New Books from the States - Merry Christmas GIS

It is a bit late to show a picture of Christmas books. However, I thought those of you who look at the blog would like to see the fruits of your work. We are fortunate to have a buyer in Texas, Janet Matyas. She worked at the GIS Library last year and has continued her support back home by buying our books and shipping them to Thailand. We received over 40 M bags worth of books during the months of November and December. Her efforts have saved the school hundreds of dollars and provided the library with excellent new books. We were able to get the Christmas books ready before the holiday break. What a blessing!

Mrs. Jarot's 4th Grade Class & Twilight the Tiger

The Elementary Library received a beautiful stuffed tiger from the parent organization last October. We needed to name the tiger and had a contest. It was a tough decision and we even had a run-off to narrow down the many choices. The winning name is Twilight and the winner of the contest is the lovely young lady - Bailey - in the center of the picture. Her entire class helped her win by voting for the name Twilight. Talk about team support!! Twilight is loved by all grades and has a mate named Gracie. They often can be found leaning against a favorite book.

Meet Flat Stanley

My friend Sarah teaches 1st grade in Bagabag, Philipines. She wanted her students to see how far Flat Stanley could travel. So, 3 of our lunch-time library buddies met Flat Stanley, colored him fancy and sent Flat Stanley back to Bagabag. Of course, a tootsie roll sucker was earned in the process! Meet Sanna, Amos and Bible.

Trip to Malaysia

During our Christmas break I was fortunate to visit Malaysia. It is really not that far from Chiang Mai, Thailand - like going from Rockford, Illinois to New Orleans, Lousiana. We visited Kuala Lumpur (capital); GeorgeTown and Melaka. My favorite city was Melaka. It was formerly known as Malacca and is historically known as part of the spice routes through the Straits of Malacca. The Dutch, Portuguese and then the British held dominance over this country until 1966. This church was built by the Dutch in 1757 and still has an active congregation.

GIS Junior Varsity Girls Basketball Team

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the 2007 Junior Varsity team. What a lovely bunch of young ladies. We are 2-0 in conference play (if we can claim to have a conference). We actually are 2-1 - losing our first game to the Thai school - Sacred Heart. These young ladies range in age from 13-16 and practice 4 days a week after school. They have a great heart, love the Lord, and share that love with each other.

Meet Mollie, Jessica & Leila

These young ladies are waiting for their first customers. They started a Saturday afternoon cafe with high tea, cookies, biscuits and brownies. Money raised will be given to the school building fund to support the new multi-purpose building project. Great fun and good food!