School of Missions

School of Missions….

So I arrive at School of Mission on Tuesday August 21^st- at 1:30 PM. I get my keys for our room- head to my classroom- Gabe Reese (who taught the toddlers) and Brother Cruz (who did recreation) were life savers- They helped me decorate for the next 4 hours. 5:30 is dinner and the room is done. We head to dinner and then they dismiss the students with their teachers. As we walk over from the dining hall to the Activities Center I realize- Wow- This will be a diff. year. I had 8 boys and 5 girls- ages 6-12…

As you know if you have taught the first time for them to be together as a group is often one of the more challenging ones. There was head thumping- hitting- hat throwing, screaming etc. I quickly got them to the room- with Gabe and Brother Cruz going with us. I gave them an overview- Explained my rules…and since it was so hard for them to listen made up an instant rule.

They were going to have the chance to earn a “fun day” this is a day where we would scrap the usual whole days lessons (all 11 hours) and do nothing but fun. If I counted to four and they were still not paying attention- they would get 1 mark on the board. If they had accrued 5 they would not have the fun day.

After this brief class was over I had two worried girls come up to me. This is not going to work.- they worried. We have never seen such bad boys before in my life etc etc. I said no- this is perfect. The guys are great- they are getting to know each other and will be fine by tomorrow. (I silently prayed that was the case)

You know what? They DID great. They were smart, fun, witty, creative, wild, crazy, and most of all sensitive to God.

They all became level 5 special agents

They made robots, sail boats, Frisbees, rockets, climbed the climbing wall and on and on

They sang songs

They ate Snacks

They learned about the power of prayer

They worked on their notebooks

They played kickball (many for the first time)

They played with a parachute (again many for the first time)

They cried together

They prayed together

They laughed together

They realized they were not alone in this

Yes- they are alone in their country- but there were others in other countries facing the same thing.

-One young man from Bangladesh is the only Christian in his school-

-Some are only children and have no friends

-Another boy lives in a very hard country that is by majority Muslims- They had snipers sitting on the neighbor’s roof looking out for him and his family.

I smiled as many days the adults would say at breakfast, or lunch, or dinner- this is your free time- you don’t have to sit with them- I want to sit with them. I only have a short period of time to be with them, invest in them, help them, learn from them, and laugh with them, to be a friend, listen to their little stories, and laugh at their jokes.

At the end of 8 days and over 88 hours of teaching- the Dry Erase Board only had four marks on it- They did it- They had earned their free day. What lay in store for all of us on that free day- Was un-expected!! See the next blog!!