The first quarter of the 2024-2025 school has come and gone. What a wonderful start to a new school year. I, Jessica, have been able to pray for and with students, encourage them to look to the Bible for truth, and uplift students as they enter my classroom. Along with all of that, I have also been teaching them reading, writing, language, and critical thinking skills.
In My Classroom
Some of the best work that takes place in the classroom are the class discussions that happen. We have looked at some big issues in all of my classes. For the seventh graders, they examined what causes the lines of reality to be blurred. They recognized that others could lead us astray and social media could give us false expectations. We read several short texts together that led us to delve into this topic further. As a class, they recognized that truth and reality are found in God and His word. This never changes and we go back to that to assess reality.
In my eighth grade classes, our big units have focused on whether technology improves our lives or controls it and on why some people enjoy being scared. These topics led us to big discussions on the use of technology to improve our bodies and minds and if there is an ethical limit. Does God desire us to change ourselves when we want something better or is that telling God that He did not do a good enough job? Students seemed to come to a general understanding that technology in and of itself is not bad, but when used to take advantage of others, it is bad. Each time there was a discussion, students examined it through a Biblical worldview. Technology is a difficult topic to put into a Biblical worldview for them because the Bible does not directly discuss technology. The Bible does discuss dependence though, and often technology becomes a god that we go to to make us better and that is definitely discussed in the Bible.
For our second unit in eighth grade, we are looking at the horror genre which leads us to the topic of fear. We have just started this unit, but so far we have had excellent discussions. Here are the questions we have wrestled with: Has fear always existed? Where did fear come from? Do parallel worlds exist? For these discussions, students have a quick answer, but then suddenly another student will have a different view point from them and they are back to referring to the Bible. Fear, they recognized, has two different meanings. The fear of the Lord, they reckoned, has always been around, but fear as in being afraid happened after Adam and Eve sinned and they hid from the Lord. As for parallel worlds, many were very quick to say no because it is not discussed in the Bible. Then the question of heaven and hell was brought up and if these were parallel worlds. Students then quickly brought up spirits and the spiritual world and is that parallel world. Such great discussions and focus on the Bible are happening in the classroom!
GIS Community
As a whole community, we have experienced much loss this year already. Chiang Mai flooded twice in one week. Many friends and colleagues had their houses and organizations flooded with many of their personal items destroyed. Our houses were wonderfully spared during this time. We were able to help some people stay in a rental and we helped some family and friends clean out their houses. There has been much destruction, but the family of God has come together to help each other and others in this time of need.
Along with the flooding, we lost a student in a motorcycle accident. He was a senior at the school and had helped earlier that day to clean out a friend’s home from flooding. It was horrible news to get. Then in one week, two of our students’ fathers passed away. These are the most recent losses and have been hard on students as they deal with continuing grief.
We have been able to pray with and support these students. Many of the community supported by bringing food, showing up to memorials, and just being there to pray and cry with. It is amazing to see God’s promises and peace filter through these tragedies and it’s a unique experience at this Christian school.
Thanksgiving
Thank you for your support of us as we show the love of God to those around us and build young people up for the kingdom of God. We are thankful for so many things; a great school for our kids; amazing discussions with students about God; for all of you who support us through prayer and finances.
Prayer Requests
We ask for prayer in these areas:
- Renters or buyers for our house in Doi Saket.
- Elijah to have opportunities to share God’s goodness with his clients.
- Buying clients for Elijah.
- Jessica to be open to the directing of the Holy Spirit as she leads students.
- Wisdom for Jessica as she guides students to know the Lord and His direction in their lives.
- For GIS students to seek the Lord above all else.
- For our kids to find good community that encourages them to seek the Lord.
If you have anything we could pray for you about, please let us know! We would love the opportunity to pray and support you too.