Keeping up with the Joneses

Serving in Bolivia

through

SIM

Brandon and Jamie Jones.

August 13, 2008

The start of another school year

Well I guess the last time that I wrote it was just after the third quarter of last school year. But here I am at the beginning of the next school year. What happened in the middle there? Well its a long story.

First we moved to a new apartment (I will put new pics up soon), and our computer died shortly thereafter. So I wasn't able to keep everyone updated by my blog, but we tried to keep you guys updated by email. The end of the school year had lots of events. We had field days. That was a lot of fun. And we had the Celebration Banquet, A.K.A. Prom, with the highschoolers. We spent some time with the seniors at a overnight party, and had an end-of-year party with our tenth grade homeroom class (again pics are coming). Graduation came and went by so fast, and before we knew it, we were packed and on a plane to the States for the summer.

We arrived in Charlotte and took a few days to rest before traveling around full force. We had an ice cream social at Brandon's parents' house to share about our ministry in Bolivia. We took a week-long trip to the beach with Brandon's family. That was really hard work! :o) Next we took a long bus ride to Colorado to visit my family. We had such great times with our families, and because we missed them this past year, it was harder to leave them. But they are so supportive of what we do that it makes it a little easier. God has really blessed us with such wonderful families!

We spent the next few weeks visiting other relatives: my grandparents and aunt, and Brandon's grandmother who has been suffering with leukemia. It was great to see my Grandma, Papa Bill, and Aunt Deb; but it was an emotional visit with Brandon's Grandma Pauline, as this was the last time that we probably saw her. Please pray for Brandon's family as they go through this time and especially Brandon's mother, Marsha, as she balances the care for her mother in Indiana and for her family in South Carolina.

We also got to visit our home church, Redeemer Presbyterian Church. We met with our adoptive home group with Tim and Barbara Wagner (mentor missionary teachers who taught at Vienna Christian School). We also met with some of our church family for dessert and fellowship. At all the meetings we had, Brandon shared about our purpose and goals as teachers at CCS. He also shared about our needs at CCS (more on that later). He did a great job, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife. God has given Brandon a real vision and spirit for the work at Carachipampa, and it really shows when you hear him talk about it.

We took a week of rest and packing before we left. It was harder to leave this time, like I said, but we are happy to do the work God has in store for us.

Speaking of the work God has in store for us, we came back to CCS where a serious need for teachers was still in effect. We have had a few teachers respond, but the staff this year are really stretched thin. Most teachers have had to pick up 30% more classes to cover some basics, and even with that, we are still short in the science department. Brandon's and my teaching loads are listed on the homepage. (click here to view) We are going to need extra strength for this year as well as most of the other teachers. Please pray for us as we get started. So far with five days to go, we still need 7 & 8 science, 10 science, 11 English, 6 grade teacher. We believe God can do anything. I can't wait to see what He does for the school.

So as we look behind at last year (which looks like a piece of cake now) and look forward to next year, we believe God has some new things to teach us. Last year He taught Brandon and I to become better communicators, and to rely on Him and not ourselves.

I have a feeling this year will be an advanced course on relying on God.