august 14:
i want to use the peace gen curriculum to teach indonesian. and i want to buka puasa with my fellow indonesians. hmm.
walk the peace was glorious. 20 cousins, 20 believers: defying every
cultural wall between us. religion didn’t matter. culture didnt’
matter. language didn’t matter. social status didn’t matter. by the
third day, there was no distinction. we laughed SO much, sweated SO
much, ate SO much. LOVED SO MUCH. it was intense though. walking 2-3
hours per day. with a bunch of school visits in between which was the
most exhausting part. its like seatribes but 10 days full on. no
telunas break inbetween. at one school, i swear all of us signed 100
signatures each. it was like MOB. no kidding. and then every school
there was: what is your name? can i take your foto? (please use your
indonesian accent here). and then everyplace you stop ofcourse you’re
offered ALL this food.
the best was, often we would hitchhike trucks. so we’re going through
the swervy roads to pangadaran, all standing in the back of this
truck, 40 of us. we’re all holding to each other trying to maintain
balance, but falling nonetheless. laughing though. wind is streaming
through our bodies and hair. and we would just sing. bebas (i swear we
sung this song a thousand times), camp songs, new indo pop songs along
with our classics of sempurna and mimpi yg sempurna. it was glorious.
sorry, i’m kind of stuck on that word.
for me to even be a part of WTP, when i definitely thought i wouldn’t
be, was such a blessing from Him. he carried me through out all of it.
hahahahaha, on the third day. i was trying the bamboo stilts at this
resort where we stopped at. i sprained my ankle. brain surgery doesn’t
change much in my life. i couldn’t walk on it that entire day. the
next morning though, God had diverted the pain or SOMETHING awesome
because it was SO swollen, black and blue, but i could walk on it. and
i continued to walk the rest of the trip. Allhamdulillah. Praise God.
february 15 2010
yesterday was the second day with ani and the kids. it was good, but definitely tough in some areas. matt and karis ikuted with me this time and worked with the younger kids who came. i was ushered into the lovely presence of rahmat and was grilled through a bunch of crappy grammar on past, present, perfect present. gag. i didn’t really want to teach it. but it seems that thats the only thing he’s interested in. but does he want to learn the LANGUAGE of english? or does he simply want to pass the class and understand it. God, please lead me in this. because if he continues to listen to english, these things will come naturally to him. i should probably look and know these things.
next time i guess i’l review in that area. but what kinds of people want to learn what kinds of things. maybe we can have stations. we can have a hw station where we help with grammar and such. we can have a circle where you go through introduction and learning stuff. but i think we need a solid group where we are continuing to work on listening and speaking on a certain subject. like we need topics that we can work on. transportation. the market. life at home. smsing to friends. school life. introductions. cooking. sports. any other scenarios? letters maybe? have vocab words maybe. also i was thinking of learning a couple songs and being able to sing them. they would have to be simple, and maybe relevant to what they are learning, but not necessarily. hmm.
i think i’l catch up with matt and see what he thinks. hmmmm… thank you God for their loving hearts though. it really did go well and it was totally al you. sorry for my worry and anxiety. what can i say. i’m still so human. but i praise you for the things you have done.
faith is nothing without actions. father. i am helpless. i cannot do anything. there is nothing i can do to make this learning center great. there is nothing i can do to make seatribes great. there is nothing i can do to make people see you. so i’m giving up. giving up myself. what are you telling me to do? you wnat to give me life. you are by my side. i’m calling. your hands are holding me.
what do you want me to do?
love them
well how the heck do i love them? aren’t i supposed to teach them english? is that the point? to give them a future? or is it more important to show i care?
joy think about your teachers. ofcourse they want to do the best to provide a better future for you and prepare you. thats what i have called teachers to do. yes, teaching is not easy. but i will be with you.
okay, you’ll be with me. but how am i to best provide the things they need.
it won’t be easy the first time. trust me.
faith. now the actions???
no answer… let it go. if you lose your life then you’ll find your soul.
i don’t want this to be about me. okay. i have nothing. but i have your love. and that is what i will bring to them. your love.
february 9, 2010
karis arrives tomorrow - is she supposed to be a part of the ani thing or how am i supposed to teach? God, please show me how i can let the seatribers teach and connect without being overbearing or controlling. why can’t i trust you?
february 8, 2010
so i talked to emily today about it. and it was good, i get excited, but then i get a little drained. names - rahmat, mia, defi, lita and angga. Father, bless these children. how do i teach them english? what kind of bahan do i use? how do i engage them best?
so there’s listening, reading, speaking and writing. warm up, presentation, practice and production. i could split it up between a more formal structured lesson, compared to more colloquial and fun learning. i could do phone conversations or such.
okay, so next, what do i want to teach this coming up sunday? what kind of topic? like a market place? or at a dinner table. definitely need to review introductions. talking about a sport?
sometime we should definitely get in a large group of bais kids just so that they can hear and be around english speakers.
maybe i should go over grammar specifics of introductions. that sounds good. God, its hard to be a teacher, i feel a burden, yet at the same time a huge passion. help me do this.
february 07, 2010
first day with ani and her learning center, God she’s really neat. i pray that you will really bless what she’s doing for these kids. i got really excited today being with them, but also scared. i realize that it will definitely take a time commitment, but i just got so excited. i can freely offer these kids something that could change their future.. atleast i hope so.
how do you become a good teacher? i want these guys to be excited to learn english. we talked today and i dont’ know if they just come because they have to, or do they really want to learn but just dont’ know how. and how do i teach them to learn it? will they be able to know english better than they’ve ever known it?
ani and i talked about bringing in english songs that they like so that i could help them translate it into english. bringing in books so that they can read and learn. short films and understanding different parts of it. having conversation enough where they are comfortable in speaking it. understanding grammar and the specifics of english, bringing in games and a lot of people so that they can hear a lot of english. :)
God please lead me in this venture, and may you bless these guys as i work with them and long after into their kulia and such. in your name.
