money

I have spent the last 21 years of my life (minus the time I was working at the school for autistic children) in Christian schools. I definitely feel most comfortable there/here. I was raised in a Christian home with Christian parents (and extended family!) and have been taught at Christian schools from a Biblical worldview from my first days of kindergarten. I attended a Christian college and taught in a Christian school back in the States. Now I am married to a great Christian guy, who by the way made the most delicious potato soup for me for dinner last night, and we are starting our own family in our Christian home. In the meantime, I am working at another Christian school!

Now onto the subject of my blog: Money.

Most Christian schools and organizations always have difficulty in the money department. There are many reasons for that as many of you know, but here at ICSB, things are a little different. All of the American teachers (and from a few other nations as well) here are missionaries. None of us are paid by the school, and we all have to raise support to come here. Thanks to so many of you, Kevin and I are able to be here because of your generous giving! Again, we can't say it enough: THANK YOU! So none of us are paid...

The tuition to come to school here ranges from about $3000 to over $12000! It all depends on your purpose in coming to the school and what the parents do for a living. Kids whose parents are missionaries here get the cheapest tuition while those who are here with the US Embassy pay the most. By the way, those are your tax dollars that pay for their education overseas, and the parents get to choose where their kids go, and from the tuition prices I have seen from other international schools in Budapest, ours is the cheapest.

Now the Hungarian staff is paid to work here, so tuition money goes for that, plus it costs a lot to run a school. Tuition money covers all of those things. And this school was founded by several mission agencies, and they help out as well with that sort of thing.

We had a meeting after school today and were told about the current budget situation. And you know what? For the first time in my 21 years of experience in a Christian school (as student and teacher), I wasn't given such glum news. God is completely blessing this school with the financial means they need. We all even get money to spend in the classrooms!!! Now of course there are always things that come up or things cost more than expected, but God has continued to meet their needs and provide exceedingly for what they need. I think that is just so neat and incredible because that means that God has placed this school on the hearts and minds of people who can give. In past experiences, I always sit and listen to the administrator talk about how the school needs more money and how they need people to give. This was the first time that I didn't hear that. It's not like there is tons of extra money floating out there that they don't know what to do with, but the needs are being met. Praise the Lord!

I just wanted to share that today because I was encouraged by hearing this. I am not surprised by God's goodness, but just because he is good does not mean that we don't have problems. His plans are not our own. But be encouraged that God is meeting mine and Kevin's needs through your sacrificial gifts, and he is also doing the same thing for the school through others like yourself.