My friends and family,

I am coming to you with a great prayer request.  As most of you know when I came out to Faith I came with a two year contract, promising them that I would stay for at least two years and teaching some amazing kids.  But I knew it was always a possibility that I stay a third year.  I have been praying about this so much and I would like you to please remember me in the next few months and pray about supporting me another year both financially and through prayer.

I know that this decision not only depends on God's will for me and what I want for myself, but also in what my supporters back home decide.  I have been so appreciative of all that you have given and done for me, and there is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful for all the you have blessed me with.

I will be sure to keep you posted with any updates I get.  Please contact me if you have any words of wisdom or questions :)

Love,
Meg

Bag-o' Blessing

I have been back to school for a while now and I have to say I am loving being back in routine, but have been lazy with my blogging.  I had an amazing time home this Christmas spending time with my family.  It was bittersweet saying good bye, I'm going to miss them, but I am also so happy to be back where I am ministering to some amazing families.

I just wanted to let you know about an amazing opportunity our elementary school was able to participate in.  The last few weeks of school before break were filled with christmas decorations and antsy kids and teachers.  However, our beloved principal led us to participate in something much bigger and greater than any project or craft I could have made up in the classroom.

Almost all of my students parents are involved in some type of ministry around the Manila area. One in particular is involved in a ministry called HELP International.  The ministry is a rehab for drug addicts in the Manila area.  They have been able to help tons of people be set free from their addictions and get back on their feet.  As we got back to school it was so great to be able to see what we were able to be a part of.

As an elementary school we were challenged to fill bags with food, flip flops (the national footwear of choice), and a little candy as a holiday treat for those involved in the ministry.  It was such a great experience for the kids to be able to take part in and then when we got back from break we heard some of the stories of what a blessing these bags were to some.

As a little school of only 130 elementary students we were able to fill over 200 bags plus so much more.  The ministry was able to bless so many people on the streets with the bags and encourage them to continue to work towards a clean sober life with Jesus Christ as their Savior.

I pray that I would have even more opportunities to see the work that is being done through the families in my class.

funny math problem

I have my kids write their own math story problems all the time. Here's one that made me laugh.

Miss Cosper has 91 dogs in a huge bag.  She has to divide them into 8 bags of puppies.  How many puppies will be in each bag?


Yikes....hope they don't really think I would do this to dogs.

Christmas is a time for giving...

I have posted about this before, but I just think it is too cute when kids come in with little knick knacks for me.

They are definitely in the spirit of giving right now and I have received an abundance of "stuff".

A teacher can never have too many apples.  Though this may have been my first one ever received as a gift.  Too bad for the little brown spots on it from little fingers grasping a little too hard.

A USB from subway that can also be worn as a bracelet!  Simply amazing, and so practical!

One of my little buds came in and said, "Miss Cosper, I made you a fluffy thing!"
  "Wow, cool!  You made this all by yourself?  What is it?"
"I just told you, it's a fluffy thing."

A letter I received from one of my Korean girls.  She gave me an envelope in October that said "please don't open till Thanksgiving."  She's a sweetie for thinking of me and on a holiday that she doesn't even celebrate :)

I love my kids, and they're a huge source of encouragement.  When I'm feeling lost, or not sure what I'm doing the 26 little people that bring me random gifts are a reminder of why I love what I do!

Dunk Tank.

 As a special treat to the kids we brought in a dunk tank where they could be dunked.  It was  guilty pleasure to be able to watch them be thrown into the water...plus I got some funny pics.

nervous giggles.

gotch'ya

so funny.

a happy wet fourth grader

It is the Joy of My Heart to Follow You

You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
   You're blessed when you follow his directions,
      doing your best to find him.

Psalm 119:1

A couple weeks ago Faith Elementary participated in our Filipiniana Week.  This is a week in which we celebrate the Philippines, the country where God as called all of us to serve in.  It's a tiring week and by the end I feel as I am about to collapse, but the kids love it and it does provide them with some great opportunities.  

I posted a few pictures of our ministry day.  This is a day that we reserve specifically for a ministry somewhere in the metro manila area.  All week my class had been going through their own toys and deciding which ones they should give away to the less fortunate.  This is of course very difficult for the kids, but I reminded them of those that we had ministered to last year, and how they didn't even have lunches.  After a week, we had two giant boxes filled with toys, the kids were very proud of themselves.  So on our ministry day we were invited to the Faith Family Children's Home where we were going to deliver the toys that we had collected.  I headed over there with my 27 kids and was greeted by 32 happy and toothless smiles.  It was a great opportunity for kids to get involved in ministry work, and they ended up having so much fun with the kids.

At first the kids were somewhat hesitant and didn't know how to act. I found one of my kids yelling at the top of his lungs, "MISS COSPER, WHERE ARE ALL THE ORPHANS?  I THINK WE SCARED ALL THE ORPHANS AWAY!"...yikes, I quickly pulled him to the side and said, "hey bud, they're kids just like you, so I think it would be better if you just call them kids, and not orphans"...haha

Anyway, I was so glad my kids had a blast, and by the end of the day they were begging me to be able to come back and see the children's home again.  

When we got back to the classroom we talked about the joy that they were feeling.  They felt joyful because they were doing something that God would be pleased with, they were helping someone!  It was so cool to see the kids so excited.  Even just the other day the kids asked me if they could go back and see their new friends.

Ken and I...I love that his name is Ken.

Ken...little boy with a man's name

some of the kids and my fourth graders

Yuki...loved that dark curly hair

Kids playing together at the orphanage.  All of the swing sets were donated by Faith Academy.

Very excited it was non-uniform day, so he decided to wear his Kimono 

At the orphanage, the boys uniforms are laid out for them.

The boys made a new friend, Alvin.  They loved playing basketball together.

laughing at kids.

I've been terrible at blogging, and that ha partly to do with the coming season (christmas) and just the craziness of the school day.

Had lunch with a couple of my kids, and loved laughing and talking with them.  I love having lunch with smaller groups of kid because it's a time that I can use as a mentoring time, and less of a classroom teacher. Often times I will surprise them with little snacks and gifts.  Here's Samuel, Jaeyoung and I.  Jaeyoung (in the middle) really loves his ice cream.  He told me he tries to take as much time as he can eating his dessert so it will last forever haha cutie!

what a guy!  He even let me take his picture with ice cream still on his face!  I told him it made him look more grown up, like he had facial hair or something...