We’ve officially been here over a month now and a lot has happened. One large things that stood out to me this morning as I lay in bed was familiarity. I remember our first morning here being awoken by a million different new sounds- not knowing what half of them were. This morning I knew the names of these sounds:
- The sound of the neighborhood roosters that I see run across the street looking for bugs every morning. They have incredibly large and strong legs (and “large talons” if you are a Napoleon Dynamite fan.)
- The sound of the neighborhood dogs who bark at all times of the night and poop all over the street- (I can’t blame them- there is no grass in the neighborhood- unless it’s behind a gate)
- The sound of the neighborhood baloot seller. Baloot is a semi-cooked semi-developed fertilized egg. No I’ve not tried it. You know he’s coming because he either yell/sings bAALooooot!!! up and down the street or has a horn that he honks in a wildly musical fashion. (in all honesty the horn honking musician may be a different kind of food seller- we sell a lot of food out of bins on the street here in Baguio- I’m not brave enough to try any yet- but it’s like a more convenient and healthier form of fast food right on your commute path or at your front door. We even have ice cream sellers- they have little carts hey push around (yes with music) and some even have magnum ice cream bars- which you can get in the states and are the best thing ever if you’ve never tried them. (you can find at Target or Martins)
It feels good to have these familiar sounds around.
Other developments: Our ministries are really starting to get going. Our primary missions are our classrooms- supporting the missionary families by educating and sharing God’s love, creation and knowledge with their children.
My classroom of 2nd graders are really moving academically. Math is amazing- after teaching 2nd grade math to 1st graders who don’t like or aren’t as good at math for the last 3 years- teaching a small class of Koreans math that is almost too easy for them- is a huge change. I actually get to sit down and grade papers- these kids could fly through about 6-10 pages front and back in 45 minutes (which is actually NOT productive). I’m not even exaggerating. We are figuring out a good system where they do a few sheets then we play some math games then they get like 5-10 minutes of free time. Some days we still have extra time so we work on reading or writing- which is where they really need more help. It’s just crazy how their minds are so mathematic. For Social Studies we use Abeka curriculum. I’m not a fan of them. What makes it worse is the Social Studies curriculum is all about America and how great and wonderful it is. So if I have the kids read aloud- I inevitably end up with a cute Korean kid reading in a thick accent something like- “America is the best nation in the world. Aren’t you proud you live in a country full of opportunity?” I don’t have my kids read during Social Studies anymore... I summarize read to them. It’s also the most boring curriculum ever. We are going to breeze through it then do a unit on Korea and a unit on the Philippines. All other areas in the classroom are going well. It’s amazing when you don’t have an hour long special ever day and your not switching between classes (as much as I enjoyed the ability groups at WA) how much extra time you have. We do all kinds of fun and creative things. I get to be a fun and creative teacher- I love it.
Craig’s classes are going well too. He teaches Bible classes every morning and PE every afternoon. His frustration and focus is with Bible. He is trying to take these kids who only give factual answers and do the work just to get it done. He wants to help them to think outside the factual box and really apply their knowledge. He is REALLY working on this- he has (and always has had) a passion to get teens to “get it” and apply their faith to their life. These kids are super smart- but any teen is going to have trouble stopping and thinking and applying (in any setting) and these kids who think facts and getting 100% on tests is the most important thing in the world- are really having a hard time. Craig is adjusting to working through the language barrier as well and I know God will work through him and there will be success in this area this year. He is making great relationships (of course!) with many of the teens. He is the teacher who sits with the teachers at lunch for like 5-10 minutes then hangs out with the teenagers for the next 30-40 minutes just talking and getting to know them. Those of us who know him- know that that is just Craig. :)
Youth group at CAB started Friday night. It was awesome! I think we have about 35-40 teens. We played a bunch of games, had snacks, worship and a message from Craig. We finished by breaking into small groups and getting a chance to talk to the kids about the message through questions Craig provided. I loved getting to talk with the 5th grade girls. (I am much less out-going than both Craig and Lindsey- so that plus the Korean’s shy-ness I was having a harder time connecting with the youth.) I was glad for the forced chance to get to talk with them. Craig’s message was about Love- it was fun, funny, serious and full of energy. I am so thankful God has given us this ministry opportunity- I am looking forward to seeing what God has planned for this group of teens this year. We also had a great amount of adult supporters (other teachers) last night which really helped.
Other news in ministry opportunities is that we have been able to work with the orphanage twice now. It is a lovely place- a very nice home with a beautiful view and even more beautiful children. There are about 20 children in the home right now and their ages range from a few months to mid-teens, I think. We just play and hang out with the kids. Some weeks we may bring a snack or craft. Just getting the kids out of the caregivers hair for a few hours, or giving a little extra love to the kids is what we do while we are there. This weekend we connected with some of the older kids - like 8-12 maybe. We played some basketball and chased kids of all ages around the yard. I loved on and tickled little girls telling them how beautiful they are. The older kids taught Lindsey and I to count to ten in Tagalog and will be quizzing us the next time we come! I better keep practicing! We plan to go out to the orphanage at least once a month, if not twice.
Lindsey and I were able to attend the Baguio Missionary Women’s group this week. It is basically a social gathering for missionary women in the area. It was awesome. We got to meet of a lot of amazing women and a have several new ministry opportunity. Lindsey met and talked a long time with a Filipino women who does a ministry with children in one of the poorer areas of Baguio on Saturdays. We hope to learn more about this and help her with this.
I have had on my heart to help local schools- teachers in the public schools here have like 40-60 kids in a class with very little supplies and help. My heart goes out to them. I would like to collect school supplies and things for them- so I am working on learning more about the needs and how to get things to those who need them - then I will be sharing with friends in the US how they can help. The best way may be to send money to buy supplies here- but I will be learning more and researching over the next month. I know we like to send things rather than money- but really between the cost to buy in America plus ship- I’m sure buying here would be the most effective. But since I know people will want to send things- I’m going to look into those options as well.
Other random awesome news! We have 60 some Filipino kids visit our church last Sunday (which was awesome in itself) but most of them had Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas child Bibles!!(this is the shoebox Christmas ministry) You know they always say- the box will be given along with a Bible in the child’s native language- well these kids all had Tagalog Bibles! It was awesome to see these first hand! I should have asked the kids if they had received a Christmas box and ask them about it, but I honestly didn’t even think of that till now. But I hope that is encouragement to you in the states- I know it will soon be shoebox season!
We have updated our pictures on our blog too!!
Click the tab labeled "pictures" at the top of our blog
-Meghan
No comments:
Post a Comment