Ready to Teach

Wednesday Jenna and I taught our first LaunchPad class. We had to change curriculum. Instead of teaching Love, Sex, and Relationships we are teaching Foundations of Faith. It was kind of scary to switch over so soon with only a week to prepare but it turned out great! I think this is a better curriculum to start out with. We might teach Love, Sex, and Relationship next term.
Aims, our staff helper, said we did really good for our first time. It helps that Jenna and I have both taught before, but even before I wasn’t very good. And I also spoke well with the interpreter compared to last week when I was trying to explain the class and a whole paragraph came out before anything could get translated.
We talked about salvation and I illustrated God’s free gift with a little skit Jenna and I did. She gave me a free gift of a soccer ball. I also illustrated our failure to a pit we are stuck in, and God’s salvation with someone saving us by handing down a rope. I said Jesus came down to save us but it took more than a rope, He gave His life. I know God really helped, I couldn’t have done that all by myself for sure. Jenna taught the first part and I did the last half. I think it also helps when I’m teaching with someone (one at a time) rather than me doing the whole thing myself.
The children seem very excited about this class and are willing to learn. I got to talk with a girl after class who had a question about what was taught. I enjoy getting to have personal conversations with the students and making friends with them.

Note from Samukelisiwe

Last week at Hope House I received a lovely note from Samukelisiwe! She is so sweet and remembers my name every week. I have a hard time with hers though. It’s got to be the longest name of all the children. I’ve been practicing saying it every day, hopefully I’ll have it next time I see her.

LaunchPad Starts

This week we start the first LaunchPad classes that will be every Tuesday and Wednesday. Since this week is our introductory week we will be introducing ourselves along with playing get-to-know-you games and go over what we will be teaching through this term. We are praying that this will be a good start and that the staff, interns, and interpreters will be able to connect with the kids so that they feel comfortable, safe, and have fun!

No More Sorrow, No More Pain

“…And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain…” – “I Will Rise” by Chris Tomlin
This song has been a favorite of mine for about half a year now. It’s one of those songs I can’t get tired of hearing and even after listening to it so many times God still talks to me through it. I wasn’t going to post anything about my discovery of my dog’s death, but I can’t go through it alone. Sometimes we go through sorrow and pain, but it passes by and good times come again. Sugar was old and I knew I shouldn’t expect her to make it till I got back home, but I still hoped.
Even though it hurts to know she is gone I am thankful that she is no longer in pain. I have grown closer to God during this time and really appreciate His comfort.
Please pray for me this week as it will be hard for me to focus on my new jobs here. Thank you for all your prayers.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Dear God, I love You and wrote this for You.

Sit at Your Feet

I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink Your water so sweet
I wanna sit at Your table
Eat Your bread from the Bible

I wanna walk at Your side
And lay down all my pride
I wanna sing You this song
As we go walking along

I wanna hear the sound of thunder
And know I’m not in danger
I wanna watch the clouds roll by
The mountain tops, so high

I see the rocks staring down
And know I’m on firm ground
It’s Your beauty all around
That reminds me You hold the crown

Rappelling

Last Saturday I had so much fun rappelling! We climbed up Mt. Everest, one of the mountains on base. Lucas, who has helped people rappel for ten years, set up the ropes for us and coached us on our way down.
The rock we went down didn’t look that big from the bottom, but when I looked down from the top it was very high. I grew nervous while Lucas tied all the ropes and showed us how to use them. However, I was the first to rappel down. It was scary to have to put all my trust in the harness and ropes. I learned that I had to let go of all my control, I couldn’t even hold on to the rock. All I had in my hands were ropes and all my weight was in the harness. I started slow and tried not to look down the first time. After I got to the bottom I hurried back up to do it again! The second time I enjoyed the scenery.
After all the fun I thought of how I must do the same for God. He is my Harness; I need to put all my trust in Him. And let go of all my control. He has blessed me so much! I didn’t expect to go rappelling while here in Africa! Missions aren’t all hard and filled with trials like some people (like me) have thought. It also isn’t perfect and always spiritual. Missionaries are still people.

Secret Tip on Great Hair!

Today at Hope House was so relaxing and peaceful. I really appreciated it after our big morning on visiting two schools for LaunchPad Assemblies.
During our activities the kids were much better behaved than the 2 weeks before. They got along better and even helped clean up quickly afterwards.
When we were all done we played outside for the remaining amount of time we had there. I got my hair done while lying out in the grass! I learned a secret to great hair! Here is what you do:
Don’t take a shower the morning you go to get it done
Go to a place with lots of kids, preferably Hope House
Find a small boy with a runny nose and dirty flip flop
Lay out in the grass
And that’s it! Great hair just like that!

Finishing LaunchPad Assemblies

Friday was our last day going into the schools to get the kids to come and be excited about LaunchPad classes. Again they got me very excited for LaunchPad too!

We went to two schools on our last day and I think they were the best from the whole week! But my friends have caught me saying that after every school. I think they just keep getting better! The kids really showed excitement and that they understood the drama. And we have improved after doing the drama so much all week. At our very last school Jace, who explains the drama and invites everyone to LaunchPad, felt that God wanted her to pray over the kids. After we finished she invited the kids to come up and get prayed over from us. We were surprised since we didn’t expect it but I was happy to get to pray for them. They were all so sweet and I loved praying for each of the kids that came to me. Most wanted prayer to help them pass their tests but one girl that walked up to me said she wanted a changed life!

When we left and shared our experience there we found out that all together we had 3 kids that we had prayed the prayer of salvation with them.

Excited for LaunchPad!

Today I think we did really good on our dramas. We did three today and the last one we did we got to stay a little bit afterwards and talk to the kids. They are so sweet and excited about seeing us. They made promises to come to our classes and said we were beautiful. Alaina had a singing part in the drama and one girl came up to her and said that when she heard her sing, it was so beautiful she wanted to cry! As much as we go trying to get the kids excited about LaunchPad, they make us excited! I'm so excited to build relationships with these precious kids!

LaunchPad Assemblies

All this week we are doing LaunchPad Assemblies, where we go into the schools and promote LaunchPad. (the classes we will be teaching) To get them excited to come we did a drama. I was nervous the first time but after that it has been fun. I like seeing all the kids and schools. We will be performing the same drama quite a bit this week. We went to three schools today and we will do three more tomorrow.

On Monday we went to Clubview, where Jenna and I will be teaching. We will be teaching from Thrive Africa curriculum and from the book, “Love, Sex, and Relationships”. I am excited since this is a subject I have learned lots from and know I’m called to. I hope and pray that God will make it clear on what I should share and that I will have the courage to share it. We are encouraged to put in our own personal testimonies and create a safe environment for the kids to share too.