Juliana and her group of friends in NHS

We have again let too much time pass by between letters.  It is hard to believe that we have 4 weeks of school left.  We have finished with sports seasons for this year, but there is enough on our plates to keep us busy.

To recap since our last letter, the girls’ basketball team did very well in their tournament in Guam.  They had some good games and didn’t lose any until the final championship game against Seoul American.  The girls played hard and took second.  They also had fun making friends with girls from the other teams.  After getting back from Guam, Juliana decided to try Track and Field this year.  She focused on field events: discus and shot put and long jump.  She came in the middle of the training and missed the first 2 meets, but did very well considering the short amount of time to train and had fun.  Another of Juliana’s achievements this year was being accepted into the National Honor Society.  We are proud of her.

The girls are getting busy now with end of the year projects as well as performances.  Next week is the girls’ final piano recital.  Juliana is working on a biology project and attempting to grow a tomato plant in a bucket upside down.  She will need to do something with it in regards to the community as well.  The end of this month will be finals for the high school.  Next week, Abby will shadow a 6^th grade student and see what middle school is like.  It is also hot season now and difficult to maintain our energy and focus.

Walt has been very busy with scheduling for next year and other administrative things.  He will also be going with the 8^th graders on a retreat this weekend.  Please pray for that.  He has also been busy as a counselor in a not so fun way.  He would appreciate your prayers for wisdom.

We have had a few opportunities to visit with our boys on Skype and that has been fun.  They are doing well and it looks like they have jobs lined up for them this summer.  Paul enjoyed traveling with the college choir and singing in various churches in the upper Midwest.  He also played his trumpet for one of the songs.  We got to see his performance in one church online.  Continue to pray for them and their finances.  They are done next week with classes.

Thank you for your continued prayer for us and our ministry at Faith Academy.  Your prayers and financial giving are a blessing, enabling us to stay on the field.  Continue to uphold the staffing needs for next year.  There are many holes to fill.  You can check out the needs at www.faith.edu.ph.

In Christ,

Cheryl for all the Spicers

Our family at the beach

We are 1 1/2 weeks into our 3rd quarter.  This is our busiest quarter with basketball tournaments, talent night for the junior class (of which Ashley is an officer) and outdoor education week.  Walter has been busy planning all the details for outdoor ed.  He has made several trips down to the volcano, the town and the camp, meeting with people and checking out the facilities.  He still has another one to arrange transportation.  Many people are involved to organize their part, and the middle school students have been divided into their squads.  The squads have been meeting and preparing as well.  Please be in prayer for this week, February 7-11, for all the logistics, safety, good learning experience as well as the speakers for the chapels each night.  Pray for a time of spiritual growth for these kids and for their squad leaders to be sensitive to them.

Juliana and Ashley have been busy with basketball, as well as Walter.  They have had a few games since school started, some tough college teams and some not as tough.  Walter has been thankful for his co-coach who has helped him out when he was not able to be at practice or a game.

Abby is enjoying her 5th grade class.  It is hard to believe that this is her last year in elementary.  She is busy with piano lessons like her sisters as well as her friends. 

I continue to work in the health office.  Last week we completed the health screening for the elementary students.  The nurses were also invited to a lecture on dermatology by another international school here in Manila.  It was a good refresher for us nurses.  The week of outdoor education, I will go along as the camp nurse.  Right now I am preparing the first aid kits.

We were able to Skype our boys a few times during the Christmas break.  It was so good to see them through the webcam on the computer and talk to them.  They enjoyed being together with family during the break.  They were able to spend time with both my family and Walter’s family.  They are both still looking for jobs while in college.  Paul doesn’t have vehicle so it is more of a challenge for him.  He also has a new roommate so is making adjustments there as well.

 Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family and our ministries.  Please also pray for our mission to finish the paperwork on our helicopter that will service our missionaries on the island of Luzon.  It is still in process.  Pray also for more staff for next school year.  There are many positions that need to be filled as teachers leave for one year or are finishing their assignment here.

In Christ,

Cheryl for the Spicers

Juliana blocking the ball

We are now two thirds through the first quarter at school.  We had a great start even with the missing staff.  Praise the Lord that three of the staff families are here.  We are still waiting for about four more staff to finish raising their support and come help us.

 Ashley and Juliana got involved right away with the first season sports.  

Ashley playing defense

Juliana had a tough time deciding between soccer and volleyball (as soccer changed from 3rd season to 1st season).  She chose volleyball and made the varsity team.  She doesn’t play as much (though she did get a chance when one of the girls sprained her ankle) but she is enjoying it very much.  Ashley made the varsity

soccer team and is one of the back defenders.  She is doing very well in her position.  Both teams will be going to an international tournament.  The soccer team is going to Thailand at the end of October, and the volleyball team is going to Korea for the Far East tournament for the DODD schools (Department of Defense) at the beginning of November.  They are both looking forward to it.  Please pray for us to have the finances for these trips.

 Walter is still going to be the girls’ varsity basketball coach this year.  With the added responsibility of planning outdoor education week, it was decided that he would have a co-coach so that he would be free to focus on outdoor ed. as it gets closer to the time.  The week of outdoor ed is at the end of the basketball season and during the tournaments and final preparation for the Far East tournament at the end of February.  Please pray for him as he prepares for basketball, works with a new coach and also starts planning for outdoor ed week for middle school.

 Abby is enjoying being a fifth grader.  This is the first time that her class has been split up into two separate classes while she has been here.  She still enjoys her friends and has made new ones as well.  She is also in the fifth grade band, learning to play the flute.  A new opportunity for the fifth graders is a fifth grade choir so she is having fun in that as well. 

 Our family is again involved in the A4J ministry at school (similar to AWANA).  Last Sunday we started registration for 400 children.  They all received a t-shirt as their ticket in each week; it was quite chaotic. This Sunday begin the lessons.  We are all working with different age groups.  I work with the junior girls, Juliana with the primary girls (and Abby is hanging out with them and befriending a girl), Ashley works with the kinder age, and Walt works with the primary boys.  (If Paul was here, I think we would have had all the groups covered.)

Our boys are doing well in their colleges.  Both boys are getting involved in the AWANA program at their churches.  Paul is also playing on the soccer team and enjoying that and making new friends, especially on the team.  A week ago, Paul had a mishap and broke his nose.  After seeing the ENT doctor, he determined it is deviated a little and needed surgery.  He had surgery on his nose Tuesday.  Please pray for him.  My parents went up to be with him before and after his surgery.  The surgery went well and he is now recovering.  Please pray for complete recovery and for the pain.  This will also affect his playing time.

 Walter is leading another Bible study for staff called the Truth Project.  Its focus is building a Biblical World View.  Plus Walter and Cheryl lead a Bible study with some of Ashley’s friends called True U.  Both Bible studies are DVD series by Focus on the Family.

 Thank you again for partnering with us and praying for us.  We feel privileged to be serving in the Philippines and are grateful for your support.

 In Christ,

Cheryl for the Spicers

Sightseeing in Manila

Thursday was the first day of school for us here at Faith Academy.  A lot has happened to get this year off to a start.  Registration for the high school was the two days before.  It was quite a challenge for the principal and guidance counselor helping the students get the classes they wanted and needed into a working schedule.  This year was especially difficult due to the lack of staff.  There are many “holes” in the staff.  We are also awaiting the arrival of some staff that are delayed due to lack of finances or health reasons.  Please pray for our staffing situation.  Walter, as the middle school counselor, was busy with the same challenge, scheduling middle school students.

We had a great time as a staff the weekend before school started at our staff retreat.  It was refreshing spiritually and a great way to get to know the new staff as well as reconnect with returning staff.

Walter had a good time with Paul and Ben during his four weeks in the US, plus he was also able to spend time with his parents and siblings.  It was rough leaving Ben and Paul, but they are both doing well, which is an encouragement to us.  It is wonderful to see the support they have in family and friends.  My parents will be taking Paul to college and getting him settled in there.  He found out that his roommate is the son of friends of ours so at least there is a connection, even if they don’t know each other yet.  The boys will start classes in a few weeks so we would appreciate prayer for them.

The girls and I had a good time relaxing together and doing some projects.  They all had summer reading so spent some of our time doing that.  Ashley and Abby went to camp one week and had a great time, Ashley as a counselor and Abby as a camper.  Ashley had five third-grade girls in her cabin.  She also came back with a souvenir—stitches above her right knee while hiding from the campers.  She was found anyways.  After Walter returned, we were able to get away to a hotel in Manila and spend some time together, doing some fun things as a family.  Our family dynamics have changed with the boys being gone.

The high school retreat is August 26-27.  They go to a camp for those 2 days and have a speaker and activities to bond them together as classes and as a high school.  Pray for the student and adult leaders as they plan and for the speaker.

Thank you for standing behind us in prayer as we serve God by providing an education for the children of missionaries.  We couldn’t do it without you.

In Christ,

Cheryl for the Spicers

Congratulations Paul!

Dear Friends and Family,

On June 2, our second child, Paul, graduated from high school. It was a joy to see him complete his first 13 years of schooling and see him take a step in the beginning of the next part of his life. He also received a memorial scholarship for his character. It was also a sad time for us to see him leave the home. For us, the separation is a longer time and many more miles separating us from him. We are excited to see what God will do with him and how he will serve God with his life. This fall, Paul will be attending Bible college in Missouri. He would like to work with youth and is also thinking of majoring in instrumental music education, but is still unsure. He has a part time job at a fast food restaurant and some odd jobs at a hotel and mowing. Our home church is mentoring him, working with the youth and song leading in the evenings.

 Walter returned with Paul to the US to help him get ready for college. He also is able to see our firstborn, Ben on weekends. Ben is working at college in the Ozarks and a landscaping business. We are thankful for both jobs, working at the college will pay his room and board for next year and working at the landscaping business will give him some cash money.  Plus we are thankful for the opportunity of the guys to be together.

 The girls and I are “holding down the fort” here in the Philippines. As Ashley stated, we aren’t doing too well as things are breaking—the traditional “things go wrong when the husband leaves.” We are enjoying relaxing and being together. Abby and Ashley will go to camp the beginning of July. Abby will be a camper and Ashley a counselor. By then, Walter will return and we hope to do something together as a family. Walter will also need to get ready for the coming school year. Please continue to pray for him as he transitions to the middle school counselor.

We would also like prayer for the senior pastor, Steve Ruetschle, at our church here in Manila. He was in a motorcycle accident while on a sabbatical in the US this summer. He broke his neck. He does have feeling in his feet and hands and can move his hands. He is still in a lot of pain. Please pray for complete healing for him and encouragement for the family. They have 3 young boys.

Another urgent prayer request is the need for the following teachers for 2010/11 school year at Faith Academy Manila:

High School Social Studies Teacher

Middle School & High School Math Teacher

Physical Education Teacher

For information, contact personnel@faith.edu.ph

 Thank you for standing behind us in prayer,

 Cheryl for all the Spicers

In front of our house with our new van

Thank you for praying for us—our trip to the Philippines was uneventful and we are getting settled into our house.  All of our luggage made it fine—even our computer which I am typing on.  They just installed our internet service today!  Plus we already have cell phones but our “land line” is not working.  So our communication is up and running!

 We also purchased our “new” van today.  I had already emailed a missionary about his Hyundai Starex minivan that he was selling, so after we arrived we looked at it and liked it and the price.  We do not have all the paper work finished but it is parked in our carport.

We have things to fix on the house and we have boxes everywhere but we are happy to be “home” again.  Ashley and Paul fly to the Philippines on July 29; we have our Faith Academy Staff Retreat on July 31; and school starts on August 6^th.

 Thank you for praying for us!

 In Christ,

Walter for the Seven Spicers