Watchin' a teacher and Bein' a teacher

Although I've been woken up in the morning by a plethora of different noises throughout the years including chickens, brothers, coyotes, and my Mom -- standing over me trying to figure out if I'm playing oppossum or actually asleep (and usually waking me up from giggling) -- I must admit that I've never been woken up by the loud sound of village children laughing... until today.

Soon after waking up I headed off on Ken's road down the mountainside (I say Ken's because his is the only vehicle in the surrounding villages). I only had an hour until he and I planned to head off to teach at another village so Ken challenged me to run to the threke (I'll explain in a bit) and back in an hour. I was surprised because it was only 3 miles which if ran on flat ground in 24 minutes is a very easy pace. But he told me that he thought it would still take an hour because of the incline. And so I headed out and sure enough it was a quite steep downhill. Along the path I ran by a few Ni-Vans every minute or so. Anyhow I got to the threke in 10 minutes (but it was 1.5 miles and 300 feet lower) and turned around. On the way back I once again passed a group of 20 boys walking to school. They started running behind me and giggling (they giggle and laugh at different times just as an expression - and they do it a lot, which is really neat) so I motioned them to run beside me. About a minute later we came to a group of girls also going to school and so they joined in for a minute or so. It was a ton of fun! Running with them all giggling beside me for a quarter mile. They gave me a boost of energy to continue charging up the hill towards home. And I arrived in 23 minutes 57 seconds much to their surprise! So it was a fun steep/brisk hill workout!

Then we had family worship time - it was really fun and Kate and Abby were imitating my stretches as we listened to Hannah read from Ruth.

Next Ken and I took a 20 minute trek to another village. We walked down the mountainside, across the creek, and back up the othe side to the Isaka village. I was met by around 200 kids all playing everywhere. Evidently it was recess time in school. Soon Ken and I were in the 6th grade with a group of 15 boys and girls. Ken brought a little booklet with portions of Bible reading in their native language. I listened to the kids read from Genesis and watched Ken teach them about it as they read. It was neat to see that even though the kids had very little in the classroom they were eager to learn and were able to read from God's Word! Something that is not allowed in our materially well-to-do American schools. Even though the school is poor, the children are receiving far richer instruction! Praise God for planting in the hearts of missionaries the desire to spread His Word amongst the nations! And pray for the children's hearts to be opened to the gospel and pray that through the Bible the many who do believe in Jesus would come to a greater understanding of who He is. And come to know and love Him as their Savior. That they would learn that He is the only God and not just another god to be served along with all their gods.

So that was the watching a teacher part and here's where I had a chance to be a teacher. I was told before the trip that I would have a chance to do some computer tutoring while here. Little did I realize that it would be to help an adult who has never used a computer in his life. His name is Pastor Isaac and I had the opportunity to teach him how to set up an excel worksheet listing 9 villages and which pastor or elder will be preaching at which church each week for the next 4 months. He's going to print out copies to give to each church. (It's neat to see the list of all the elders in this remote area of villages.) I must say I think I now will be able to have much more patience with those in America who need help on computers. It was neat to be able to bless him with that though.

And I have exciting news! A while back my brother, Josh, gave me his old laptop because he upgraded and I didn't have one. Well, I have a desktop I use all the time and don't really need this so I decided to bring it and see who could use it. Also the screen has issues with flickering and turning off sometimes but works better if the owner uses it just like a desktop (ie - not a ton of movement). Well, so far the screen hasn't acted up once yet (I can't even get it to do it if I try) so I guess that could even be considered an answer to prayer even though I didn't ask for it or expect it. Not sure if it'll keep working well but so far so great! So Pastor Isaac just came today and was asking Ken about laptops and their prices (and solar panels for power). So it was definitely a quick answer as to whom I should give the laptop to. Pray that He would be able to learn it quickly and use it well for the church (mostly for word, excel, and playing videos) and that the screen would keep working.

Thanks for praying dear friends! The Lord is answering - one area I specifically want to tell you about is how He's used those two events above (the school and helping Pastor Isaac) so far on this trip to begin nudging me in thinking about which degree to pursue in college (leading on towards possible future career options). The trip to the school in Isaka was especially neat and I had some time to think while Ken taught. Please continue to pray that I would continually listen to what the Lord is showing me about which career path he wants me to move towards.