I Scream, You Scream...

...We all scream for ice cream -- and face painting!  Planning is coming along really well for our ice cream fundraiser on the 8th.  Kathy and I took care to make sure the ice cream was ordered -- including the traditional Good Humor type stuff and Italian ices, Flavor ices, and some Latino gourmet frozen desserts in tropical flavors.  Pastor Dave put in a call for us to borrow two tents, one for the ice cream and the other for the face painting.  Pastor Rich is getting us a long extension cord for the ice cream freezer, and Luis and Alba have been working on signs in Spanish and English, (see Luis' creativity on the left) and Theresa from One Accord volunteered to help us by offering to do face painting at the picnic.  We will have a tent set up for Theresa near our ice cream tent, and if there are any volunteers who would like to work the face painting with her, let us know.

It is a blessing to see the enthusiastic support and effort from so many to make this a success, with the ultimate goal of bringing the gospel to the people of Spain.  I marvel at God's goodness and His provision -- bringing the right people alongside, and seeing the way the Body of Christ functions as each one joyously does their part in the process.  I scream, you scream, not only for ice cream, but in shouts of joy to our Heavenly Father for the amazing way He chooses to work through us to bless others.

Ice Cream and Unanswered Questions

"Can people donate for your trip to Spain?" or "Do you still need support?".  I didn't spell that outright in my letter or blog, but lately I have had some people asking, so here are the answers to the unanswered questions...

Yes to both.  Each of our team members were asked to raise $1,650.  I am still pretty far short of the goal, and a few of my team members are also in need.  It is easier for me to give to others or to ask on behalf of others, and I have always been reticent to ask, even when I served two years in Africa.  I have been blessed many times over in the past to see God provide in miraculous ways when I made my need known to Him only.   But three things have been quickened to me lately, that have given the impetus for this post:  the questions from some asking about how to give, a recent conversation with Pastor Rich, where he chided me "You have not because you ask not." and something Wade from AIM told me when he was in charge of short termers when I was going off to Kenya for two years.  He said, "Don't make it too hard for people to give."

So, if it is on your heart to give toward the Spain outreach, and sense God leading you to help with my support, or for another of my team members, here is the info:


Any checks should be made payable to Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle.  You can put Spain Outreach Summer 2012 in the memo line if you like, but enclose a note or attach a Post-It saying which individual you would like your gift to go toward so that your gift will be considered tax deductible.   You can mail it to SGT directly at: 


Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle
Spain 2012 Missions Outreach
1 Higbie Drive
Smithtown, NY  11787


or if you prefer to send it to me directly, message me, and I will send you my home address and I can bring it into the Church Office for you.  


You can also help us by taking part in our Ice Cream Fundraiser on July 8th at the SGT Picnic.  We will be serving all sorts of ice cream treats and ices to the picnic-goers and will have donation buckets on hand it if anyone would like to give toward the outreach.

Summer break?

It has only been a couple days since the official beginning of summer.  School really ended for us today with a lovely SCS graduation ceremony.  It was short and sweet -- start and finish time within the same hour, give or take a minute or two.  Ends of things always are bittersweet; the sadness of a goodbye intertwined with the anticipation of the next opportunities.

Summer break has come with a sigh of relief.  There is still much to do at school -- wrap up, some more cleaning and organizing in the classroom, prepping for whatever repair and renovation and cleaning work will be done in the room over the summer, but many of the big things are done and that means letting out a big, long breath.

It doesn't mean a total break though.  There is much to do in preparation for Spain.  Our team is working on dramas, music, puppet ministry, outreach, and evangelism.  Some, like me,  are working on learning some Spanish, too.  The email, phone, text, and FB chat lines are abuzz with communication between team members as we make plans and get ready for the trip, which is coming in just over three weeks.  Only three weeks?   Wow!

So much to do, so little time...

End of the school year is always a race to the finish, but this year was especially frenetic with Spain preparations added to the mix.  By day there was grading to do, parents to message, end of year forms to complete, classroom to clean and dismantle, a gift collection for a retiring colleague and a recently married one to coordinate and shop for, a new automation system to be trained in and to find out how to convert our old data to, awards ceremonies to present at and attend, class parties to shop for and hostess, volunteer help to supervise, overdue notices to get out, faculty meetings to attend, overhead projectors and used books to give away, and website and social media updates to try to keep up with.  By night, and by "night" I mean often well after midnight, more of the day job responsibilities to attend to, and Spain stuff to attend to.  Keeping contact with team members -- some who stop by my library on their way through the building, and others who call, text, FB message, or email -- ordering Spanish/English bilingual Bibles for teammates, practicing my Spanish songs and vocabulary pretty much any time I was in the car, including the twice weekly chiropractor trips to Westchester County which is over an hour drive from here, coordinating an ice cream fundraiser to raise money for the team...it gets pretty busy.  Now that school is pretty much over (I still have some day job responsibilities to wrap up, lessons to teach, and website work for SCS and SGT to do) it should be easier with fewer things to focus on.

I must say it is getting more exciting as the time draws nearer for our departure.  God has brought some neat miracles along so far, including the permission for the ice cream fundraiser, and the willingness of so many to help put this together (a gal from One Accord ministry is offering to help with fundraising, and Luis is already making a Spanish sign for us to display at the picnic).   It is such an encouragement too, to hear that the people in the churches in Spain are so looking forward to our coming.  God isn't showing exactly what He has planned, but He is leaking some information, just enough for us to know that He has good things in store, things that will make a difference in lives, and have an impact for eternity.  The frenzy of activity can be tiring, but God is faithful.  How can we not be excited!

Me No Gusta Grammar

I am a teacher, yes, even a long time elementary teacher, so is it ok for me to admit that I don't like grammar?  Let me be more specific:  I have never liked grammar.  Let me say that in my broken Spanish: me no gusta grammar!  I have learned many of the rules at various times in my academic life, only to promptly forget them.  As kids and teens, growing up in a house with no t.v., my sister and I read quite a bit, and a pretty good concept of what sounds right and what doesn't became pretty well ingrained, but for me, the prospect of analyzing and diagramming a sentence makes my eyes glaze over.

Keep in mind that I've never formally studied another language with any kind of depth.  With the possible exception of some weeks of Kiswahili study at Trans Africa Language School back in 1991, I haven't given grammar much thought beyond the basic nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, adverbs, and endings covered in A Beka's fifth grade language workbook, which I had to teach a few years ago.

So what is one to do with such terminology as irregular and regular verbs?  Definite and indefinite articles?  Infinitives?  Participles?  Preterites? I am just getting the hang of the idea that an indefinite article refers to a general object (like a car or un coche) while a definite article means refers to a specific object (like the car or el coche), but the rest of that goop?  Gadzooks!  


I suspect that the more I can connect the rules of Spanish grammar to what I consider"instinctive" about what works in English, the better this second language learning thing will pan out, but I must admit that the grammar stuff is beginning to make a little more sense.  Who knows? It might even help me better understand what makes English sentences sound right or wrong.   Not sure if I will stop glazing over with the use of grammar terminology, but I really hope I get enough absorbed to better put together all the Spanish in my head to make comprehensible sentences.