Now I Have Time To Exhale

Well, week 1 of the English School is in the books. Like everything else, it was simultaneously easier and harder than I expected it to be. For one thing, they told me (and I told you) to expect ~40-60 kids, and I ended up with 23. This is nice, although please pray for the other teachers; despite the fact that my numbers are so low, we have nearly reached our target of 150 kids! You math buffs will quickly realize that if I've only got 23 of those, the other classes are huge, which is a tall order for my colleagues.

Fortunately, our local help, generally volunteers drawn from the membership of the Church where the school is being held, has been absolutely superb. They're helping us keep order and discipline and providing a lot of valuable insight about how best to motivate and teach the kids. As usual, the whole (in my class, at least, and the others have said the same) is much greater than the sum of the individual parts. It's almost like wherever 2 or 3 of us gather, Somebody else shows up in the midst of us :).

God has been good, providing me both with lots of ideas for how to teach, and the energy (mine and other people's) to carry the ideas out. The kids are getting the English, and the rest it seems. Some of the seed, I'm sure, is falling on rock, thorns, etc; please pray for a lot of good soil, and for those promised 30, 60, and 100-fold yields.

My fellow teachers are great ladies. The 3 of them are from various widely dispersed (by their standards) areas of Britain. I've spent great times getting to know their stories, as well as their accents. On the latter topic there is much hilarity, lemme tell ya. Who knew that prounouncing "herb" with a silent h was so bizarre? Our Teaching Coordinator is amazingly well qualified for the job, and can get as many ducks in as neat a row as anybody I've met. She's also got a huge heart and a burning passion for people that just rolls off her in waves on to everyone she meets or (especially) everyone she works with. Together, we make a very cohesive and comfortable whole. Many of my fears of loneliness and isolation were unfounded, thanks to the relationship lubricant that is the One who transcends language, culture, and even pronunciation of h's.

I'm still homesick, however. If you're reading this, I've thought of you and missed you personally since I've been here. Guaranteed. Right now, especially, I'm feeling every one of the miles that separate me from everything familiar.

Spent the weekend touring two different Roman ruins (Jerash and Um Qais) and riding buses to and from there. I'm quite ridiculously sunburned, but it was a great relief to just put aside responsibility while I wandered around explaining (well, ok, rambling on and on about) things of interest in a town 2000 years old or more.

Prayer requests: I'm tired, and getting tireder, even though we have a long weekend this week. 20 kids > Silas on the energy-o-meter. Please pray for divine help and strength, and the wisdom to manage my time properly amid an endless list of dinner invitations, lesson preps, group devotions, personal devotions, laundry, shopping, tourism, etc etc etc. Pray especially that I would recognize my limitations and realize when I need to take a break; this has been a struggle. There's so much to do!

Praises: Amazing helpers, wonderful helpful fellow teachers, a great coordinator, and incredible acceptance and hospitality on the part of everybody I've met. I have found hostility toward my nation here, but never once toward me personally, unless you count the fact that everybody I visit seems to want me to die from overeating... you DO NOT refuse second helpings in this town. Praise also that God has really planted his flag firmly in the middle of my heart, and replaced my normal instincts with the correct one: whenever I have a problem, the first thing I do is cry to him for help. It's easy to trust here; after all, what other choice do I have?

Grace and peace. I've enabled comments on this post (just figured out how, actually) so if you want to comment, that would be awesome.