MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I thought I'd take a moment out of our busy lives to write you.
It has been a crazy few months here in Vinh City. At the beginning of November, we were surprised by our administrators with free train tickets to anywhere in Viet Nam. We decided to go to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and make our way back to Vinh over the next two weeks. We traveled to Dalat, Nha Trang, and Da Nang. The trip was quite the adventure. At one point, we were stuck on a coach bus for more than 40 hours waiting for flooding to subside between Nha Trang and Da Nang. This point of the trip stretched our patience and our faith a lot, as no one would take the time to explain to us exactly what was going on. We had to deal with a bit of culture shock as well, as the Vietnamese people were happy to just wait for the buses to move while we wanted to try to find a solution to problem. In the end, we had to just wait patiently for the bus to move, but it was a learning experience nonetheless.
With the holidays fast approaching, our hotel floor has been transformed, as best we can, into a festive place. We have a Christmas tree that we brought from Ha Noi, and it's been decorated with some amazing homemade decorations. Dawn and Amy have really outdone themselves with this. On the 15th, we had a Christmas party for the teachers and staff at the language center where we work. It was a hit! Amy and Dawn made a lot of “party food,” things you would find at a traditional Christmas party, and Joel and I helped with set-up/clean-up. We sang and danced and ate our fill; it was a great time! We showed a video of the story behind Christmas and why it is so important to us, and I think it was received very well. I'm sure it gave some of our Vietnamese friends a new view on why we're here to share Christ's love with them.
Teaching has been a growing process for me in many areas of my life: faith, patience, endurance. I feel that I've learned as much from the people around me as I have shared with them. The Vietnamese people's capacity for love and friendship floors me some days, but at the same time, saddens me knowing how much deeper that love could be if it came from the Father.
That love, the Father's love, is why I'm here. It's the real meaning behind all the decorations and lights of Christmas, and the only solution to the problems we have as fallible people. I truly enjoy being able to share that love with the people around me.
While being here, I've learned that life is not too much different wherever you go. People still go about their day-to-day, trying to make a buck or a dong or whatever to support themselves and their family. One of the most important things I've come to realize is that no matter where you are, the people around you need to see Christ in your life. You don't have to go halfway around the world to share that.
But, being as it took such a trip to help me realize that, I need your help. I am still just shy of $5000 still owed to cover my training and administration costs while serving here. With Christmas and the time for giving upon us, I'd like to ask you to talk with the Father, search your heart, and see if He is calling you to partner with me in sharing His love. As the year draws to a close, this also provides an opportunity for you to make an end-of-year donation that can still be deducted from your 2007 taxes.
If the Father is leading you, all the information about giving is on the right hand side of the blog. Thank you in advance for partnering with me. I look forward to telling everyone how the Father has provided for what I need!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Little Struggles
Occasionally while teaching, one or two students will be disruptive enough to make learning hard for the entire class. Tonight, I have one of those classes. One of my students consistently wants to be the center of attention, and with this kid, it's more like an epicenter. He arrives late, and crashes through the thin aluminium door loudly, consistently. He makes all sorts of comments (some a hair on the lude side) about everyone else's answers and makes it difficult to help the shyer students want to participate. I've been lifting this situation up to the Father, and tonight, seems to be going better.
Tonight, he arrived late and loud as usual, but because he was so late, there was only one really accessable desk, right up front by the blackboard, all alone, in arm's reach of me. So, I told him he would sit up front with me today. He seemed a little uncomfortable, but quickly hid it behind his "happy-go-lucky" facade. Throughout the lesson, he was dropping his pen and scooting his desk toward the rest of the class in order to file back in with them. I told him to move his desk back to where it was supposed to be, and he only half-complied, and I, hoping this would be a fitting compromise, let it go, but he continued to try to get out of order. So, I stopped my lesson, something I hate to do, and told him that he could move his desk back to the front, or go home. That gave him the necessary motivation. Even in this, he tried to put his desk where he wanted, on his terms, but I didn't budge, and once he had returned himself to where he was supposed to be, I continued my lesson as if nothing had happened.
The why behind his behavior is a point of continued speculation between my teammates and me. Whatever the reason, I'm hoping that a firm, but caring, presense in his life (if only 90 min a night/2 nights a week) will help him to learn how to be a better part of the class.
Please keep lifting us up!
Edit: Well, I spoke too soon. I wrote the above during the break during the class. When I returned, the student in question had moved to the back of the class. I told him that he needed to return to his seat up front. That he was too disruptive if left on his own. Well, he picked his things up... and left. Just walked out and said, "Hello...I mean, Good Bye!" and left. The class cheered. They actually cheered his leaving. One student called him a monkey. I just wish he could have been a productive part of the class.
Tonight, he arrived late and loud as usual, but because he was so late, there was only one really accessable desk, right up front by the blackboard, all alone, in arm's reach of me. So, I told him he would sit up front with me today. He seemed a little uncomfortable, but quickly hid it behind his "happy-go-lucky" facade. Throughout the lesson, he was dropping his pen and scooting his desk toward the rest of the class in order to file back in with them. I told him to move his desk back to where it was supposed to be, and he only half-complied, and I, hoping this would be a fitting compromise, let it go, but he continued to try to get out of order. So, I stopped my lesson, something I hate to do, and told him that he could move his desk back to the front, or go home. That gave him the necessary motivation. Even in this, he tried to put his desk where he wanted, on his terms, but I didn't budge, and once he had returned himself to where he was supposed to be, I continued my lesson as if nothing had happened.
The why behind his behavior is a point of continued speculation between my teammates and me. Whatever the reason, I'm hoping that a firm, but caring, presense in his life (if only 90 min a night/2 nights a week) will help him to learn how to be a better part of the class.
Please keep lifting us up!
Edit: Well, I spoke too soon. I wrote the above during the break during the class. When I returned, the student in question had moved to the back of the class. I told him that he needed to return to his seat up front. That he was too disruptive if left on his own. Well, he picked his things up... and left. Just walked out and said, "Hello...I mean, Good Bye!" and left. The class cheered. They actually cheered his leaving. One student called him a monkey. I just wish he could have been a productive part of the class.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
A Warm Welcome
Just a quick note:
When I arrived at my first class today, I was greeted by my students shouting and turning the lights off. They asked me if I could come back in a few minutes. So after the few, they came and got me and I walked in and there was a cake with candles and such, and at first, I thought that they thought it was my birthday, but upon reading the cake, I realized what it was. The cake said "Welcome Back, Mr. Kenny!" It was my first day teaching them in like 3 weeks, and they had gotten me a welcome back cake and had put up streamers and drew all sorts of fun little things on the board. It was so sweet. I was speechless. Aren't my students the greatest?!
When I arrived at my first class today, I was greeted by my students shouting and turning the lights off. They asked me if I could come back in a few minutes. So after the few, they came and got me and I walked in and there was a cake with candles and such, and at first, I thought that they thought it was my birthday, but upon reading the cake, I realized what it was. The cake said "Welcome Back, Mr. Kenny!" It was my first day teaching them in like 3 weeks, and they had gotten me a welcome back cake and had put up streamers and drew all sorts of fun little things on the board. It was so sweet. I was speechless. Aren't my students the greatest?!
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