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?!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey, everyone!

I just wanted to give a quick update about our trip over Thanksgiving weekend. We took our fall retreat (with the team from Da Nang this time) to Hue, and it was really great. It was a good time to relax and reflect on the first third of our service here in Viet Nam. I was chosen to lead the devotionals and while it wasn't giving a sermon or anything, it gave me a chance to flex my muscles in seeking out a point from the Word that the others would benifit from. Everyone said I did a good job and that what I had us reflect on was applicable so: Mission Accomplished. We talked about taking time to slow down and listen to the Father and we reflected on the idea that "being still" doesn't mean being lazy, but rather to be calm and collected in the face of adversity because the Father is in control. Those are some lessons that we all needed to keep in mind as we continue this adventure. Thank you for lifting me and the rest of my team up over the holidays. I'm looking forward to teaching again and being reenergized to be intentional in my relationships with everyone here in Vinh.

Until next time, be still, and listen to what the Father has to say in the sound of sheer silence.

Monday, November 19, 2007

And we're back....

Hello Everyone!

I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in such a long time, but it turns out that the site that I chose to host my blog (blogspot) seems to have connection troubles with Vietnam. I don't know why, but they've made it very difficult to use, but PTL I met some people while I was touring who reminded me of something I should have tried months ago, and lo and behold, it works! It involves a lot of technical jargon, but the end result is that I am able to use my blog again! YAY! So, I'm going to do my best to post here at least once a week from here on out, and I should be able to read your comments and such now too, but if you want to tell me anything, using my email would be best: kennyteachesenglish@gmail.com

Now to give you a quick idea of what's going on here, two weeks ago, our administrators approached us and said that they had these train tickets to anywhere in Vietnam, but they had to use them by "next week" so since they couldn't go, they sent us! We spent two weeks touring southern Vietnam and it was quite the trip. I made sure to write a lot of it down, so I'll try to supplement this with some excerpts from my journal later this week.

As for this week, we'll be teaching for only 2 days (Monday and Wednesday) because Tuesday is Teacher's Day here in Vietnam and the school won't be open. Then we'll be heading by train (most cost-effective mode of transportation in VN) to Da Nang to see the rest of the ESI teachers there and have Thanksgiving dinner. That night(it'll be Thursday by now) we'll all take the 2 hour bus ride to Hue for our fall retreat. I think by the end, I'll have taught a whopping 10 days at most in the month of November. It's been quite the experience though, up to this point, and I'm sure the Father will have plenty more to show us over the coming weeks and months. I look forward to sharing it all with you!

Oh, one final note. My support needs are now down below $5000! We're halfway there! I love getting to share how the Father has been supplying for my needs! :-D