Teaching!

We've received a tentative idea of what we will be teaching next year at IA!
Nothing is set in stone right now, so this is only what things are shaping up to be at the moment. As with everything else with trying to go overseas and teach, things are subject to change:-)
Still, we are very excited to have another concrete step that hits home once again that we really are going to be doing this.

Right now, I (Matt) may be teaching 7th/8th grade and 9th/10th grade students. I will probably be teaching a combination of history and Bible classes. Amanda at the moment will probably be doing AP English classes for 11th and 12th grade, as well as 5th and 6th grade English. We are both very excited about these possibilities, and even if they do change we are excited about whatever we will have the opportunity to teach. While its mildly terrifying to think that I will have to teach middle-schoolers (I'm only 22 and middle school already feels so hazy that I sometimes doubt I ever went through it), I am ready to give it my best shot and all of my effort. Amanda is very excited about both ends of the spectrum that she will get to teach. No matter what, this is going to be as big a learning experience for us as it ever will be for our students. Still, that's just part of the adventure, and we are looking forward to it, whatever shape it may end up taking by the time we get there!

-Matt

Grabill Outreach Fair (GO 09)

Matthew and I went out to Grabill last night for the Outreach Fair today.

Here is a picture of our lovely table, with my cousin's table next to ours. I brought Luntik and had that going the whole time, which made me happy because it is SO CUTE!

We had people sign up for our newsletter and take some of the cards we made (see below).
The people who talked to us were really interested and supportive and we hung out with Teri.

We also hung out with our families up there so it was a good time all around!
Thank you Grabill for supporting us in this!

Here at Bethel

As of now we are heading toward Fall Break and the middle of the semester.
My mom and I will be buying most of the wedding things that we can get in advance over Fall Break which just blows my mind. I'm so cloistered here that I haven't really thought of wedding stuff.
We should be sending out another letter soon as well to remind people to be praying and so on. We've been blessed with the support of three churches and so many people so far and that is awesome!
Some of our friends are going to Ireland to do service there over Fall Break, as well.
I've been able to work with the classes I will be student teachign a little bit so far. They call me "Student Teacher" which I think is funny/endearing. Now that I'm planning a unit I'm getting pretty excited about this!
Matthew has been teaching a few lessons for his history teachers here to get him ready for IA and that has gone well for him so far!
Continue to pray as we move forward! Only about seven months until we get married and nine until we head to Russia!

Whoo!

School is starting to pull into full swing and it is looking like a good year! I am going to start working with the classes I will be student teaching this week and Matthew has some lectures he is going to give so we are excited about that. The Writing Center is also starting to roll forward so that is fun!

Updates on life: we are doing SO well in our support raising and it is a overpowering blessing every time we get a new update! We have three churches backing us now as well and that has been humbling. We spoke to our first board and we were really nervous and excited. It was so weird being asked to advocate for myself in that way! Very cool but unlike anything I've ever done before.

Updates on wedding: Since I was smart enough to plan out a lot of what I wanted over teh summer I don't have much to worry about right now! Mostly just not getting chubby off of college food so I can fit into my dress (which was probably the first thing we bought for the wedding!). Starting to look at caters and flower people and so on. I'm really looking forward to just being able to be relaxed about the whole thing!

God is great and we are looking forward to an amazing year of endings and beginnings! (I know that I am a teacher because when I say year I ALWAYS think September to May, not January to December)

Back to School!

Today is Matthew and I's first day back to classes at Bethel and we are both excited! We've had a great time here and it is really sad to think that this is our last year.
We will be getting married this coming May and if all goes well leaving for Russia sometime around mid July ish.
The support raising has been going really well and it has been very cool for both of us to watch.
Wedding planning is mostly thought out so now we are renting, buying, and making!
Should be a good Senior year!

I finally finished the blanket I've been crocheting since December!

Wedding!

While this has nothing at all to do with Russia, Matthew and I officially have a date and place for the wedding!
Hooray!

Summer!

Matthew and I have begun work on letters to churches and we received another update about how many people are supporting us and such.

Seeing that list really just blows me away for two reasons. The first being that I cannot believe we are actually going until I see that we are making tangible steps toward actually getting there! Then it hits me in a huge wave!

The second being that I feel very blessed to have people who are so willing to help us even though many of them have met only one of us (since we grew up on opposite ends of the same state) and some of them have met neither of us! That is a lot of trust and a lot of generosity that we have seen!

I feel like we should update more on here but it's summer so things are a little slow right now. They will speed up though! I'm fairly convinced of that!

Support Letters Again!

Hello from Amanda!

We just got an update from WP and we both feel very blessed to be able to say that we already have supporters! I have gotten some very encouraging mail and Matthew has gotten email and phone calls all from people encouraging us and praying for us.

This has been very blessed and is looking good so far!

Matthew and I were also able to meet up with a friend of his from Russia and that was a good time indeed!

Letters Are on Their Way!

Our first letters are now officially on their way!
I've been busy stuffing envelopes and sending them out in batches everyday this week. I have lovingly addressed them all by hand, working diligently each day after work. We're excited to finally have something to send out to people. In some ways this is the end of the first part of the whole process of going to Russia: all the applications, approvals, references and calls with IA and WP are over and now we can begin the task of raising our support.
I realized that its probably time that I wrote something here, since my name is also on this blog:-P I'll try to keep posting here as well as we find out more information about Russia.
-Matt

Support Letters!

I got to see Matthew from Wednesday to Sunday and it was a lot of fun (especially since we hadn't seen each other since school got out!)! We went and saw UP and went to a Coldplay concert and hung out at Indy. Our families also met and talked about wedding stuff.

All in all a good time!

Right now Matthew and I are beginning to print and mail support letters!

Let us know if you find this and have not received one and would like to!

Amanda

A Picture!

As pointed out by Julie, our amazing contact in Russia, being able to see what we look like is nice!

So here is a picture for anyone who has only seen one or none of us!

So It's Been a While

As of late we have mostly been budgeting (which is weird because I have no idea how much anything costs in the "real world") and working on our support letter.

We are getting close to finalizing the thing which is great and soon we can print and mail away.

Matthew and I are going to be able to hang out starting tomorrow which is a blessing because we don't see each other very often in the summer. We have a concert on Friday and then back to work on Monday!

Onward!

I got my wedding dress and veil this week so that has been exciting for us! Both Matthew and I feel like it is becoming much more real now.
Similarly, we are now waiting to hear back from WP about our next step. We are drafting support letters and if you would like to be on our mailing list for those or an email list for prayer updates let us know at: amandaandmattk@yahoo.com.
Pray that we are able to get the support and prayers that we need as we head into this!
Amanda

Update

Summer is now upon us so Matthew and I will be in different places until the end of the school year. 

I'm hoping to get most of the wedding planning done before school begins again and we both  hope to able to hear back from WP soon and start on support letters and such. 

If anyone has any advice we will gladly take it!

peace and provision

One thing that has been really comforting for me (Amanda) as we look forward not only to Russia but also just to getting married and life after college is how many times in my quiet time I come across verses about peace (whether it being God's will for our lives or finding peace in God) and His provision for us.
As we face all of these things that we really have no control over it is very comforting to see how God reminds me and reminds us that He will take us where He wants us to go and that we can trust Him to get us there.

Intro!

So, I thought it would be a good idea for Matthew and I to set up a blog that we could use to tell people what is going on with us as we get ready to get married and go to Russia, and also while we are there!

He probably is not as jazzed about this as I am but he agreed to go along with it. ;)

So as of right now, we were confirmed to go to the International Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia in mid July (ish) of 2010. We are working on applying to WP (who we would go through) and are going to meet with someone from WP this Friday!

We also got a chance to talk to John and Deb Seigel on Saturday since they are in the States. They have been and are working at International Academy and it was cool to be able to talk to them about it. They had pictures and awesome advice and encouragement for us, and Matthew found someone to talk to about teaching (maybe, not sure yet) history.

So good news and good beginning!
Amanda