Not an Author

I'm pretty sure I need to scratch the idea of writing a book because some days I can't even think of a decent blog entry. I mean it's not that I don't have the material for a good entry I just can't seem to put all of it into an interesting format.

I guess I'll start with what I know. I've been teaching my advanced English class every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. By "advanced" I mean conversational. I'm not so good with the English grammar; therefore, we've been doing quite the opposite-- learning Southern slang. I like to hear "ya'll" and "ain't" come out of my students' mouths. I know you won't hear that from your average English teacher, but I've never claimed to be average.

We have been reading the "Southern Journal" articles from the last page of Southern Living magazines. The students seem to really be enjoying the classes. I decided that since most of the missionary volunteers that come to Peru are from the South it is important for our translators, a.k.a. my students, to be aware of Southern culture and idioms.

We are doing this because I decided I needed to regroup on my Bible Storying lessons. I was having trouble helping my students understand the need for Storying. They were doing a great job memorizing the stories for themselves, but I'm not sure I was expressing the importance of learning this as a method of sharing the gospel with others. So, this week I found several articles online from the IMB which explain the reasons and methods of Bible Storying. Next week we will begin again. I hope that as a teacher I am able to help them understand the concept.

On to other news. . .

Yesterday, Sandi and I were able to go with one of our students, Mijail, to his church. We went there because he is teaching English to a small group. He came up with the idea of teaching English in order to encourage people to come to his church. He invited us to come because he wanted them to be able to hear "real live English speakers" first hand. The whole trip was quite the adventure and we had a great time! Mijail came from his home to get us at our office at 4:30 p.m. We rode with him by bus back to his home/church. The trip took an hour and 15 minutes. We taught for about an hour and a half maybe. I can't really remember because the time flew by. We had so much fun. The group consisted of Mijail's brother, Father, and 3 other students. They all had great attitudes and came prepared with the questions they had been learning. We left and went with him to catch a bus back to our home after class. We stood on the street for quite a while waiting for the right bus, but it never came. So after about 20 minutes, at least, we decided we would have to take 2 different buses. Mijail rode with us on the first bus in order to help us catch the second one. Again, the bus we needed never came, but we found an alternate that actually took us very close to our neighborhood. I know you probably think it is crazy that I have lived in Lima for so long and can't even catch a bus by myself, but just come here and you will understand. On any given day the drivers don't even know which route they will be taking! So, we finally arrived home about 9:45 p.m. I'm so glad I was able to go! It was such a great experience to be able to go with a student to his neighborhood and to also see him teaching others what he has learned from us.

A sign at Mijail's church. It says, "The Bible: light for our district"

Mijail's father (his name is Pastor, but he's not a pastor, he's actually a communist!), Sandi, Priscila, Mijail's brother(sorry I forgot his name), Roger, and Mijail

Our second bus on the way home. The most comfortable, and by far the most empty. The others had been standing room only and no cushioned seats.

The rest of the pictures are from today:

I ran into the Extreme Team in town (a rare ocassion). They were passing through and they HAD to enjoy a good meal at Chili's. I enjoyed sitting and getting to know the girls.

The guys also enjoying a break from rice and sugar (the meal they have eaten everyday for a month!)

Thanks for suffering through the post.

I love ya'll!