Chinese Food and more life...

Susan, the Mom of my Chinese student Henry
Tami and I at Ladies' Night!!!
Me in my new $3 high heels!!
Marissa and I!!!
Some of the ladies and their neat hats!

At Henry's house - Henry jumping from the piano to the bed.
Henry and I
Shirley with all the Chinese food!
Henry jumping again...
The Qian children, Anna (2nd grade), Shirley (4th) and adorable, crazy, never runs out of energy Henry - in my class! :)

almost October...

Things here in Saipan have been moving along. The month of September is almost over and we will soon be into October and then Report Cards. I can't believe how fast things have gone. It's crazy. School is getting better for the 1st graders and I. I've started praying aloud in my classroom, for my classroom and students every day. I can also feel your prayers are working and I ask that you keep praying for me as I teach them and grow in my patience for them.
Jake is doing well. Pray for him as Math Courts (the math competition he's in charge of) picks up soon, as well as Science Fair, which he is also in charge of. It's the organization things that he needs the help for! :)
Other than that, things are going great for us. We keep busy with work, volleyball, hanging out with friends both staff and island people we've met, each other and living life here on a tropical island. It's still interesting and there are always new exciting thinsg to find, learn and see.
Just this weekend in fact, my Chinese student Henry invited me and two other teachers over for some authentic Chinese cooking - at least we thought we were goin to learn how to cook it. But once we got there - all the food was prepared and on the table waiting for us to eat it. So there are plenty of times where we are lost in translation here but over all - it's been great getting to know so many different types of people. We do really love it here.
Thanks so much for all your prayers. Keep them coming as we continue to learn knew ways to teach to the culture here and discover new things about ourselves, our marriage and our friendships. Thank God for all the blessings still though! :)
Love you all!!
Love
J & J

in pictures...

We witnessed baptisms this morning after church. These two girls were adopted from China. Abby and Emma. Emma is in my 1st grade class. They are adorable, smart and loving girls. It was a blessing to watch them. It was also neat just to see a baptism in the ocean. :) What a great God!
That's their Dad in the blue shorts taking pictures. Pastor Abe in the yellow shirt and the lead pastor, Pastor Greg next to Emma.
Emma and I after she was baptised!! So proud of her! :)


Jake and I on the beach after church

random Saturday afternoon
how tired we were after our 2 hour hike/run/walk through the jungle on a trail that Wesley Horlings created. It was awesome!!!
Some of my students in art class. This is Ken and Ye Lee.
Jon Paul (or J.P, as I'm allowed to call him) and I. And yes, he has tons of silver teeth!!

Here's my class being silly. If you look carefully at the girl in the pink shorts, she is bowing at the camera. Ohhhh Yoo Jin!!!
Ms. Winkfield and I and our volleyball team. 6th, 7th and 8th graders!!!! SO fun! :)

In action. The first game we won! :)

Life is so good here. Thank you God!!!

Start of Week 7

So another week and weekend has come and gone.
It's been a busy week, with volleyball every night of the week, meetings after school, Ultimate Frisbee for Jake and grading and planning. Teaching is going really well for Jake. He loves the middle school age children and is really enjoying planning and teaching them Math and Science. He is in charge of the Math Counts and Math Courts competitions that the Junior High does and so that is starting up now and will keep him somewhat busy. He is very involved in Ultimate Frisbee which meets on Wednesday and Fridays. It's his new lacrosse since he can't play that! :)
Teaching for me is alright. I'm not sure how much I really enjoy it. I'm having a hard time wanting to wake up in the morning to go teach them. I was reminded the other night that we are in a ministry here and need to work for the ministry of God. But it is still hard. The kid's don't listen very well and I feel like I'm not doing enough to help them learn because I spent so much time trying to discipline and get them to listen. So besides the fact that they are the most adorable little children and I love them, it's really hard to teach here. So keep me in your prayers and I continue to learn and grow in how to become and be a better teacher.

Besides teaching, Jake and I are doing good. We are making new friends and growing in those relationships as well. Sometimes I have a hard time opening up to people when I know things will change in a year and people will be gone - so pray that the Lord will continue to work in both Jake and I in our new relationships here.
I have this new friend, Nina. She is a local Philippino woman and I love her to death. We go swimming every Tuesday and Thursday for about 45 minutes and this past Saturday we did Yoga together. She is a wonderful woman of Christ and a great friend and I'm so thankful to God for the fun times we can enjoy and the conversations we can share.

As for what's new...we are in the rainy season and so it continues to just rain and rain here. And will probably do so until November or December.
We are starting our 7th week of school already!! Can't believe how fast the time flies by. We are really enjoying the island, the church we are a part of and the people we continue to meet. We are truly blessed and highly favored, like our Pastor says. We thank God for Pastor Greg and his wife Sandy. They are two amazing people and are becoming mentors to Jake and I both in our faith but also in our marriage. God knew that we needed some people like them when we came here and here they are!
So many blessings - we are very happy. Thanks for all yoru prayers and love!!! We appreciate knowing we are in your thoughts. Continue to pray for us in teaching, but also as we learn to adjust to the culture and better yet, understand living in this culture.
We miss you all!!
Love, J & J

P.S. If you ever want to send a postcard or package or cards or anything here is our address:
Jake and Jackie Van Dam
500069 Beach Rd.
Saipan, MP
96950
- We LOVE getting mail!

Sick in Saipan

One of Jake's beautiful flower pictures to share!

Hello! This week is progress report week. That means we are half way through our 1st quarter. Yikes!! It's also been a really busy week with volleyball. For those of you that don't know - I am the asst. coach of the school's volleyball team. Ms. Winkfield, the 5th grade teacher and I are coaching the 6, 7, 8th grade co-ed volleyball. So glad I don't teach junior-high - although sometimes 1st grade isn't that enjoyable either.

Anyhow we lost our first volleyball games today but I was so proud of the kids. They did so much better than I have seen any of them do in practice. It was awesome. I'm really enjoying coaching volleyball. It's a fun sport and the kids really get into it.

Besides being busy this week, Jake and I are doing. He is getting over cold #1 here in Saipan and I am just beginning cold #1. It sucks. We live on a hot, humid island and I have a runny nose and sore throat. Silly little kids - start covering your mouths and washing your hands. Oh well - life of a teacher I guess - busy, busy, busy, sick, lost patience, love for the adorable needy little kids, enjoyment of hanging out with them after school, and more grades.

Please keep us in your prayers, so that this cold/sickness will pass by quickly; that patience will grow alot faster and hang on longer during the day, and that God will give me especially, what I need everyday to teach these 1st graders.

Thanks for your prayers and love. Send us emails: jcqlnvndm@gmail.com or jkvndm@gmail.com to let us know how you are doing and how we can remember you and pray for you. We miss you all!

Love always,

J & J

On the Ferry....

The Sawyer, Mark and Brittany and us on the ferry!

The view of the island Managaha from the ferry.

just getting on the island
The whole group after intense volleyball... haha
view from the spot we picked on the beach. That's Saipan in the background.
Another view of Saipan

Catch up!

Life moves faster here than I thought it would. We have now finished the fourth week of school and our progress reports (mid-terms) are due this coming Friday!!! Thanks so much for all your prayers and thoughts as we've continued to adjust to life here, to our new jobs of teaching, to a new set of friends and even more to each other.
We've been blessed even more since last time. We had last Monday off of school and we were able to spend the weekend enjoying more sights on the island and off the island. We hiked to Forbidden Island. It's quite the hike but it was worth the refreshing swim in the cold ocean water. Then on Monday we went with the youth group from church, the Sawyers and Joel the PE teacher to Managaha Island. That was incredibly beautiful. Just the blues in the water, the fish you could see while snorkeling and the weather. It made me think again about how we are living here and not just on vacation. I'll post some pictures once we get the chance.
We are blessed. School continues to go well. It has it's days where I wonder why I'm doing this, but for the most part - Jake and I both love teaching, our classes and the school!
The friends we've made and continue to make are incredible. The really do become your family when you have none nearby. God has blessed us with some incredibly, caring and loving people and we couldn't thank Him enough for the Sawyers, Joel, Amanda, Sandy and soon her husband, Terry and the Winkfields. We love you all so much!
Well Jake and I are off to take a ballroom dancing class! :)
Hope you are all doing good. We love you all and miss you all tons!
Love J & J