I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are staying safe and healthy. I am writing to you to give you some updates on the current situation.

The school resumption date is still March 2nd. We will use it as a staff day, and then we will welcome our students the next day. If they change the date again, we are hoping to hear a week before that. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to make any decisions unless we hear directly from the Education Department.

According to the government requirements, we will need to allow students and staff to return in groups. The first group to return would include those who have been in China or oversees all this time and have not traveled to any of the critical or high-risk areas. The second group will include those who have returned from the critical or high-risk areas, have completed their quarantine in Dongguan, and have obtained a medical certificate that allows them to go back to school.

During this month, we have had a group of brave managers and cleaning and maintenance staff prepare our campus, clean, disinfect, and rearrange some of the facilities. We have also been doing a lot of reporting and filing. We are expecting another government inspection sometime soon. That will help us know if we can reopen or if there is still work that needs to be done before that. Please continue to lift our school up in your thoughts!

According to the requirements, we have set up two observation rooms next to the nurse’s office (old Frogs and Owls classrooms). No staff will be permitted in those rooms except for the nurses. We are also splitting the sleeping room into two and moving the childcare to the 2nd floor of building A. We are also working on relocating the Elementary Music room.

For those of you who need to do border runs, the Macao border remains to be open, and they are not imposing any quarantines for visitors. However, it is always good to check this information before you plan to cross any border.

I know this time has been really hard for all of us. I want to be honest with you all. There are days when I feel discouraged and upset. Whenever that happens, I keep hearing the voice saying, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That’s when I know I can rest in His reassurance. No matter what is happening or what kind of struggles we are going through, His promises stay strong, and I can have peace in that. I hope that all of you take this time to strengthen your faith and trust.

To encourage you a little bit, I want to share with you some recent pictures of our campus (picture credits Nathan Lochala). I miss all of our staff and students and the craziness of working days on campus. Look how beautiful all the creation is! Please stay strong and don’t lose hope. I can’t wait to see you all.

Love you all,

Ana Patenaude