Happy Thanksgiving from Kenya! I must admit it felt odd to wake up in Kenya on Thanksgiving morning...I am missing all the familiar people and events (though not the smells) of Thanksgiving at home. Surprising enough I am missing the fresh feel of the cold air that is most likely blowing around Chicago these days.
Our term ended yesterday and though I love my students and greatly enjoy the ministry of loving students who are away from their parents, I am so excited to read, rest, find some fun, be still, make my home feel like home, and catch up on sleep. I have plans to be in Uganda to visit some friends and to raft the Nile...crocs and hippos here I come!
Spending much of my day with 2nd graders I hear and read funny words all the time. My favorites often times are the inventive spelling and the spontaneous laughter just because we are in 2nd grade. In my opinion one student has come up with a much better spelling of pneumonia (which I had to look up on dictionary.com) Her rendition - nomoniya...not bad. sment for cement. And one student asked how to spell intendent...I stewed for awhile, asked some leading questions and he responded "you know, super intendent"...oh, you mean Nintendo!
Aside from the "stop picking your nose" pep talk, I have also been asking for and encouraging better listeners, showing me that you are listening with eye contact and responses, etc... One little boy who likes to space might have finally gotten my point. He looked intensely at me and said "Miss Crockett, I'm listening" as he proceeded to walk backwards (so he could continue to look at me) to his desk with a smirk the whole time...he knew what he was doing.
School just wasn't designed for little boys. Being in Africa I have more freedom to take my class outside to do school and we do a lot of moving, but with 7 boys and 4 girls next term I'm thinking I will need to get real creative in my approach to learning :-) any ideas are more than welcome!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Baptisms and Boogers
I do hope no one is offended by the title. I was struggling to be creative until I realized what I wanted to write about and it created an alliteration. It must the teacher deep inside me coming out. Or, I'm well on my way to writing 3 point sermons or whatever they teach you in seminary.
Rift Valley Academy (RVA) had their baptism service a week ago. We do this outside and are gathered as a whole school. It was such a time of celebration of the work God is doing in our students hearts. The testimonies shared were evidence of God's faithful work in the hearts of those He has called His own.
We had Spiritual Emphasis Week about 6 weeks ago and witnessed a fresh work of the Lord in the hearts of students and staff alike. Even though, many of our students were raised as missionary kids much of their life they still have to sort through what is truth, they still stumble into sin, and God is still faithful to work redeeming works in their hearts. Praise God for the hope we have in Him!
As I watched baptisms, I looked around and saw numerous kids high in trees during the service. We climb trees here a lot and have almost no broken bones as a result, but I was reminded of the unique culture of missionary kids (my target ministry) as I watched tree climbers, listened to testimonies, and observed The church here that day. I am blessed!
And the boogers....I'm sure my kiddos have been picking their noses since before I got here, but I've noticed an increase of activity in this direction recently and needless to say I'd like to see the activity slow down. So, I've given a pep talk at least twice about spreading germs, washing hands, etc.... because I've gotten sick a few times - I like to blame it on the boogers.
Strategically included in this pep talk is direction to STOP picking your nose and eating and spreading your boogers! With that said, it seems to be perfectly normal in African culture to pick your nose, even while in the middle of a conversation and I'm wondering if this has some influence upon the excessive booger picking. No worries, though, I don't think I will catch the trend.
Rift Valley Academy (RVA) had their baptism service a week ago. We do this outside and are gathered as a whole school. It was such a time of celebration of the work God is doing in our students hearts. The testimonies shared were evidence of God's faithful work in the hearts of those He has called His own.
We had Spiritual Emphasis Week about 6 weeks ago and witnessed a fresh work of the Lord in the hearts of students and staff alike. Even though, many of our students were raised as missionary kids much of their life they still have to sort through what is truth, they still stumble into sin, and God is still faithful to work redeeming works in their hearts. Praise God for the hope we have in Him!
As I watched baptisms, I looked around and saw numerous kids high in trees during the service. We climb trees here a lot and have almost no broken bones as a result, but I was reminded of the unique culture of missionary kids (my target ministry) as I watched tree climbers, listened to testimonies, and observed The church here that day. I am blessed!
And the boogers....I'm sure my kiddos have been picking their noses since before I got here, but I've noticed an increase of activity in this direction recently and needless to say I'd like to see the activity slow down. So, I've given a pep talk at least twice about spreading germs, washing hands, etc.... because I've gotten sick a few times - I like to blame it on the boogers.
Strategically included in this pep talk is direction to STOP picking your nose and eating and spreading your boogers! With that said, it seems to be perfectly normal in African culture to pick your nose, even while in the middle of a conversation and I'm wondering if this has some influence upon the excessive booger picking. No worries, though, I don't think I will catch the trend.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
A scattered update
I have been faithful to try to connect to blogger to put an updated post, but not as patient to wait for it to work properly. We have just over 2 weeks left in our term before we break at American Thanksgiving and students don't return until early January. The push is on as the activity does not slow down and our bodies don't seem to regain much of anything.
Though, I continue to see God's grace pour forth in and through a bunch of imperfect people. One such moment that I am now referring to as a treasure of a gem, happened as I was humbled by a student and some mistakes I had made as a teacher and the way in which I had interacted with this specific student. Needless to say, the tearful conversation with my precious 2nd grader ended with hugs and forgiveness. My learning curve is high in 2nd grade!
After 3 weeks of limping, great pain and slight pain, and playing ultimate frisbee and running one day, the doctors reviewed my x-ray's and found 2 cracks in my bone. I have joined the ranks of people who can say they have broken a bone and am stuck in an incredibly gorgeous boot (basically a cast I can take off) for 3 weeks. If they really didn't want me running on the broken foot, they should have put me in a cast I couldn't un-velcro. I am being careful, but am excited to remove the restraint and run freely, hopefully pain free in a few weeks.
If you, by any chance, have access to a Chicago Bears football game from the last few years in which there was great excitement and a win for the Bears, send a copy to me! Thanksgiving without a football game will just not be the same. I did bring my football and will probably rope some friends into throwing it around, but most folks around here go for Rugby well over American football. American football is somewhat of a girlie sport when put up against Rugby. Who would have thought?
Though, I continue to see God's grace pour forth in and through a bunch of imperfect people. One such moment that I am now referring to as a treasure of a gem, happened as I was humbled by a student and some mistakes I had made as a teacher and the way in which I had interacted with this specific student. Needless to say, the tearful conversation with my precious 2nd grader ended with hugs and forgiveness. My learning curve is high in 2nd grade!
After 3 weeks of limping, great pain and slight pain, and playing ultimate frisbee and running one day, the doctors reviewed my x-ray's and found 2 cracks in my bone. I have joined the ranks of people who can say they have broken a bone and am stuck in an incredibly gorgeous boot (basically a cast I can take off) for 3 weeks. If they really didn't want me running on the broken foot, they should have put me in a cast I couldn't un-velcro. I am being careful, but am excited to remove the restraint and run freely, hopefully pain free in a few weeks.
If you, by any chance, have access to a Chicago Bears football game from the last few years in which there was great excitement and a win for the Bears, send a copy to me! Thanksgiving without a football game will just not be the same. I did bring my football and will probably rope some friends into throwing it around, but most folks around here go for Rugby well over American football. American football is somewhat of a girlie sport when put up against Rugby. Who would have thought?
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