Hola!

Well, another week has past, and we are now four weeks into the school year.  Doesn’t seem like that much time has passed already.

We continue to settle back into our school time schedule, which, happily includes spending time with and getting to know our students better.  I am often surprised by how much I truly enjoy spending time with students of all ages, especially seeing them grow and mature from year to years.

Our Peer Helpers group this year is all seniors.  This is kind of exciting, since we can really focus on issues that seniors face or will be facing next year (after graduation).  They are a great group and I look forward to helping them explore the challenges of ministering to, and being in relationship with, others.

Many of our students have been out with the ‘flu’ lately.  Apparently the local hospital will no longer diagnose what type of flu you have, they only tell you that it is the flu and that you must stay home and quarantined for a week.  Hopefully our students are taking the doctor’s advice and not spreading more germs around.  We use ample supplies of hand sanitizer and soap.  The rest is up to God.  Please keep us in your prayers, that we will remain healthy during this flu season.

Rick continues to enjoy his classes, as well as a few graphic design jobs that he is doing for the school.  The theme for our Harvest Festival this year is ’super heroes’, so Rick got to design the posters.  The pictures turned out really well and I think the students and their families will really like them.  Rick went as far as to suggest super heroes as a theme for the Junior/Senior Banquet (ie prom) this year, but I don’t think the seniors will agree.  Plus, I don’t know what the school dress code would say to our seniors showing up in tights…

As many of you know, Rick and I are gearing up for Rick’s 40th birthday, which will be on October 14th (about two weeks from now).  His father will turn 65 on the very same day.  I know that they would both appreciate emails and phone calls from friends, if you get the chance.

Quito weather should be heading into rainy season, but it still remains very dry.  A teacher told me that the weather experts anticipated 74% of the expected average rain during the month of September.  Instead we got 7%.  The trees are getting brown, the streets are dusty, and the air is filled with diesel fumes.  There have been frequent fires on the mountainsides around us, leaving big black burns on their slopes.  We are praying that the rain will come soon, and leave the city a little cleaner.

Once again, we thank you all for your prayer and support.  We are thankful for the opportunity to serve God in this beautiful country, and we thank God for our friends and family who make it possible.

Blessings,
Rachel Sams

Hello, people that we love! 

Once again I am a day late with the Monday memo, but this time I have a valid excuse!  My email at home was on the fritz, and wouldn’t allow me to access the Weekly Memo group!  Therefore, I am writing this email from my computer at school, where the email appears to be working fine.  Ah, the joys of technology!

We have officially completed our second week of school, which seemed to drag on even longer than the first.  I don’t remember it being this tedious when I was student, but don’t doubt that some of our students at AAI are feeling the drag of it all, too.  I am sure it will move more smoothly once we settle into the rhythm of the new school year.  Overall, the first two weeks have been good.

Rick is really enjoying his classes this year, and feels confident that many of his students will grasp not only the basics of graphic design/photography/etc, but also a greater understanding of God’s beauty and what makes beauty ‘beautiful’.

Our group of Peer Helpers is down in numbers this year, as we have only had five students sign up (compared to 15-20 last year).  After some thought and prayer, we have decided to continue the group anyway.  We will make it more of a ’small group’ format and hopefully still be able to generate group discussions and activities to help them learn the skills of listening/communicating/helping others.  I am excited about the students who have applied, as all of them seem to have a gift for ministering to others.  I am already scheming new and interesting ways in which they will be asked to practice their now-found skills!

As some of you may have heard already, I had a unexpected blessing happen last week.  For over a year now, I have been saving money and planning to purchase a guitar.  While I don’t think it is something that I will play in a public forum, I think it would be a wonderful means of worship for me.  I asked a friend here if he would check into the price of guitars, since he knew a local man who makes them (he and his son are also some of Rick’s jujitsu students).  Last Thursday, Tommy showed up at school with a guitar, a nice case, and a tuner!  He said that he and his son had been looking for a way to thank Rick for being their sensei, and they thought this would be a good way to show their gratitude.  So, now I have been blessed with a guitar, plus have a little money set aside to pay for a few lessons!  God truly meets the desires of our hearts!

Please keep both staff and students of AAI in your prayers over the next few weeks.  There are so many events, extra-curricular activities, and expectations that still remain to be scheduled or organized.  Many of our staff and students are already facing the challenge of deciding what they can/can’t be involved in due to scheduling conflicts.  It is easy for them to be overwhelmed or over commited, if they are not careful.  Please pray that God would grant wisdom and patience as we all figure out where and when we are suppose to serve.

In about three weeks, Rick will turn 40!  Please remember him in your emails, your prayers, and your phone calls.  While we will try to celebrate with our friends and coworkers here, it isn’t always the same as being able to spend that time with friends and family from ‘home’.  I know that he will appreciate hearing from you, if you are able.

May God bless and keep you always.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Rachel Sams

Hello, dear friends and family!

Well, another week has passed.  School has been ongoing for one week, the kids still seem relatively calm, and none of the teachers are pulling their hair out (yet?).  We have spent the last week planning, organizing, and getting to know the kids.  There are 27 new students in the middle school and high school grades alone, and probably just as many more in the elementary grades.

Rick has been enjoying his new class room, which is a little further away from the band rooms and, therefore, not nearly as noisy in the afternoons.  The school workers were kind and transferred all of his computers and equipment to the new classroom during the summer months.  This made set up at the beginning of the year quite simple.  His new classroom also came with it’s own (mock) bear head, an art project left behind by one of last year’s seniors.

I have been busy planning for Peer Helpers this year.  This is a group of students who are interested in learning better listening and communication skills, many of whom are interested in joining helping ministries (ie. counseling, teaching, doctors, pastors, etc.).  Rick and I have also worked with them to incorporate a better view of God, sin, and grace into this process.  We often encounter difficulties regarding when to meet, since many of the students are also involved in other extra-curricular activities (sports, band, vocals, etc.) and it is hard to find a time when they can all attend.

For Rick, this week started with a lecture for his students on ‘A Philosophy of Beauty’.  This was for his Digital Design and Print class, but he says that he plans to use it in some of his other classes, too.  His students seemed to engage in the lecture, and he looks forward to watching them use this knowledge in future creative works.

This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week for middle school and high school.   Many of the parents will also attend, either because they are already believers or because they do not know the Lord and are curious to learn more about Christianity.  Please keep the students and their parents in your prayers, as we work to both teach and model the truth of salvation and grace.

We thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and love.  While we know that God is using us in our ministry here, and while we love the people that we are able to work with and minister to here, we also miss the friends and family that we left behind.

May God bless and keep you all,
Rachel Sams

Hello to all!

Once again I apologize for the sporadic nature of my emails during the summer months.  I am hopeful that I will be more consistent, now that we are getting back into our regular, school schedule.

The last week has been filled with school in-services and preparation for the first day of classes (today!).  The speaker for in-services was Dr. Lockerby, who talked with us about the importance of incorporating our own beliefs and world-views into any topic that we might teach.  I think we were all surprised and encouraged when one of our advanced math teachers shared how she incorporates her faith in her teaching math, focusing not on ‘the rules’, but the reality of God’s creation that can be better understood and described through math.

Rick, once again, manned the table for photo id’s during enrollment.  About 700 pictures were taken, id’s were designed and printed, and the lines eventually shortened.  There is a strong possibility that all the high schoolers will have to have new id’s made within a week’s time, though, due to the Minister of Education’s decree that all high school id’s in Quito must look identical.  He has sent out the specs on what they should look like, and Alliance Academy is checking to see if we can be an exception (since we are a private school).

We were privileged to have a house guest (only for one night) the Wednesday before school started.  One of our students was scheduled to move into the dorms, but arrived before the dorms was open.  It was fun to have Travis stay with us, and to have him and his father eat dinner with us as well.  Due to his father’s job, his parents moved to Colombia this year.  Travis has chosen to stay in Quito and will be one of five boys living in the  AAI dorm.  He seems excited about it and has already started bonding with one of the dorm ‘uncles’, Luke Owsley.

Today was the first day of classes.  It was fun for me to see a number or students again, and it warms my heart every time one of the elementary kids runs up and hugs me.  It is wonderful to see them growing, in stature, maturity, and wisdom.  I am always amazed and encouraged to see them progress from one year to the next.

Rick’s classes are still in a state of flux.  One of his video classes has only two students, and one of them is scheduled to move within three weeks.  The students have a few weeks to change/drop/add classes, so there may be a few more changes yet.  Rick seems encouraged and excited to see who he will have in his classes within the next few weeks.

While we do not have nearly as many new staff as we did last year (last year was about 24, and this year is about 9), we do have a lot of new faces.  Among the new faces is Luke Owsley, who is a missionary kid from China who studied Spanish in Cuenca a few years ago.  He is a tremendous asset to those of us who want to learn more about asian culture and he is also a lot of fun to be around.   Also among the new people is Lauren Green who will be the new elementary chaplain this year.  She is very sweet, also a dorm ‘aunt’, and very excited to work with our younger students.  We are so blessed to have both of them!

We are looking forward to possible visitors later on this year, both during Thanksgiving break and around New Year’s.  Please pray that God will guide these plans, providing financial needs and physical safety to those who are able to visit.  And, if plans fall through, we still thank Him for the friendships that He continues to strengthen, despite the distance.

May God bless and keep you always,
Rachel Sams