I promise myself that I'll post regularly and don't. Why is that? One of the reasons is Facebook. Another reason is busy. We've been having a grand time getting back into routine. I love it!! Bible school has begun, and I've volunteered to teach Sunday School at a great church I've been frequenting. Can't be there every Sunday but most of the time.
You should see this Sunday school room! It is below ground level, mud and cement walls, dirt floor, tin roof, not enough benches for the children and too many kids packed in this small space. No ventilation except for the door. YIKES! I began to wonder where my head was when I said I'd like to do the job. Hopefully, we can get some more benches in the room and maybe split the class. What's happening is with all the Port au Prince people moving into St Marc, they have to find church homes and/or are getting saved. It's great for church growth but hard on teachers of children because there are so many!
This Sunday school starts at 7AM. The children come and learn a memory verse, then go to the adult church with all the others to recite it as a group. After that they file back into the Sunday school (about 8:30 which is when I arrive). Then for the next hour we have a story and a time of questions and answers. When I leave for church the children sing and play games. I'm talking about ages 2 through 10 and at least 70! Imagine that the next time you want to complain about size of classroom, heat or air conditioning. It will take the complaining away quickly. Not that any of you would complain. But, I must confess I did complain about the lack of order although they were doing the best they could and if permitted I have a few ideas that might help the situation.
Bible school has moved from the church we were using to a better place. For some reason the Haitian outdoor market moved right down by the church. The noise was unbearable. We were shouting trying to be heard over the din and one another. Saturday, the Pastor informed us that he'd received money to continue with construction of the building and there was no room for us. That was fine because we'd been discussing leaving there for a long time. (I love it when God undertakes and makes things so that what we want works out without us having to say anything). The building we are in now, is a school, we each have a classroom, it's quiet and cool. For the first time I could really see my students and not strain to hear them or be heard by them. Gary and Barbara felt the same way.
Kreyol class coming up. I will never really learn this language without a formal class. But, I've never found anyone who I believed could teach me either except now. We hired a young man by the name of Claudy, whom I've known for years. When the Peace Corps was here, he was hired by them to teach the people Kreyol. He's trained, he speaks very good English as well and he will be teaching Dan, the Carpenters and I on Mondays and Tuesdays for one hour each day. I'm excited about it.
Another thing I've decided to tackle is English grammer. In order for me to teach the kids, I have to teach me. So, I'm doing PACE's. It's been fun and I'm exercising my brain!!! Very important for those of us who fall into the category of "senior citizen." What I discovered is this. I can write and speak the English language correctly but it sure is different being expected to name verbs, parts of speech, etc. But, it's a good exercise in thinking.
That's what's happening in our neck of the woods. Soon we'll welcome teams once again.
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