eve!

With God’s Grace We Grow Together!

Your Wycliffe Missionary ~ Judy Long

September 15, 2007
My dear friends in Christ,

As I approach this update, I thought perhaps you would like to know what we really do here in the library (Hong samut) serving the students of Grace International School.

Each week two of us teach library skills to kindergarten-6^th grade level students. I have the joy of teaching 4^th-6^th grade levels. We have 13 classes!
We open both libraries before school, during lunch and after school for individual, group study, and general checking out of books. Parents and teachers also are welcome to use both libraries.
The secondary library is open throughout the day for class visits and independent study. We are especially busy before school starts at 8 a.m.; at lunch time, study hall periods and after school till 4 p.m. when we close the library.
At the secondary level we support the curriculum with mini-seminars on Best Search Engines; Information Searching Strategies and Evaluation of Web Sites.
Altogether we have 11 volunteers, 3 FTE staff and 3 teaching assistants to make all of this happen.

In the midst of these daily routines, it is my responsibility to manage library services; order materials; prepare monthly reports; write curriculum; prepare policies; plan special events such as our annual book fair and prepare a budget.

I have shared with you what a joy it is to serve this school community. The students are bright and love to read. Many are bi-lingual and are able to read and write in more than one language. Their parents often have college degrees/advanced course work in the areas of linguistics and theology. It is my job to make sure we provide the right materials to support their reading and information interests. That is our challenge, a humbling experience and a joy to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this place!

So, dear friends and family I have the following prayer requests.

Pray for the school’s relationship with the surrounding mubann. (village) There are tensions in the relationship for a variety of reasons mostly because the school is growing. That growth causes more activity in a previously quiet and relatively prosperous Thai village.
Pray that I find the focus to work on my assignments for teacher re-certification.
Pray that my financial support continues in a sustaining way to meet the basic benefit costs provided by Wycliffe.

I leave you now with my book recommendation for this month.
Martell, Yann. Life of Pi. Random House of Canada; 2001. It is an extraordinary adventure of a young man who finds God through adversity.

Thank you always for your prayers and financial support this year. This is an awesome journey worthy of our Lord God in all His glory!

With God’s Grace We Grow Together!
Your Wycliffe Missionary ~ Judy Long