Merry Christmas!

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!

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.

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?!

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.

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

We made it!

I am currently writing you from a cafe in Vinh, Vietnam! After all of our prayers and planing, I'm finally here! It was an interesting trip. It went faster than I expected that it would. We arrived on Wednesday, and got moved into our place. We're staying in 4 separate rooms on one floor of a building, and we share a kitchen and a common area.

We've visited the markets and gotten some supplies together. We made our first few meals at home, and we eat out a lot. The food is great. One of my favorite foods is eel soup.

The people here are really nice. Our administrators are easy to work with and very helpful. We start teaching on Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Thank you all for your prayers and your continued support. I'm looking forward to continuing to tell you all about it and how faithful God is to us.

Now it's time to say goodbye to friends and family...

This is it! The big day has arrived! We're leaving tonight for Viet Nam!! I'm very excited, but at the same time, I'm going to miss everyone. Training has been excellent. I've learned a lot about myself and my team and my God. I know that I can do this, not by my strength, but by His.

I'd like to mention a few prayer requests before I head out:
1) Travelling Mercies
2) I'm still about $7000 behind in my account. I know God will provide what I need. Pray and see if He might be trying to use you to bring that about. I'd love to share that with you.
3) My degree still isn't finished. I've hit another roadblock with getting it done, but I was given a good idea as to how to get around it. Please continue to pray that my professor will show grace in this.
4) Team Unity

Thank you all for supporting me with your prayers and your gifts. God is blessing me through you, and will bless my students, too.

I look forward to sharing my first impressions of Viet Nam with you by the end of the week!

TEFL is Over!

I took my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) final today! I think I did very well and will pass easily. This will earn me my certification as an EFL teacher! It's been a very busy month, and everything is winding down to our departure Monday night. I've recieved my itinerary and thought you would all like to know the details so here they are:


We're leaving WCIU Monday night, but our flight doesn't leave until 1:15 AM Tuesday morning. We'll be flying to Taipei, Taiwan then on to Ha Noi, Viet Nam. One of our administrators will be meeting us in Ha Noi to escort us to Vinh. It's going to be a 2-3 day journey, and while I'll probably be tired, I love to travel, so this will be great.

Please pray for our team as we depart, and that we will be able to handle the culture shock well. I am still about $7000 in the hole, but I know that God works in His time, not mine, so please continue to pray that He shows Himself in my support raising as well.


Now, as promised...

PICTURES!!


This is Joel. He'll be my roommate this year.












This is Mary. She was our temporary regional director for training, and the only person to stay in Vinh the entire year. She's a wonderful soul, and quite the lady for sticking it out like that.












Here's a fun picture of Lisa (on the left) and Adrianna (on the right). They're both going to De Nang. They're real fun-lovin' gals!









This Tyler with the hatchet. He was doing a skit about differences in beliefs among Christians and what people find essential vs. negotiable. I had to put it up here for all the ladies to see.

Here's a picture of my team going to Vinh. We painted our faces like the Vietnamese flag for Team Unity Day.

This is Su Cheng. She's one of our practicum students. Even though she still wasn't fluent after our class, I'm really proud of her. She is hard of hearing and has very poor vision, but she tried her hardest to learn English. She's always so happy and she brought her 3 grandchildren with her to practicum.

Speaking of her grandchildren, this is Clarence. He was a very energetic kid (read: crazy!), and it was hard to find a good fit for him in practicum. He speaks English pretty well, but he wasn't very comfortable in the class setting, so he liked to have fun (read: cause trouble ;-D) He could be a nice kid though, and hey... at least he's cute. ;-D

Here's a video of what the culture is like in Viet Nam as told by our returning alums Mary, Tyler, and Dawn.

Ok, so that's all I can put up right now, but I wanted to show you all what we've been doing this month. God is molding us into the teachers he wants us to be, and I know that we'll do our best to do right by Him.

Things are a-brewin'!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to put something up here to let you know that things have been really busy here. Training is winding down, but our "team time" is becoming more important than ever. Please keep praying for my team and all the other groups going out around the world.

I should have some pictures up here soon. I've taken so many that getting them online is quite the task.

I'll post more details as I can.

Great is His Faithfulness

Hello to all my friends and family!

I wanted to take a moment out of this busy training schedule to tell everyone a little more about what's been going on the last two weeks.

My experience here with TeachOverseas is like nothing I've ever done before. It's an intense program. They're training us to be excellent English teachers in just 4 weeks, and if that weren't a big enough task, we're also being taught things about how TeachOverseas works, what will be expected of us in our countries, about the culture and language (I can count to 99 in Vietnamese), about each other, and about ourselves.

God has taught me a lot about who I am, who I am capable of being, and who He wants me to be in Him. The entire process of preparing to go, then being here has been one that has stretched my faith. I got into the game really late. I got signed up in May, and decided to go in June, and as training started at the end of July, that has not been a lot of time to raise support or prepare myself emotionally and spiritually, but God has guided me to being a part of an organization that truly exemplifies the meaning of grace.

"We are a grace organization." That's a phrase we hear a lot here at training. There are teachers here that have served with TeachOverseas for at least a year, some more, that have fallen. They've given in to temptations and struggles, but rather than cut their ties, this group takes these people in. They show forgiveness, mercy, and grace like no other organization I've ever seen. Whether it's being short on funds (me) or falling in sin, TeachOverseas extends as much grace as it can to anyone that it can. On top of that, this is the type of grace that resonates with the Holy Spirit in my heart. Rather than feel that one can take advantage of this grace to do the minimum or to run off and do wrong things because you know you'll be forgiven, this place makes me feel like it would hurt them so very much to be taken advantage of. It's a feeling of true grace that exemplifies Christ's heart for us.

My teammates and I have been growing even closer together over the last two weeks, as well. They go out of their way to be encouraging and uplifting, and it's not some fake thing either. I really feel like these people care. Everyone is acting on God's call to their life.

I feel that I've truly been called to this year of service overseas, too. God has given everyone gifts, and He's guided me to a place where I have found a fit unlike any I've tried in recent memory. I'm being given the opportunity to flex my teaching abilities, and it turns out that it's a pretty natural thing for me to be doing. I feel confident and comfortable in front of my classes, (we've been teaching since our first real day of training) and everyone that has been observing me has made comments that I'm very professional and a natural. That's not to say I'm perfect, though. I'm still learning how to relate all sorts of concepts to these students and to my students in Vinh, but it's a great opportunity and I really enjoy being able to teach. All of your prayers have really helped me through.

That being said, I do have an urgent need that I'd like to pass along. I still need $8400 to cover my year teaching. There is a bare minimum that TeachOverseas requires to have been raised before we leave, but they don't tell us what that is, so I can't say whether I'll have reached that or not before it's too late, but I believe that God is faithful in everything, and having called me to this, He will complete His work in me. I'd like to be able to partner with you in this dream. Please pray and consider whether or not you would be able to help. Any amount, big or small, would be an answer to prayer. If you want to help, but are unable to right now, pray and ask God if He is leading you to pledging a monthly amount. Small amounts over the 10 months of service can add up, and I'd be so grateful if you'd take the time to pray to see if God might be calling you to share in this with me. If you want to support my teaching in Vietnam, please do the following things: 1) PRAY, PRAY, PRAY 2) Send any gift that the Lord may lead you to give to:

Harvest Bible Chapel: Rockford

4320 Spring Creek Rd.

Rockford, IL 61107

Attn: Mike Warren

Please make any checks out to: Harvest Bible Chapel: Rockford

Please put 207159 in the memo section or it might not be tax deductible, but otherwise, all donations are tax-deductible.

To those who are my prayer warriors: thank you; thank you; thank you; from the bottom of my heart, thank you! Your faithful prayers have enabled me to get to this point, and I look forward to being able to rejoice with you about God's further faithfulness.

I love you all and look forward to sharing more about how God has been able to work in my life though this experience with TeachOverseas soon.

In Christ,

Kenny Warren

Only $7000 to go! :: EDITED:: $8400

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let everyone know that due to some generous gifts, I'm down to $7000 $8400 needed to cover my TeachOverseas costs! God is truely faithful, and I know that He supplies all my needs. Thank you all for supporting me with your prayers. I love you all!

Edit: The total is $8400 because I forgot to include the airfare to Viet Nam. Sorry, everyone!

Teammates

I had a request to post the names of all of my teammates going to Viet Nam with me, so here there are:

Vinh:
Joel, Dawn, Amy

De Nang:
Lucretia, Lisa, Leslie, Adrianna

That's it. Just the 8 of us. Please remember to pray for them by name.

Support update

Hey guys,

I just wanted to update you all and let you know how things are going here in Pasadena. God is providing for me in so many different ways, and in ways I didn't even know I needed support. We've been working on being very open and vulnerable with our teammates, and it's been a growing experience for me to open up to these new people. It's healthy, though, and my spirit has really been blessed by the lack of pretenses that I have with these people. They're becoming my family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and that is such a blessing.

On the more practical front, I am still struggling to complete my studies at IIT. My professor is really being a stickler, but my advisor has stepped up to help me get the work that the professor wants finished, and for that I am grateful as well, because I don't have much time to work on this stuff, especially as my heart is so far from being in it.

As for monetary support, another one of my teammates has been blessed above and beyond her needs, and she has been gracious enough to share that blessing with me. I am still working and praying that you, my friends and family back home, will be able to share in this adventure, but God is providing these needs from all over the place, and I am SOOOO thankful for that. My parents are being so very supportive as well. They've been helping to contact those that I didn't while I was at home, and I know that any day now, I'll be able to share even more stories of God's unending faithfulness.

Prayer continues to be the cornerstone of my endeavor. Without the prayers of all of you, I would fail. Earlier this weekend, I was able to talk with some of you back home, and it was such an encouragement to hear how proud of me you all sounded, and how you're all praying for me. I especially want to thank Dad, Mom, Mike and Bonnie, Mark, Shena, and Brittney, and of course, Noelle for praying for me. I love you all and can't wait to keep sharing everything that I know God will be doing in this next year.

I almost forgot to mention, currently I need $6600 more to meet my needs. If you're praying for me, please pray specifically for that number, and I hope that we can continue to keep praying together as it gets smaller and smaller.

God Does Provide

Just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that my first teaching session yesterday went very well! I've got things to learn, but it was pretty comfortable. This may work after all! ;-D

One note of praise, one of my teammates has actually stepped forward to help me with my support raising. She's given me some money, and is in talks with her church about supporting me, too. I've only just met these folks, but we're growing closer every day. God couldn't have provided me with a better group of folks to teach with.

Praise Him!

First Week of Training

Hello to all my friends and family!

I'm writing you from William Carey International University in Pasadena, CA. We've started our first week of training, and let me tell you, it is intense! We go from 7AM to 9:30PM and are usually really busy. We've already had one official day of training, and now that we're on our second, we're expected to begin teaching ESL classes! I am not training tonight, but my teammates Joel, Lisa, Leslie, and Amy will be. I'll probably start tomorrow night. We're teaching all levels of competency, not just people with some sort of skill. The beginners class actually looks easier than the advanced one. Some of the students know more than we do!

I only have the moment to update everyone, so I wanted to ask once again for your prayers and support. As far as I know, I am still waiting to see the fruition of God's abundance in terms of financial support, but I have faith that He will provide. Keep praying that He does! Secondly, it seems that I will not be able to get my grade fixed in time to graduate in July, so that will push me all the way back to December, but that shouldn't affect my ability to go to Viet Nam.

As I close, I'd just like to thank everyone who's praying for me and supporting me. Without you, I'd never even have begun this adventure.

The Day of Reckoning

Well, that day is finally here. My last day in NW Illinois. It's a busy one, too. I've been to the doctor's office, given blood, I'm going out to lunch with Pastor Warren, need to be fingerprinted for a background check, pick up my last paycheck, make sure I've packed everything that I need, and drive out to Chicago to say goodbye to my friends there.

The morning has been pretty neat though. Many, many thanks to Dr. DeHaan and everyone at Md-at-Home for their help. I know that I've been a bit of a quirk in their routine, and I'm grateful to them for all of the things that they've done to help me get to Viet Nam. I especially want to thank Gerry, she's a really sweet nurse, and very understanding.

After the doctor, I went to the Rock Valley blood bank to give my last unit of blood for a while. I've always been an active donor, but with my travelling coming up, I will be screened out for a while. While I was there I got to meet Darren Marlar and Cindy Swanson from Marlar in the Morning, the local christian morning show in Rockford. If you think they're funny on air, you really should meet them in person. They said that they would be praying for me, and we all know that that is the best way that anyone can support this trip. I also got some Mercy Me tickets, and although I'll be on my way to Viet Nam, my parents will really be blessed by that.

There are a few unresolved issues at this time that I'm praying that God will provide for soon, and while I have faith that it will happen in His timing, I'm looking forward to seeing that provision. If you, my partners, could pray with me for these things, I'd really appreciate it.
1) I am still trying to negotiate the terms of my graduation with my professor. The school has given me a deadline of July 28 to get the incomplete resolved in order to graduate in the summer semester, so time is of the essence. If I don't get this figured out by then, it may jeopardize this trip, because I need to have my education completed before I can teach.
2) There are some due dates coming up for the costs of this trip. While I believe that ESI has been extending me some grace due to how late I got involved with them, I don't want to use more than I need to of that grace. When it all comes down, I need to have about $5500 by mid-August. This would cover all of the ESI expenses for my training and international airfare.
3) While this isn't an "unresolved issue" please continue to pray for my team, safe travels, and for my family back home. While I'm sure they'll welcome some time without me driving them crazy, I know they love me and will miss me. I'll be praying that they go to God for everything they need. He's got so much more to offer!

I love you all so much; thank you for praying for me, and I can't wait to keep sharing all the wonderful things that God will be doing with you.

2 Corinthians 4:5-6

4 Days and Counting

There are four days left until I leave for training. I'm finishing my work for Computer Dynamics, getting my affairs in order, and packing for training. I'm looking forward to it, but as usual the ambiguity leaves me wishing that I knew more of what lies ahead. I have faith that it will all work out, but a part of me still wants to know how. I am looking forward to meeting my new teammates, but leaving everyone here, especially my girlfriend, Noelle, and my parents will be difficult.

Some good news I have though is that God has provided a decent laptop and a camera for me to take with me. This will let me keep up with everyone from home, and I really am grateful for that.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Who knew you'd get poked so much!?

So, today was the day that I went around Rockford getting poked all over the place. I had to get my immunizations and some blood drawn for my labs and such. The ladies at the Winnebago Health Department were really nice. If you need to get travel shots, that's the place to do it. They're very informative and explain everything. I'd like to send a big thank you to Dr. DeHaan and everyone at Md-at-Home for being really nice and helping me get all of my lab work set up. My physical is next week, but they needed samples for the labs today. The tests are going to cost upwards of $300, but I have faith that God will provide the money as needed.

In other news, I am still looking for a laptop to take with me so that I can keep up with all of the wonderful people back home. I had a possibility come up this week with a computer that I thought I had resurrected from a junk pile, but some better techs told me that I didn't fix it. I might be able to get by with its quirky attitude, but I'm not sure. A sure thing would be great, but if I can get one for free, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Anyway, I've got to get back to getting my homework done, so I'll sign off now.

Keep Praying!
Colossians 4:3-4, "And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should."

And so it begins...

So, here I am, sitting at my computer at home, 12 days before I leave for training for my trip to teach English in Vietnam. I'm going to be using this blog to keep track of interesting things that are going on so that I can compile them into a newsletter every so often, but if you want to know what I'm doing in real-time, you can keep up with it here. Thanks for visiting, thanks for praying, and I look forward to sharing this adventure with everyone.