Dear Friends,

Greetings!  Summer is here!  Well, at least it is here at the Family Learning Center where I serve as principal, but for the rest of Thailand, it is the RAINY season!  We hope and pray that you are enjoying some time of respite and rejuvenation during these summer months.

When we came back from the US in January, I stepped back into my role as principal at the school, and was excited to see how well everyone has been functioning in the teams that we created before I left.  This has meant that I have had more time to focus on helping with projects that are designed to move us into the future, such as the policies and procedures, job descriptions, curriculum development and fundraising for the school.

As is true with any growing project, there have been great joys and great challenges!  We finished our school year in June, and have been blessed by our many wonderful children, families, staff and teachers, representing both the missionary community of Chiang Rai and the Thai community, as well.

We are excited to share that we have now purchased land for a new facility and landfill has already been put in on some of the land.  We are praying for more income to help us be able to move from the rental property we are in now to our own land...that will take funds to build the new classrooms and other support facilities.  In February, we went to the new property (rice fields!) for a prayer and worship time, and were blessed by the joy and innocence of the children as they celebrated God's goodness in providing the resources thus far.

The Family Learning Center uses an American Christian curriculum, and in some ways we are like an American school....until you look a little closer and recognize the "internationalness" of who we are.  Our activities may be similar, but they have a definite "twist".  Where most schools offer Spanish or French, our primary foreign language is Thai.  On the other hand, we have children for whom their native language is Chinese, Dutch, or Malaysian.  Our electives include dance, but it could be ballroom or jazz, or it might be Thai dancing.  The school activities generally are "family affairs", with babies and grandmas all welcome...Sports day includes fun events that students from all grades participate in together.  In other words, we are very family-oriented, and value the individuality and uniqueness of each child.

As we grow physically as a school, we are also developing our staff and building stronger relationships within the school.  One of the ways we do that is by providing training and retreats for our staff and teachers.  We recently held our staff retreat where we did team-building activities as well as spent time praying for one another and the school.

We want to thank you for your prayers and support for our family and the ministries we serve.  We could not do what we do without either of these things!  Please continue to pray and support us as we walk through these somewhat uncertain days!  Thank you!

Blessings,

Ruth and Chuck Fox