Hello Team!

Thanks for your prayers as I get started on this process to head back to Cameroon. Since my last update went out, I have worked on my master’s project, attended a week-long practicum at a Christian curriculum publishing house, and flew out to Wycliffe headquarters in order to help with the kid’s re-entry program.

In Orlando, at the Wycliffe headquarters, I had the privilege to work with the elementary school students of families that are on home assignment (returning from the field for a period of support raising, rest, and refocus). My co-teacher and I taught the kids about their unique role and characteristics as MKs (missionary kids), how they might feel during times of transition, how to tell their story, and about Wycliffe’s vision for Bibleless people.

One student in particular stood out to me. Her family had been through some extremely challenging times while in their host country and she was working through a lot of anxiety. Throughout the week, we talked together about how anxiety can come when things feel unsettled, but God is right there with his peace. On the last morning, right before the closing celebration and our goodbye time, we had the kids act out Psalm 139. They practiced showing that no matter what they are doing (sitting up, lying down, dwelling in the uttermost parts of the sea), God is always right with them.

After that lesson we joined all of the rest of the kids, parents, and staff for the closing celebration. Right before saying our goodbyes, while listening to a worship song, I noticed this student sobbing into her dad’s shoulder. When the song was finished and people started saying their goodbyes, she ran up to me (still sobbing) and wrapped her arms around my waist. As I comforted her, she said through her tears, “I just wanted to say thank you. I never knew before that God loves me so much and that he is always right here with me.” 

I was so honored to be able to work with these families who are in transition and make an impact in their lives. That impact is only possible through your love and partnership, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. In the coming weeks, I would love to meet with each of you and talk about my plans for returning and what God is doing in Cameroon at the Greenhouse. I am working to fulfill the budget that Wycliffe has set for me in order to return to Cameroon. Please consider joining this team. Click the link below to join or email me with any questions.

Love,
Megan

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TCK Tidbit–Leavers, Stayers, Arrivers

At any given point in time, MK students in a school community can be sorted into three groups. These groups are the leavers, stayers, and arrivers. The leavers are people who know they are leaving in the next school year. Their focus tends to be on good memories and goodbyes. The stayers are often overlooked but they deal with friends leaving and coming. They really carry the school culture and community. The arrivers are students that are new. They bring new expirences and backgrounds. 

Hello Team!

I have some exciting updates for you as I finish up my second to last semester and look towards the future.

Throughout these past couple of years I have spent a lot of time working, growing and discerning what God has for this next season of life. When thinking about how I wanted to use the skills I have been developing in this season while completing my Masters, I learned a few things about what I wanted in a job. I felt strongly that I wanted to spend more time outside the classroom. I wanted to be able to connect with families (not just students daily), and be involved in curriculum planning. While processing all of these things and talking with many different people, I discovered that God had already placed a position right in front of me.

I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a new position at the school that I was previously serving at in Cameroon, The Greenhouse. I will be returning in a role that most closely aligns with an assistant principal role. It is exactly what I feel God has been leading me toward.  In this role I will work in planning curriculum use, coordinating and training parents and teachers, as well as filling in teaching as needed.

I am planning to leave, Lord willing, for Cameroon in January but in order to do that, the budget that Wycliffe has set for me must be met.  It is only possible for me to fill this position with a team of people partnering through prayer and finances. I want to thank all of you for your partnership along this journey so far. It has been such a blessing! For those who have been waiting to join this team, now is the time. Feel free to click the link below that leads to my Wycliffe page. Please reach out and connect with me as I continue on this journey! Send me an email or text and I am happy to hang out in person, over the phone, or over Zoom. Please be praying for me as God builds the team for this next season of ministry.

Love,
Megan

Transition Curriculum 

The students that go to my school go through lots of different moves in their childhood years. Even if you are not the one moving, the community around you changing can bring many challenges to process. I experienced this some growing up in a military community, even though I stayed put, many of my friends were only around for a year or two. This summer I am going to be  writing a curriculum that will help the students that I teach process their emotions around change and help families start meaningful conversations about change!

Hello Everyone,

I want to use this space to do a few different things. I am going to tell you some stories from my time in Cameroon and also share a little of the TCK (Third Culture Kid) population that I work with. The idea will be to share a story and then highlight a piece of information could be useful to you in learning more about the kids and families I work with.  

Every morning in my classroom, we started out the day with a morning meeting. One of the things I noticed early on is that because of all of the cultural differences, kids would often not greet people because they don’t know what to say. So, in my classroom, we started out every morning with a different greeting. I had a bunch of different greetings on a little ring and every morning, we would flip the card to a new greeting and pass the greeting around in a circle. Some of the greetings were in different languages such as French, English, and Japanese. Others were silly greetings such as: saying good morning in the most high-pitched voice you can. Still, others came with actions such as bows or handshakes. I had gotten this set of greetings off of the internet and had not added to it or changed it. One day we were reading Tacky the Penguin and in part of the story, he greets the other penguins in a different way and everyone is shocked. We all thought it was so funny that we added the greeting to our ring of greetings and it was amazing to see everyone’s eyes light up and get engaged over a greeting that we had added together.  
As much fun as this was, one day we had the Korean families come in and teach us more about Korean culture. After learning more about the Korean language, one of my students’ eyes lit up as she turned to our Korean classmate and said “We could add Korean to our greetings so we can say good morning to you in Korean!” The smile on his face every time we used the Korean greeting said it all. To see the students grow into caring more about each other and the people around them was something special to be a part of.

Megan

What is a TCK?

The acronym TCK stands for Third Culture Kid. This refers to any kid who has spent a significant portion of their developmental years in a host culture that is different from their parents’ home culture and eventually (most likely) needs to repatriate. These kids end up developing another culture between themselves which is the “third” culture. Their lives are marked by many different things but TCKs seem to always be drawn to other TCKs who understand their experience on some level even if their home and host culture don’t overlap.

Hello Everyone,
 
I know that my updates have been few and far between but that is something that I am continuing to work on!
I have been back in the States, home from Cameroon, for a little over a year now. I want to thank you all tremendously for your support and prayers while I was in Cameroon. I know some of you are still partnering with me now and I am grateful for that and want to let you know where that money has been going. I am still a member of Wycliffe and am currently a career member which means I have plans to continue doing missions-work full time. I have been working both with the school in Cameroon and the Wycliffe recruiting department since I have been back. I don’t have many more details on what the future with Wycliffe looks like other than my top three options are: going back to Cameroon, serving as a broader educational consultant for Wycliffe (SIL), or working at a different overseas school. I am waiting on God’s timing to narrow down those choices. If you are still partnering with me your money is going towards my medical insurance with Wycliffe and some basic living expenses. I am grateful to have this support and be confident about my medical insurance right now.
 
You might also be wondering what I have been doing with my time since I arrived back in the states. While in Cameroon I got to know more of the needs of the educational community on the mission field. While there are great teachers, people who love MKs, and have the practical experience of having served them for years, there is a lack of current educational research knowledge on the field. I have always loved looking at the bigger picture of education and curriculum planning so when I came back to the states I enrolled in an M.S. program for Curriculum, Instruction, and Publication at Biola University. Through this program, I have been learning more about how education got to where it is today, the backgrounds of how students learn and the foundations of curriculum development. I have focused my research and studies on the needs of mission students (often more broadly known as TCKs). It has been a challenging program and I have a little over three semesters left.
 
I look forward to continuing to update you all on my plans, progress in my studies and share stories of my time in Cameroon. If you have any questions or specific requests on things to share, let me know! If anyone would like to meet up with me in person, I am back in San Diego for at least the next few months and would love to meet up for a physically distanced picnic or a zoom call.
 
Megan
 

Hello Everyone,   It has been a busy past few months. I am going to give you a little overview of what I have been up to! Thanks so much for your support for the last few years.   January— The year started with my family flying to Europe to meet me for Christmas. The rest of January was hard. The family I was living with went on furlough and a new family moved in. They are great but it was a big transition. I also had quite a few student changes in January, two students left and I got four new ones!

February—This month was a busy one for school. We had a special event called “Greenhouse around the World” where community members from around our expat community came and taught the kids about their home countries. The kids “visited” Korea, Cameroon, Switzerland, Australia, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, and Canada. The events all led up to a visit to the US embassy here in Cameroon to learn more about the services they provide. The kids got to ask questions about all of the different departments and learn about the ambassador.

March—This was spring break month for us and a special time called JLS. We had two homeschool kids join our class and we learned all about the rainforest (made especially fun since one of the kids lives in the middle of the rainforest!). During spring break, a team comes to provide a special camp for the students while we have branch meetings and retreat time. It was such blessing to learn about what God is doing through Bible translation here in Cameroon. I also got to attend the celebration of 50 years of Bible translation work in Cameroon. What a legacy!

April—April was so busy trying to fit in our last quarter of learning. In class we were focusing on higher reading skills like finding the main theme. We also worked on learning about how to work together and process emotions. Summer means lots of change for these kids since many of them are moving to new places for the coming months or years. I also helped the youth group kids during an overnight at the high school where we spent the evening worshiping and watching The Passion of The Christ. We then started Good Friday with a worship service.

May—May has meant getting ready to end school and say lots of goodbyes. Brianna came to spend my last month here in Cameroon with me so it has been fun showing her my routines and introducing her to my community here. I know many people are curious about what is happening in the future for me (So am I!). I will continue to send out updates and stories about my time in Cameroon as well as my plans for continuing with Wycliffe! Staying tuned for more updates as I continue to walk the path God has set before me.

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe that at this time, a little over one year ago, I was updating you on my mom’s health? A lot has happened in this year but I am happy to inform you that my mom’s health is looking good right now. Chemo and surgery did what they were supposed to do and she is feeling better and getting back to exciting things like school. Thanks for all of your prayers for both me and the rest of my family.

It is so nice to be here in Cameroon for a start of a school year without the added stress of moving to a new country and dealing with family health problems. I have been able to really dive into teaching much more than I was able to last year. I am already a month into a new school year. We start off the school year here with a three-week session where all the kids from the village families join us in the school environment. During this time we try to focus on doing a lot of group work and studying specific topics. During a professional development session that I attended this summer, I was encouraged to make learning as engaging and authentic as possible. I was given the challenge of teaching a unit on fossils and dinosaurs to my kids. Since there are no natural history museums with dinosaur bones to see here, we had to bring a museum to life ourselves. The kids learned how a footprint can be fossilized, how scientists study the clues left behind by the animals, and how to create museum displays. The learning culminated with three groups of students creating life-sized skeletons to display for their parents in an open house museum. It is such a blessing to be here and be able to continue to pour into these kids’ lives.

In my class this year, I have four kids that I taught last year and seven kids that are new to my classroom. I am so excited to continue to love these kids and stretch them in their learning. I thank you so much for your partnership that allows me to continue to be here in Cameroon, following God’s call to support missionary families.

Blessings,
Megan

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When thinking of moving to Cameroon, I had hoped that I would been able to be involved with the missionary kids here in ways outside of my classroom and God has been faithful to answer that. Sometime in November I was asked to be the main speaker at the Rainforest International School (RFIS) middle school retreat and I was excited to be able to say “Yes!” The school is the one that missionary kids in the area primarily attend and was created for that reason.  They have a retreat annually in order for the students to take some time to develop their spiritual lives. The retreat happened just recently and it was a great experience to try my hand out at something new and see how God would provide.
            The middle school this year has 24 students. The retreat happened over the course of four days. We spent two of the days at the school doing a variety of different activities and the other two days traveling to and from Doula (our port city) to visit the Africa Mercy Ship. The Mercy Ship has been in port in Cameroon this year and we have been blessed to be able to connect with the Academy teachers and students onboard. This is the first year that the school has been able to travel with the middle school and we had a great time. It was so nice to travel with the group and learn more about the kids and the things that are going on in their lives.
            The theme of the retreat was Serving Others. I was asked to speak six times (for a variety of lengths of time). While thinking about what God would want me to share on that topic, I kept coming back to the fact that we cannot serve God under our own terms. If Christians lead a life of service based on their needs and desires, it becomes an empty gesture. We spent a day learning about who God is, then who we are created to be and then how to love and serve others. Speaking that many times in 4 days was a nice exercise in trusting God for his wisdom in what to say. I am so grateful to all of you who prayed for me and encouraged me along the way.
            You might be thinking, “Wow, how did she get a week away from her classroom to do this?” I am grateful to be in a community of people who are willing to step in to support the kids and I had two lovely women substitute in my class for the week. Although creating substitute plans takes work, I knew that the kids in my class were going to be well loved while I was away (even though it meant missing the fun Friday bouncy house!). I was blessed to come back to school the next week with a lovely messages waiting for me like the one pictured.

Overheard in the classroom right before a rainstorm:
Student 1: “I am afraid of the rain”
Student 2: “Which part? The thunder?”
Student 3: “I am afraid of the thunder”
Student 2: “You don’t have to be afraid of the rain, just remember the bible verse ‘when I am afraid, I will trust in you’
Student 4: “Oh, I know a song!”
*whole group sings the Bible verse in song*
 

This conversation is just one of many that I have overheard in the past few months. It shows off the sweet personalities in my class and some of the fears that kids living in another country have learned to face. I am working at a school called The Greenhouse (A Learning Center for Missionary Children) that serves missionary families who are serving here in Cameroon. I am working with the first and second graders. We have been in school for a whole quarter now!
 
The first three weeks of school were focused on unit studies to give everyone a chance to jump-start the year. A few homeschool families joined us those three weeks. Some of those families live in the villages of Cameroon and others are homeschooling here in the city. This time was a great chance for them to work with their peers and have someone outside of their family teaching them. We spent a lot of time playing games, reading and learning about plant and animal needs.
 
The rest of my time at The Greenhouse has been with my regular set of students. I have 12 students who are here daily with a nice and even spilt of first and second grade. We have gotten into a lovely routine and most days it feels like a normal day at school. My classroom is full of beautiful windows and we love to watch the weather change throughout the day (which can lead to conversations about the rain!). I thank you so much for your prayers and I am excited to continue to share with you what God is doing in Cameroon!
 
I am so happy that I am here and able to provide a support for the families who are here to support Bible translation in so many ways. The kids in my class have parents who are pilots, mechanics, translators, teachers, librarians and media specialists (just to name a few). After living here for just a few months, I can see how much time and energy all of these ministries take and I am so grateful for your partnership in helping me support these families! 

With Love,
Megan

Hey Everyone,

For those of you who were expecting Cameroon updates, this is not that email this week. I was planning on updating you all about an entirely different thing this week but that post will have to wait because life has an interesting way of happening.

For those of you who don’t know yet, my mom has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This comes as a shock to us all (except for God). She is going to go into surgery on Thursday and we will know more at that time. I do ask for your prayers for her at that time (7:30 PST/GMT -8). Thank you for supporting her in prayer. If you want to hear more about her journey you can follow her blog at jansmithupdates.wordpress.com

I am confident that I am still where God wants me. His path to get me to Cameroon was so clear. I know that I need to trust in His Sovereign power now. I will continue to teach here and love on the amazing kids that He has placed here in my class and school. Being in Cameroon, away from family, is hard but God already knew what was going to happen when he asked me to come. I am going to continue to seek his wisdom on where I need to be but right now I am not planning on coming home until Christmas.

Thank you for partnering with me. I always knew that I needed a team supporting me to go overseas and now the reasons for that are becoming clear. I couldn’t even imagine going through this on my own. Even though I am halfway around the world, I know that my family and me are supported by a large group of people who love and care for me. Your sweet emails and messages are so very encouraging.

I look forward to keeping you all updated about what God is doing in my life and in the ministries at work here in Cameroon.

Love,
Megan

  I made it! I have been in Cameroon for almost three weeks now and have felt so supported by your prayers. The travel could not have gone more smoothly and my health since being here has been great. My transition in these two and a half weeks has been a crazy whirlwind of activity so far. I think the biggest shock to me is that things are so different, and yet at the same time, so similar. Lots of big things in life have changed but my daily routine of sleeping, eating, teaching, and building community are not that different then they were at home.

            I have so many things to report on that they will all just have to come slowly. One of the reasons that I am glad that God guided me towards Wycliffe is the community that they have. Coming here, I had people to pick me up at the airport, food waiting in my apartment, buddies to guide me through basic things and meals all week long (and still many more dinner invites). I am so blessed to have arrived into a community that shook my hand while saying, with joy, “We having been praying for you for so long, we are so happy to see you here!”
              Also during my first week I managed to find time to set up my classroom and prep for the first week of school. As I type this the first week is already over and the second is beginning. The school staff is an amazing team to be a part of and they have helped me out tremendously. My students are a lovely bunch of kids that are so excited to learn and create things together. I am looking forward to our year of learning.
               If this update feels tantalizingly short, it is, but there will be plenty more to follow. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I truly feel held up by those prayers daily and love reading the many cards that were written for me at my commissioning service. I look forward to keeping you informed about how God is working here in Cameroon.

With Love, 
Megan