I had a couple of stretching experiences the last couple days. It was my turn to lead songs in sign language for our regular noon devotions here at CICS and a week after, tell a Bible story in sign language. The songs were relatively easy since we sing some of them every day and they can be memorized. But the story! I had to figure out how I was going to present it. What I did is write the story out basically how I would sign it and then I studied it a little. I messed up some, but it went pretty well. The sign for "coffee" and "to make" is almost the same, so I was saying that the people were "coffee-ing" the Tower of Babel. That mind picture just doesn't work! :) I have a lot of practicing to do yet, but I am making progress at least!
Another thing that I did for the first time, was go to collect all the deaf children for church, by myself! Matthias and I are taking turns each Sunday from now on to be the motorista. There are about 16 people in all by the time the van is filled--and no it's not a 15 passenger van--it comfortably holds about 10-12, you know typical packing-it in style. :) I had been going along for the last couple times to memorize where everyone lives. It went well and I don't think I forgot anyone!
School has been going much better since last week--no small thanks to all your prayers! I feel like God is really at work down here. I also introduced a behavior chart, of which you can see a picture below. They start the day on green, and if they misbehave, they move down a color on the chart. If they're extra good, they move up. At the end of the day, if they are on the green, they get a small prize, and if they're on the blue, they get a bigger one. If they ever land on black or if one offense is serious enough, they get a castigo (punishment).
For teaching number sequences, I made an odometer-like device with two dials containing the numbers 0-9. I write a number, say "26" on the board and tell them to advance only the right (one's place) dial to find the number that comes next. I had tried explaining this without an illustration, but they didn't really get it. Now they understand well enough, that they can almost tell me what the next number is without the odometer! Progress, even the littlest bit, is a feeling like no other. Seeing a light-bulb moment is what keeps me going!
And...I got mail! Talk about a day-brightener! I still open it and look at it sometimes. God bless you all who spent the extra time writing a physical card or letter! Now lest I be appearing to diminish all the prayers, emails and all the other ways ya'll have been blessing me--those are just as much of a blessing and all have their place. I trust you know what I mean. :)
On Monday and Wednesday evenings are "staff nights" where all the staff plays a game or does something together. I taught everyone how to play "Black 7" last week and we've been playing it pretty much every time since. And you would think the teacher would, ya know, WIN at least once?! But no, Matthias creams everyone EVERY SINGLE TIME! I even tried to switch seats, but to no avail. Needless to say, my sense of accomplishment has taken a serious hit and I now view Matthias with a combination of grudging respect and a determination to not let him win next time! *The previous paragraph may not be suitable for sarcasm-sufferers as it was manufactured in a facility that also handles sarcasm.* I guess I should mention that we frequently use sarcasm, puns, and subtle hints around here. If a bug is crawling on someone, guess what is the first thought entering each one's brain? You guessed it: "Is that bugging you?". Fun times. :)
I've also been doing a lot of reading in my spare time. Reading helps my mind to relax, gives my brain a workout, and depending on the book, helps me to think about my relationship with God and others around me. What's not to like? Since I've been here, I've read
- Flatland by Edward A. Abbott
- You've Been Tweeked by Bruce Lengeman
- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
- Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman
- Love Works by Joel Manby
- A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
- Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck
- With by Skye Jethani
- I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Currently I'm reading Pride & Prejudice (I know, I know) :). I also want to read War and Peace and Les Miserables in the next couple months. We'll see how that works out. If you have any books to recommend, shoot me an email, by all means!
One final thought...did you know that when Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, she didn't do so alone? According to the NLT, it says that "she gave some [the fruit] to her husband, who was with her [emphasis mine] and he ate it too". It's even worse than we thought, men! Not only did he watch the whole thing and not intervene, but also partook afterwards! Just a random thought brought to my attention by Matthias.
Lastly, but most important, prayer requests:
Lastly, but most important, prayer requests:
- Thank God for all the answered prayer so far and that progress is being made in school
- Also pray for Silvia. Her grandfather, one of the only father figures in her life, died a few days ago.
- Pray that my relationship with God could grow stronger. It's far from where I want it to be.
- Pray for patience and wisdom for all the staff here in dealing with the children.
God bless you for praying, even if it's just a little bit! They are being answered! If you have any questions or comments, shoot me an email: samuel@mikesclan.com
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| My story for noon devotions. See if you can decipher the story of the Tower of Babel. |
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| My behavior chart. Made with construction paper and clothes pins. |
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| We made ice cream to celebrate Eduardo's birthday. Nothing beats that on a hot day! |
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| Elmer (with the iPad) surrounded by lots of fascinated children. |
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| Dwight, Nata and Becky's son, is the little brother of all of us staff here. We kinda have a competition going to see who he likes the best. :) |
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| Jairo, seeing if he can add yet another domino to his tower, during a break in class time. |
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| Mail! No other explanation needed. |
