Good day from Abaco!
September & October has been a busy month with kids back in school. So I greatly apologize for my newsletter being so very late and lack of response to emails, call it my teacher brain! I have so much to share it’s hard to write it all down. This year is looking a little different for me teaching. Ms. Faith is a 26 year old Bahamian teacher, who grew up in Abaco, was the 4th grade teacher last year. This year we have decided to switch things up in hopes to help the students and ourselves better. We are both teaching 4th and 5th grade students. However, I am teaching reading, language, spelling, and penmanship to both grades and she is teaching math, social studies, science, and health to both grades. With this new new system 4th and 5th grade have been switching to different classrooms twice a day for different subjects. We both have our homeroom grades in the morning for Bible though, which is awesome. This has been a huge help because Faith and I do not have to teach 9 to 10 subjects in one day, but share the responsibility. Plus, it gives the children better instruction because we are able to teach where our strengths are in certain educational subjects. So please be praying over this new switching system for her and myself, as well as the students and their parents as it is a very new thing to us all.
Some fun happening at School
Furthermore, I have been tutoring three students in reading and math after school Monday through Thursday. Monday and Wednesday we focus on reading and Tuesday and Thursday we focus on math. While it has been extra work for sure each day, I love the relationships I am building with these three students after school each day and their families. I have also seen a lot of progress in their reading skills, which has brought an overwhelming amount of joy. The Bahamas is at an all time national low for reading. Please pray for all teachers in the Bahamas in tackling this reading problem together to help students. On another cheerful note one of my small group of girls that graduated high school last school year is helping me three times a week in the classroom. Her name is Olivia, aka Liv 🤗. She’s a beautiful young woman inside and out. She grew up in Abaco her whole life with a Bahamian mother and American father. The kids love her a lot, you can tell by their shouts of joy every time she comes to school. She has been helping tutor 4th and 5th grade students twice a week after school each week as well with my help! It has been joy to see Liv thrive with the students and the student love for her!
Liv and I tutoring Kids after school!
As most of you have already heard, some education supplies went missing last month. While the chance of it being recovered at this moment is unlikely, please continue to pray for the situation with the supplies being resolved with it either being recovered or being reimbursed for the lost supplies! Thank you to everyone who emailed me personally with encouragement and letting me know you were praying over the situation. I deeply appreciate it and will be trying to respond to each of those individual emails soon!
More exciting news: the organization Renew a Nation has arrived in Abaco this past week. Just as a quick reminder Renew a Nation is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help Christian schools best deliver a Christian worldview to students. They help start Christian schools and revitalize them to do the most reaching and educating the children in the schools’ community. A wonderful couple came to the school this week and conducted many interviews from board and administration, to teachers, parents, and students. Their purpose was to collect data on the schools’ current strengths and weaknesses. From there it's a three year program to help the school improve in all areas as needed to keep ministering to children of Abaco island. Please be praying for the school these next three years and all the challenges that will come. May God be Glorified! ✝️
Two last wonderful updates to share with you is that at Agape the school has decided to form different teacher committees. First: I was put on the fundraiser committee with four other lovely women. This past September we held our first fundraising event. Our goal is to build a pirate ship playground for the kids in grades 1-3. Currently grades 1-3 don’t have much to play with in their playground area, but we managed to raise over 6,000 dollars that will go towards building a pirate ship for the kids to play on and explore with their imagination. In October we held another small event at the school with a Bahamian BYN leader I met during my trip to Nassau’s leadership retreat named Revival. (Yes, that is his real name, pretty cool isn’t?). Revival came to Abaco this October for a weekend to host a fundraising concert for the school. The money from that event will go towards providing the school with some industrial fans in the gym during hot days, and eventually an AED for the school nurse to have on hand in case of a medical emergency. Second: Agape is in need of Bibles of the same version for students in all grades that were read-able for the students and helpful for the Bible teachers. Some women (one being my mother 😀) are hosting a fundraiser to help raise money for grades 7-12 students. Please be praying over the fundraiser event happening back in the states, and for hopes to eventually full-fill the need for the elementary school as well one day, who are also in much need Bibles that suit younger students. So many exciting things are happening! For anyone interested in attending, it will be held in Somerset, Pennsylvania at St. Paul’s Presbyterian from 7-8:30. It will be a night of MUSIC AND WORSHIP. I hear my mom has her friends baking cookies for the attendees. I’d like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who is helping put this together, especially Linda Biery the featured singer and a second mom.
Revival and his trip to Abaco to help the school with a fundraiser! More about this young man coming soon!
G2 has been going very well with 80-90 kids showing up a week. It has also been incredible to see some of my students I taught last year start to come to the youth group and my current 5th graders also can’t wait to come next year. Please keep praying for G2 and the lives that are being touched by the CYN ministry. With that all being said, a small update on my high school girls small group. We actually had our first get together on Nov 4th. In that time we had some baked goodies, carved pumpkins, played hide and seek in the dark, and watched movies! Also, I’m continuing one to one get togethers each month starting with my senior girls and working my way down to my 10th graders. Pray over our time together and our growth in fellowship. One last thing to announce about my G2 girls small group, we will be starting our Bible study Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkins in January. I could use your prayers leading up to the start of our bible study, for myself to be a well prepared leader and for my small group of girls to have open minds and hearts about God's message for them..
Girls night!
As we are coming to close soon on this very long newsletter update, I just wanted to mention the CYN fundraising/celebration event that happened two weekends ago in October. The fundraising/celebration event was a major success with actual Bahamian students, who flew up to Pennsylvania, to share testimonies about how the Caribbean Youth Network has touched their lives. There was a large turn out of current CYN supporters and some new faces came here about the mission in the Bahamas. It’s profound the amount of work the CYN has accomplished in the past 25 years. It was started by Dan and Kelly Weightman in Long Island, Bahamas. Praise be to God! Here is a link. You can watch the testimonies of the Bahamians who came if you were not able to attend: https://youtu.be/ONR_2qeNEmY
Watch the CYN Celebration/ Fundraising event below! It's worth it I promise 😉
SB2W update: I had mentioned this summer my desire to start an SB2W day camp here in Marsh Harbour, Abaco. That is still something I would very much like to see succeed in the future, if God calls me to stay here long term. For the time being with the amount of mission trips happening this summer of 2024 and my teammates in Abaco taking some time off in August to move their daughter into college, there isn't room in the schedule this summer to start up the day camp. I know in God’s timing and will He will prepare the way for when SB2W day camp should begin on the island. In the meantime, please be praying for guidance and God’s will.
Lastly, A prayer request for housing for myself. I am moving this summer out of the donated home that has been provided for only two years (which has been such a blessing and so generous). I am looking for an apartment in the near future, because I will need to move out in June and the average cost of an apartment in the Bahamas is beyond my current budget. I know God has a purpose for me on this island and the work I have been called to do. For I deeply love the children I am working with here and seeing the impacts the CYN is making in so many lives. These next six months, please be praying God provides what I need for this big change coming soon and if you have any questions please let me know. If you feel called to help in some way please let me know. The best way to help me with this need is to commit to a monthly gift. Receiving financial help on a monthly basis helps me to budget responsibly. Monthly gifts of any size are greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to pass on this need to anyone you think might be interested in getting involved. I would be glad to talk to individuals who express an interest. Just reach out to me via email boyermission@gmail.com! I believe He will provide. Please pray with me over this large change to come soon.
Thank you all for your support and prayers. Please email me if you have any prayer request for you and your family as well.
Much thanks,
Em Boyer from Abaco, Bahamas 🇧🇸 ❤
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