Reconnect As A Family

This week I was privileged to attend a retirement celebration for Muniandy, one of our kitchen staff. Muniandy has served in the kitchen at Dalat for 44 years. He started as a teenager and has never worked anywhere else. When someone asked why he had stayed for so long, he said, “This is my family.”

That family connection is an important pillar of Dalat, and I am so excited to have opportunities to celebrate together again as a Dalat family. The PTO International Food Fair tonight is a major milestone. This was actually the last school event we held in 2020, and the first lockdown due to COVID was announced only days later. The PTO did an admirable job of holding the event in creative ways over the past few years, but finally resuming the event in-person marks that we are truly moving forward as a community. It seems like many of you share my excitement, as we have a record number of countries represented, and the food vouchers sold out this week.

We also got to celebrate Spirit Week again this week. We even got to say “no masks” so students aren’t covering their entire heads and faces with large and distracting costume masks. After years of mask requirements, it was a refreshing change. The students are having a great time interpreting the themes for each day, and it’s wonderful to see all of their smiling faces.

Next week, we are looking forward to celebrating Missions Emphasis Week (MEW) again. We have a team of speakers from Canada flying in and will be holding four chapel services each day, Monday–Wednesday. There will be a chapel for elementary, middle, and high school students during the day, and a combined service each evening. Parents are welcome to attend the services in the evening. Participating in worship together as a community is another hallmark of the family nature at Dalat.

I am so thankful to be part of this family. The sense of family continued throughout the last three difficult years, and the opportunity to celebrate together again makes these events that much sweeter. I hope to see many of you at these events as we enjoy spending time together.