“Recently, my home church has been going through a sermon series about ‘respectable sins’. I was struck by the sermon on pride. The preacher observed what happened when Jesus talked about who would betray him. Instead of looking around and pointing the finger at others, the disciples asked, “Is it I?” As I take on this team leader role, along with classroom teaching and day-to-day management of the school building, I am so aware of the pride in my own heart. I am not short of opportunities to note my own inadequacy, yet I also see the temptation to try and cover it up or cast attention elsewhere. I share this because my heart’s desire is that the opportunity I have been given to lead this year will also be an opportunity to grow in humility. That, like the disciples, I will look at myself and ask, “Is it I?” and grow in my reliance on the Lord. So, out of everything I will ask for prayer for this year, becoming a humble, confident leader who is sensitive to the Spirit’s leading is number one. Thank you for praying!”

“We are currently making decisions about class groupings, future plans for Wellspring and preparing for Debbie’s home assignment. No decisions have been made yet. As I wait for more information to come, the reminder in Colossians [2:6-7] to dig deep into God’s truth, knowing that I am not alone, has been such a blessing. Please pray for our team as we meet to discuss vision and strategy for Wellspring.”

“Things at Wellspring are going well and the students are growing academically and spiritually, which is a joy to see. Recently we have been learning about Moses and it has been wonderful to explore how faith impacts our actions and attitudes, and how God has a great salvation plan… We memorise scripture each week and recently learned a series of passages from Exodus, including ‘The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still.’ (Exodus 14:14). This is one of my favourite verses in the whole Bible, in part because I need the daily reminder to be still before the Lord, but also because it reveals the glorious truth that we are on the winning side. It has been interesting to see my students wrestle with the challenges set before us in the book of Exodus: The challenge to trust, to follow, to resist the temptation to complain, to pursue holiness… Praise the Lord that our school is a place where we can discuss and pray through these things. Thank you for praying for our class as we grow in our faith together.”