Celebration Time!
“It was awesome!!” We couldn’t agree more with the words of our son-in-law, Geoff, who joined Annie, Cynthia and me to observe the final UCLA presentation of Cole Porter’s musical “Anything Goes.” Not only was the show incredible, the scenery and set design were spectacular! And it was our son Phil who designed and put the whole set together! During the two-week run, Phil had the opportunity to speak to a number of theatre goers from throughout the States who watched the production. One couple asked if Phil knew the scenic designer, and Phil humbly explained that it was he. The couple responded that in the nearly 300 Broadway productions they have observed, “This was one of the best designs we’ve ever seen!” We flew to LA to catch the final show and to be with Phil a week later for his graduation from the UCLA with a Masters of Fine Arts in Scenic Design. Normally, for the school’s end of year production, UCLA asks an outsider to do the design work. However, they asked Phil to accept this challenge, and he passed with flying colors. We are very proud of his accomplishments.
After “Anything Goes,” we set off for Walnut Creek where we spent extra days with Annie and family. Playing with Hailey-- dancing, swing sets and hide and seek-- made for a delightful respite. We then returned to LA on Thursday for Phil’s graduation ceremonies on Friday. We bought UCLA sweatshirts and now feel like official UCLA parents. In short – it was a magnificent week that we needed together as a family.
We returned from CA with Candidate School at Greater Europe Mission already in full swing. This year there were 17 candidates, which is the largest number of candidates we have had for a number of years. Each one had an amazing story of how God had been leading them to serve Him overseas. I was involved in training the candidates for intercultural transition skills.
Cynthia met with the families who have children to give advice on educating children overseas, and having a bilingual / bicultural family. She encouraged them to get in touch with SHARE once “over there,” and I expect many will continue to interact with her seeking her advice.
Meanwhile, Cynthia has been enjoying the interaction with colleagues around the world in her PACE course. PACE stands for “Professional Association of Cross Cultural Consultants in Education.” It is an on-line curriculum developed by SHARE to train mission and other international leaders in educational issues. Cynthia is currently co-facilitating a class on Multilingual Issues, and her students are scattered across the US, and in Spain, the UK, Hungary and India. She is grateful for the opportunity to “keep her hand” in the missions world through this 6-week class! If you are interested in more information, you can check out the PACE website at www.tckconsultant.org
