Summer for us is over. We no longer have any 5Day Clubs scheduled, school has started back for the kids and Ross University has begun it’s new semester. But Fall hasn’t quite picked up yet either.

It seems most everything we have planned for the Fall ministry won’t begin until the end of September. So for the next two weeks we will be doing a lot of office work, support raising and getting ready for teacher training classes. We are also using this time to get back into a routine… Maddy has been a little difficult with having so many people in and out. I’m sure the frequent change is hard on her but as our days become a little more predictable I think she will be a much happier preschooler. 🙂

Although TCE (Teaching Children Effectively Level 1) classes don’t begin until later this month we still have some non-ministry related things to tell you about!

I mentioned it last week but… Sean is officially a college student again! He will be taking classes online with Moody Bible Institute to finish up his undergrad. Moody offers two 8 week terms a semester so his first class doesn’t begin until October. He will only be taking about six hours for each 8 week term. We are really excited about this even though we realize it’s adding more to our “plate”. But is there ever really a perfect time to go back to school?

The Graysons are leaving this week to visit their home in the States. They will be gone for six weeks which means Maddy will be missing her best friend Audri. Brandon Grayson does a radio show every Saturday so Sean was asked to fill in for him while he is gone. He is planning to do a four part series on why churches should be reaching out to children. We are praying for God to use this opportunity to bring in more church partnerships and volunteers.

Sean will also be preaching a three part series on the book of Philippians at our church Caribbean Christian Fellowship. So please be in prayer for him as he prepares!

We are attending a married couples book study this semester (When Sinners Say I Do) with some Ross students and their spouses. We are really looking forward to getting to know some of the other couples here and the opportunity to strengthen our marriage. Marriage in general seems to be under attack here. In the last two years 5 couples somewhat involved with CCF (Caribbean Christian Fellowship) have separated or divorced and adultery is fairly common among the locals.

The weather in the last week has been significantly different. While the temperature is the same, the humidity seems to have lowered. There isn’t a haze on the horizon like there was all summer and in the evening we can be outside and feel comfortable. We are hoping this will stick around and won’t be a fluke. We have about one more month to enjoy barren beaches before the cruise ship season picks up!

Here are some instagram pictures from the last week…

Mavis teaching at our Good News Club in Fig Tree

Maddy has worn a tutu everyday and carries her purse everywhere

Maddy riding her bike at the empty (for now) cruise ship port

Maddy and Sean on an ice cream date

Beautiful horizon without haze!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We truly appreciate it!

We loved having the Evangelical Chinese Church from Seattle here! Their trip was a little unusual in that we had never met them before. However, they were amazing people, worked really hard and reached many children in St. Kitts! (For those of you in CEF who remember Po… this was his church.)

They taught four 5Day Clubs, reached 289 children and 18 of them received Christ! They also fixed a house for a recent widow with children… one of whom attends the Grayson’s and Jones’ Awana program and also was part of a 5Day Club.

They made a huge impact on this tiny island and were also a big encouragement to us. They even took us out to dinner for Sean’s birthday and cooked us dinner the night before they left!

While they were here we experienced Tropical Storm Isaac… which turned out to be fairly uneventful for St. Kitts. We had some wind and a some rain but most of the action happened two islands south of us. For the most part, our 5Day Clubs weren’t much affected! The normally calm Caribbean side of the island though, turned into a churning sea that rose significantly! You can see how high the waves were as they slammed into the road!

We were sad to say goodbye but we did get an extra two days with Marshall and Kim Pennell and Jessica Ching (they coordinated the trip) because their flight was cancelled when Miami airport closed for Isaac.

After the Trip

The week everyone left turned out to be a little crazy. On Monday night Maddy put a bead in her nose and we were about to head to the hospital (which we try to avoid here) when she finally sneezed it out! Two days later she become so sick with a cold that she threw up and literally stayed in bed all day long. On Friday she fell out of her bed and hit her face on the concrete floor… she now has a nice black eye and a cut below her brow that will likely leave a scar. On Sunday Sean preached at a local church for their “Back to School Service” and this week he officially became a college student again! He is taking classes through Moody Bible Institute to finish up his undergrad.

We are trying to settle back into life. We realized this is the first time in three months we had more than a few days without hosting any company. It is taking some getting used to but with so much work to be done, I’m sure we will have a new routine soon.

Fall TCE Classes Start Sept. 25th!

Sean will be teaching a TCE class this fall in St. Kitts and next Spring we will offer one in Nevis. He only recently began advertising the class and we already have a few people signed up! It looks like we will have a good number turn out!

School already started back for the kids so our Good News Clubs will be starting soon too!

It’s hard to believe the summer is over… our time here is going by so quickly! In only a few more months (3 1/2 to be precise) we will be coming home to visit for the holidays, Lord willing, and a year of life in St. Kitts will be behind us…

To read our latest prayer requests click here.

Last week was a very busy week for us. Nathan left on Monday and for the rest of the week Sean and I taught a large 5 Day Club (60+ kids) by ourselves! On Thursday afternoon Marshall and Kim Pennell and Jessica Ching arrived in from Florida. On Friday the rest of their team from Seattle arrived in the evening. They were tired from traveling all day but they had no issues getting into the country.

Today (Monday) is their first day of ministry. They are teaching 4 5Day Clubs in the mornings and have a work project in the afternoons. They will be laying tile down, installing cabinets, installing a toilet and painting the inside and outside of house for a recent widow with children. She is currently living in a house with a tarp for a roof and the government has given her a house to move into… but it is nowhere near move in ready. One of her children will be at a 5Day Club the team is teaching this week!

It seems they will be able to reach hundreds of children this week and change the lives of a local family! We are excited to see all that God will do through them!

We would appreciate your prayers for the team and for us!

We also celebrated Sean’s 25th birthday yesterday! Even though things are hectic right now he still had a great day complete with dinner (the team took us out) and an Auburn cake. 🙂

We’ve been fairly busy here… summer is in full swing! We will say goodbye to Nathan in a few days and hello to a mission trip team from Seattle right afterwards! In the meantime between Sean, Nathan and myself, we have taught several 5 Day Clubs and seen many children come to Christ!

Nevis Clubs

The week after Nathan arrived he and Sean rode the ferry to and from Nevis everyday to teach a 5 Day Club. After Monday the club became so large they had to split the children into two clubs! At least three children received Christ that week!

Saddlers and Sandy Point Clubs

The next week all three of us (plus Maddy) taught a 5 Day Club in Saddlers on the north side of the island. This club also became too large and we ended up splitting the group into two clubs! Maddy really enjoyed being part of the club and she made a lot friends.

In the afternoons Sean and Nathan taught a club in Sandy Point on the far west side of the island. This club was a little different in that the kids weren’t really “into it” at the beginning. However as the week went on the kids became more excited and a few of them received Christ and others were assured of the salvation they seemed to already have!

Mission Trip Week

The Graysons and Joneses had a mission trip team from their home church in for two weeks. So Sean and Nathan helped a lot with the transportation and also helped with some of the ministry they did in Fig Tree. (Where our Good News Club takes place on Monday evenings). The rest of the time we all enjoyed getting to know them and hanging out with each other. Nathan even climbed the volcano with them and went down into the crater! It was sad to see them go back home… their two weeks here went by so quickly.

Stapleton 5 Day Club

Monday and Tuesday of this week were both holidays (Emancipation Day and Culture-ama) so the 5 Day Club turned into a 3 Day Club. Sean and Nathan are teaching in a place we have never really been before. On the first day, they started singing one of the songs and some of the kids began singing along and doing the motions! Apparently they were part of a 5 Day Club from last summer when the CEF team from Wisconsin came! It’s so awesome how the Lord brings these kids back for more discipleship!

The club is on the small side so Sean really felt like the Lord wanted him to give the kids something all three days. We had tracts and booklets for the first two days but nothing to give them on the third. Sean was confident that the Lord would provide… and He did! This morning Sean picked up a huge box of booklets about the life of Christ!

Next Week

We have one club planned for next week. Nathan will help teach Monday morning but he leaves in the afternoon to go back home. We have certainly enjoyed having him here and we will really miss him when he is gone. He has been a tremendous help for the ministry and has been a great friend to us. So for the rest of the week Sean and I will be teaching the club.

On Friday we will welcome a mission trip team from Seattle! They will be here for 10 days, teach several 5 Day Clubs, have numerous work projects and of course enjoy parts of the island in their “spare time”. 🙂

Other Interesting Happenings

Hurricane season is in full force! We’ve had a few tropical waves dump a lot of rain on the island and Ernesto skirted just south of us. It seems every week here lately we are watching to see what the next set of storms are going to do.

It’s also time for centipedes. We were told by our neighbors we would start seeing them in the summer and in the last week we’ve gone from seeing none to four! We even found one in our house! Yuck! These little boogers will sting and supposedly it hurts really bad. They can get to be several inches long too.

Our Bible studies are over for now because the Ross students are studying for their finals and then have a two-week break. When classes start back up we will be attending a marriage study with other couples. We will be studying the book “When Sinners Say I Do”. The couple leading the study have been married for many years (they are grandparents) and the wife is a certified marriage counselor! Sean will be busy with two TCE’s in the Fall so this will be the only Bible study he can attend and we get to go together!

Please keep Nathan in your prayers as he travels back to Oregon on Monday and please pray for the team from Seattle coming in on Friday. Pray for safety and for them to have no issues with customs in St. Kitts. Ultimately, pray for many children to come to Christ through their ministry!

Thankfully, the last week or so has been fairly quiet and normal. After the Redland team left we were able to catch up on a bunch of office work and enjoy some time together as a family.

Last Wednesday Nathan Johnston, our summer intern, flew in from Oregon. He didn’t have any issues with customs and he was able to settle in quickly. (After some rest from his all night flight). He is already a big help to us. He and Sean are traveling to Nevis everyday this week teaching a large 5 Day Club! It’s only three days into it and three children have believed in Christ! One boy in particular was so aware of the battle between his flesh and the Spirit that he told Sean, “In my heart I want to believe in Jesus but something keeps telling me not to do it”. He eventually surrendered to Christ and Sean could literally see the rest and peace come over him!

Nathan teaching at a 5 Day Club in Nevis

Next week all three of us will be teaching two 5 Day Clubs and the Graysons and Joneses have a mission team coming in, so we will be helping with transportation. I have a feeling it will be a very busy week!

Lastly, as soon as we returned home from our Good News Club in Fig Tree Monday evening the van started pouring out water all over our driveway. There was clearly a significant hole in the radiator. Praise the Lord, our van was fixed this afternoon and only cost us about $90 E.C. (a little over $30 US)!!

A member on the Redland mission team made a wonderful video/slideshow of their time in St. Kitts! We would love for you to watch it. The team was such an encouragement to us in so many ways!

Just click right here to watch the video

Until next week!