Grace Baptist
curve

 
 

Amanda Howard
Vienna, Austria

Ministry Overview: Amanda is a teacher at The International Christian School of Vienna. The school uses an American-style curriculum taught by Bible-believing Christian teachers, and it is accredited by ACSI and the Vienna Ministry of Education. The student body is made up of 30% missionary students, 28% Austrian students, and 42% international students. By being an affordable, quality, American-style school, The International Christian School of Vienna can draw in people who would normally never set foot into the door of a church. This provides the opportunity for Amanda to share the Lord with students who may have never been given this chance.

Where she lives: Vienna, Austria. Amanda writes, "Austria is not post-Christian, it is pre-Christian! Unlike much of Europe, Protestant Christianity never had a foothold in Austria; Reformations were destroyed by the Catholic Church. Atheism and post-modernism currently rule Austria. 20% of the population in Vienna is Muslim. Fortunately, many young people are open to hearing a new way of hope.

___________________________________

May 2012

The Power of Prayer
One of the biggest lessons God has taught me over the past two years is how powerful prayer is. Since I first began preparing to take over as the elementary principal I have found myself taking more things to God in prayer. Over the summer I’d like to invite you to join me in praying each week for a different area of my ministry at ICSV.
 
  • June 10-16: Pray that students and teachers will end the school year strong, be able to say their good-byes to those leaving Vienna, and be safe over the summer vacation.
  • June 17-23: Pray that staff leaving Vienna will be able to transition well to life outside of Austria.
  • June 24-30: Pray that my time in California will be productive, re-energizing, and a time to reconnect with family and friends.
  • July 1-7: Pray for the elementary teaching staff: Tracy, Lou, Sarah H., Amy, Jen, Dani, Petra, Sarah C., Nicki, Brian, and Michael.
  • July 8-14: Pray for our new and returning Primary (Kindergarten) and 1st grade students.
  • July 15-21: Pray for our new and returning 2nd and 3rd grade students.
  • July 22-28: Pray for our new and returning 4th and 5th grade students.
  • July 29-August 4: Pray that God will give me the strength and patience I need as I return to Vienna for the 2012-2013 school year.
  • August 5-11: Pray that our new ISCV staff will transition well to living and working in Vienna.
  • August 12-18: Pray that the administrative team will effectively lead the New Staff Orientation.
  • August 19-25: Pray that the ICSV teaching and support staff will come together, united and strong in Christ.
  • August 26-September 1: Pray that the first week of the 2012-2013 school year will set a tone for an amazing school year!

Spring Highlights
Throughout the year I like to post many of the different events that happen at ICSV on my blog. Since not everyone is able to access this information I’ve decided to include some of the recent blog posts here. If you are able to, please also visit my blog to see some pictures and videos of my students and life in Vienna.

1. Questions about Probability
In class we recently finished a math chapter about probability. During the course of the unit we also spent time talking about God and probability. Within a fifth grade understanding of probability, there are five different levels. Things can be … impossible, unlikely, equally likely, likely, or certain.

Thankfully, with God, nothing is impossible, unlikely, equally likely, or likely. God can do ANYTHING … He is certain! It doesn't mean that He will do everything we want Him to do … He does what is best for us. He saved the Israelites by giving Moses the power to part the Red Sea. He created all of creation … us included. He came down to earth as a baby and died for our sins. God doesn't flip a coin to decide what happens. He is certain about what to do because our Lord is omnipotent. I don't know about you, but if I were to bet on something, I would bet on Him!

2. Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) Theme: The Gospel
The theme for this year's Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) was simple, yet SO important … it was The Gospel. Check out our speaker's, Jerry Jacoby, thoughts about this year's theme.
Jerry’s Thoughts
“Religion is a lot more comfortable than The Gospel. Religion can tell us what we have to believe and what we have to achieve to win God’s approval. It gives us a list of standards so we can know when we’ve arrived and can be satisfied with our growth and achievement.
"The Gospel, on the other hand, is shocking: Perfect God creates autonomous beings with the right to choose. Longing for our love, He had to give us the choice to refuse His love so that if any of us chose to return to Him and love Him, it would be our own free choice - real love, like His.
"His pursuit of our love led Him to become one of us, identify with us in every way, but without sin. And in the face of total rejection by all mankind, He reveals His plan - He takes the punishment due us on Himself and dies. He defeats sin, death and Satan and rises from the dead. Then he offers us the way back - not a self improvement plan or a set of rules, but forgiveness for all our sins. This Gospel is shocking because it is a unilateral offer - He did it all and we can only receive. He holds all the cards. If we try to have His offer under any other conditions we end up with … religion.
"Jesus did not come to make us nice. He came to make us alive. Without Him, we are dead and eternally lost. With Him, we are redeemed, secure and whole new creatures.
"Heavy stuff for kids? I don’t think so. Jesus said that with the faith of a child the miracle of salvation takes place.
"This week we’ll laugh, sing and hear wonderful stories but the theme is not religion - it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

3. Xtra Time Please
Have you ever wished for several additional hours in the day? For the past few months I've DESPERATELY needed a few extra hours each day. I can't seem to find enough time with all the different things I want/need to do: teach full time, prepare to take over as Elementary Principal next year, find time to dwell in God's Word, try to have some type of a social life, clean my apartment, etc. The human part of me wishes that God chose to create a 30 hour day, but knowing myself, 30 hours still wouldn't be enough time to complete all I needed/wanted to do. I need to be content with the time He has provided. God knew what He was doing when He created the world. He provided just the right amount of time to accomplish everything in His plans.

The missions pastor at my US church, Mike Gaston, has been studying the concept of the Sabbath. Through his studies, he has come to a better understanding of what the Lord commands in regards to keeping the Sabbath day holy. His thoughts on the topic have really got me thinking about the need to rest and relax in the Lord. Life will always be busy, but there are also times when God will speak to you in the still, quiet moments. It's important to remember to take time to have those moments and listen carefully to the Lord.

Home for the Summer
I will once again be returning to beautiful, sunny California for the summer. I arrive at LAX on Friday, June 22nd and will be leaving again on Tuesday, July 31. During the 5 1/2 weeks I’ll be home, I would love to meet up with as many friends and supporters as I can. I look forward to getting together in the next few months!

To see Amanda's blog, click here.