Donovan took a Word Building Test yesterday during lunch because he was just dying to finish, which is awesome because he has been working on only science for too long. He is a great kid, really hyper, and a really hard worker. He is one of the kids actually near grade level but the past week he has been a little lazy BUT he did great on his test. He had me laughing the whole time. Halfway through he jumped around the room, and his sound effects were great whenever he would catch himself making a mistake. One of his words was “atom” and it took me 45 seconds to realize that he was asking if I had seen Real Steel, because that is the robot’s name. He is a great kid with awesome parents. He loves Jesus. I push my kids a lot and they don’t enjoy it, but there are a few moments where we get to have a lot of fun in the classroom. Pray for our kids to grow to be different for Jesus please.
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Today, 8th and 9th grade are taking their math tests. Hopefully all goes well, I think they know most of what they are doing. I am not as good at teaching these kids math as Justin is. Please pray that I can teach the grades I do as well as possible, and that God raises these kids up to be different for Him. He gives the increase, He works here and raises them up. He uses us but He is the one who is working. Also, please be praying for 6th and 7th grade who will be taking their test tomorrow or Monday. Thank you!
In a schoolwide effort to push the students to speak more English, the older kids have started presenting weekly speaking projects where they have to write down their lines and have them checked to make sure they are correct. Eventually the fifth graders will have to memorize their lines like the middle schoolers do. The kids really push back against speaking English but they still have to do it, because that is how they are going to learn. Please pray that they develop a desire to speak more English. Jacob and I teach our class bible lessons every day, and since he has been back in the states it has been a little bit harder to get time to prepare so we have been working on different studies that are pretty simple but very important. We have been studying Creation, what God made on each day and that He rested on the seventh day, which ties into their curriculum. We have also memorized the Armor of God in both English and Spanish, and we are currently studying the Fruit of the Spirit. To truly raise these kids up in Christ we have to be very thorough and consistent, we are not perfect but I can see some of these kids changing in a positive way. I pray that my kids are different from this country's norm and from the world, I want them to experience more of God than I ever will.
We had an amazing AWANA on Friday, the 3rd and 4th graders have worked up to the entirety of John 3:16, they have to memorize in both languages and copy an English lesson page into Spanish, they do a good job. We sang Father Abraham and they loved it. The kids all think my camera is so amazing so I get some crazy pictures and I don't have to take them so go kids! We play freeze tag during lunch, and I won on Tuesday because the bell went off to end lunch before they could tag me, I was barricaded in the bathroom. We did our second AWANA session last Friday with the kids and it had a few different obstacles but it was a great time. Carlos was not there for music with Rachel, Gloria was busy after school, and Mike had to go to an interview to renew his visa, so we had to think on our feet a little bit but it worked out well. I taught the kids Father Abraham because it was the only "AWANA Song" that came to mind but I jhave a few more now just in case we need to throw back again. We also combined the 2 older groups for music because we lacked some materials for 20 minutes, but again, God will still be glorified even in the chaos. The kids now have notebooks for copies of pages from Sparky books or TNT books that they will copy into Spanish use to study in order to memorize the verses. Keep praying for AWANA to take off even more. The kids had a blast, it's awesome to see their joy! AWANA is a program for building the biblical and christian foundations of kids. It stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. We have started doing AWANA in place of Chapel on Fridays. We start at 12:20, have a 10 minute lesson then 3 groups rotating through 30 minute blocks of games, music, and handbook time. There are 93 students participating from 1st to 8th grade. 1st-4th are SPARKS and the older kids are in TNT, Truth and Training. I am with 3rd and 4th grade, I sub in both classes throughout the day whenever I am needed so I know the kids pretty well, they are a good group, they absolutely loved it. They laughed because I knew the Spanish song Carlos taught them, I don't know why they got a kick out of it but they did #gringopower. Our key verse this week was John 3:16 "For God so loved the world" they will learn the verse in pieces, they memorize it in English and Spanish, and then put their name in the place of "the world" so for me it would be "For God so loved Ethan". They have to memorize those and tell them to us during handbook time. Personally, AWANA is a huge reason for why I am here, it provided a strong foundation in Christ. I am so thankful for the people who led AWANA in our church, especially Ms. Barb, Mr. Scott, and My mom, and knowing the impact that program had on my life makes me so excited that these 93 little kids living in El Doradito, Honduras get to have that same experience. Jacob and I give small bible lessons to the class every day, rotating each day. We usually build off of hat the other has spoken about, what Justin preaches about at church or Thursday bible study, and/or our quiet time from the morning. We have spoken about 1 Timothy 4:12 so they don't hold back with youth as an excuse. We have spoken about Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and have tied it into Samson and stories of Abram's obedience. We have referenced Jesus feeding the 5,000+ (those are just men so women and kids are the +) and Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" . Today we spoke about growing spiritually in reference to 1 Corinthians 14:20, 1 Peter 2:1-3, Proverbs 2:1-5, and Hebrews 5:12-14. There are only ever 2 options, God and Understanding or the World and Evil, and the ones we choose fuel our growth in either understanding or evil. Please pray for spiritual growth.
Today I presented the story of David and Goliath (or Daveed y Goleeaht as the kids know it, durn pronunciation differences) to the 2nd graders in Spanish. We had 3 students represent the Israelites, 3 represent the Philistines, 1 represent David, and Ms. Meg represent Goliath. The kids loved the story, they loved the poses Ms. Meg struck while intimidating David. They provided David with a washcloth to use as a sling shot and cheered when Goliath fell down and died. The kids got so into it, God is working here, pray that we are good examples for them, and that they put their faith in God with the same trust as David.
For the past few weeks we have been sharing the gospel with the students 1 on 1. So far 24 kids have accepted Christ! Go Team Jesus! It is amazing, now we need to disciple these kids. We are going to start Children's Church, the girls have a girls bible study once a week with 6th-8th grade girls, we have supplies for AWANAS. Pray for these kids to grow in Christ, we are going to do our best to be examples for them like Paul was an example to the churches. We have to raise them up in Christ like so many people did for me, I feel so privileged and honored to get to help shape these kids for Christ.
6th-8th Grade: Madeline, Luisito, Gabriela, Kiria, Darling, Jeimy, Carlos, Miguel 5th Grade: Monzerrath, Josue, Maria, Andrea, Genesis, Gabriel, Aysis 4th Grade: Erol, Yajira, Yoely, Minely, Ana Maria, Genesis 3rd Grade: Victor, Bryan, Maicol Pray for them to grow up in Christ, to make a difference, and to never let their age hold them back 1 Timothy 4:12 "Do not let anyone look down on you because of your youth, but be examples for the believers in speech, in actions, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity." |
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December 2016
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