If You're Happy and You Know it, Smile!

August 2

     Today was a typical Thursday except for the fact that I asked Jen if she wouldn’t mind taking care of giving out the tests for the English class while I went over my lesson for the high school class. That took me a good two hours. Yes, I do like to be rather thorough when I prepare for my classes…it pays off though; at least I hope it does. I can’t speak for the students. Sometimes it’s still a challenge finding ways to help them grasp the concepts. A lot of the material is unfamiliar to them because hardly any of them grew up in the church. Plus the intended audience or at least the perspective presented in the book assumes that the readers are already Christians or have at least some background knowledge. Regardless though, I trust that God will work in their hearts. It was kind of sad to think that next week is our last week with them, but I really hope that our time with them has had some impact in their lives. Like everything else we do in ministry, we plant the seeds but God makes them grow.

     We were a bit behind schedule with the class. Evelin wasn’t feeling very well so we were a little slow with getting the lunches ready. Luckily the culture here is pretty flexible with time. The class went well and we even got to fool around with them a bit after class. I’m hoping we can have a little more fun with them next week before we leave. I see so much potential in these kids and I hope we can leave them with a sense of confidence in what God can do in their lives and through them.

     The rest of the day was pretty laid back. We played with the kiddos and spent some time with the girls. I’m always thankful for the joy that the babies bring to this place…gives things a good balance. Even during the hard days, the smiles on their sweet faces give you a reason to be happy.