It is difficult to know where to begin
in catching you all up with what has been happening here! (This can
be a motivation for me to be more regular in writing updates.) Since
there is much to tell, I will simply begin with a man I mentioned in
my last update: John. As you may remember, we met John at a
conference soon into our travels here and discovered that he had
already been in contact with our team through email. He told us about
his school: an international school, taught in English, with very low
tuition prices compared to other international schools in the area.
He works hard to keep costs low so that middle and lower class
families can send their children there to receive a quality
education. At the time that we met John, he was hoping and praying
for international teachers to join his team and help with the English
teaching and some of the higher level classes. We are now those
teachers!
Monday and Wednesday mornings, our team
teaches English, music, science, health, Bible, and US history to
preschool through fourth graders. Each grade level has an English and
music class, while we only teach the other subjects to specific
grades. This is an exciting partnership for us! We share John's
vision of providing quality education to children who otherwise might
not be able to afford it, while finding opportunities to share the
gospel with the many Buddhist children who attend. (John estimates
that about 40% of the students are Buddhist.)
Over the next few weeks, we expect to
begin teaching several other English classes, always with that same
goal: to plant seeds of God's good news in the hearts and minds of
those we teach. As our schedule begins to fill, we are working to
keep that aim in the forefront of the choices we make and the way we
develop relationships here. We have been cultivating a relationship
with a local couple through weekly Bible studies, and we now have the
opportunity to begin teaching many students at their home. Some of
the team has been playing ultimate frisbee each week with a group of
international teachers and travelers. We have been meeting more with
the native pastor we know here, and plan to begin spending more time
at the orphanage he started. We hope that in all these relationships,
God's love will be shown through us.
In other news, we recently purchased
bicycles, so that we can more quickly and comfortably travel around
this part of the city! That has been a huge blessing, as we need to
rely slightly less on taxis or the confusing and crowded public
transportation system. We have also been experimenting with our rice
cooker, as we do not have an oven in the apartment. As a result, we
have been eating lots of baked goods recently, from banana bread to
pumpkin harvest loaf. As November approaches, we have been discussing
different methods for preparing Thanksgiving dishes! Like every other
aspect of life here, that will surely be an adventure.
