A Pederson February 2024

“Summer and winter and springtime and harvest… join with all nature in manifold witness, to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love”

Verse from the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness

Greetings and a Happy New Year! Our hymn last week was “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and indeed faithfulness has been a recurring theme so far this year. God’s faithfulness to our Early Childhood (EC) teachers as they start their third term of RICE: some of them teaching, some studying, and some are mothers to babies! His faithfulness as I have started my new position as RICE Dean.

We are in our third term of taking our EC teachers through a Post Graduate Studies Program. At RICE we start our day with prayer and a verse from our hymn of the week. I then get to spend time reading aloud. This term we have been winding our way through The Light Princess by George Macdonald. It has been a vernacular challenge, but we have been able to explore and expand our vocabularies and delight our literary sensibilities.

The teachers are also being exposed to art this term. Some of the teachers were very trepidatious going into our Intro to Art class. Most of them have never had an art class where they could explore their creativity that comes from being a child of the Master Creator. After our first project, one teacher remarked that she did not know she could make something beautiful just out of lines!

Learning to love art

I have retained my position as lower primary French teacher and I love being able to play with my students every day. This term we have continued to learn vocabulary in grade one with the help of songs like Tete, Epaules, Genoux, Pieds (Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes). In grade two we recently learned about our animal friends with a rousing game of Animal Charades. The classroom is always a great place to practice patience and ingenuity. Our resident children continue to thrive and be challenged in their classrooms.

Head, shoulders, knees, and toes

What animal am I?

We were able to celebrate the scholastic accomplishments of some of our residents with a game night. The highlight of the evening was ice cream sundaes! Please pray with us that as we study the lives of Saul and David in 1 Samuel, that the children under our care will be challenged to live a life of faith instead of walking in fear. I will be in Washington State for most of the month of April and look forward to meeting up with some of you!

Ice cream smiles

Praises

• A great start to the RICE term
• Teachers joy for learning
• The opportunity to serve in many different areas at the Village

Prayer Requests

• Wisdom as I lead RICE, to know how best to encourage and push the teachers
• For all of us at the Village to be drawing closer to God daily and pulling together where He leads

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