A day shall be as a thousand years...

That's how I feel here!  It seems like I could do 1000 years-worth of things in one-day's time.  But then time goes by so fast it feels like 1000 years would go by as quickly as a day.  Even though I haven't written an update for over two weeks, it doesn't seem like it's been that long.  A lot has been happening to keep me busy...

1.  I decided that I didn't like the Bible cirriculum I was given for either my middle school or high school Bible class, so I have decided to make my own.  This takes up many, many hours a week as I research, plan, and make my own notes and charts and graphs to pass out to the class.  It's definitely proving to be a worthwhile decision, though.  Below are some pictures of my high schoolers presenting their SIPs (Special Interest Projects) today.  We can only cover so much material in class, so if a question of interest is raised that they would like to know more about, it is up to them to do further research and present it to the class.  All four of my high schoolers did a fantastic job with their first SIP!  I'm so proud of how they are using the minds that God gave them to think and research and come up with answers for themselves! 

Tanya, comparing and contrasting the creation story in Genesis with other religions' creation stories

Kenji, showing locations archaeologists have considered for the landing site of Noah's Ark

Oli, demonstrating the dimensions of Noah's Ark in relation to the SAM base

Andrew, explaining different dinosaur extinction theories, including his own

2.  Another single missionary, Patricia, and I have decided to do youth group for the MK (missionary kid) girls on Wednesday nights when the adults are in prayer meeting.  Tonight was our first night and it went really well.  I didn't realize how much I've come to love (and now miss!) youth ministry.  I felt right at home and am looking forward to doing it again each week!

3.  I'm continuing to teach Middle School Language Arts and Geography  for now (although the other teacher will be here to take those over next semester).

4.  I'm also trying to get involved with working with Kids Alive in the more rural town of San Jose, right outside of Pucallpa.  They have a teen girls' club on Tuesday mornings and on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon they do Awana for the kids.  So far I've only gotten to visit and observe, but they would like me to teach one of the Awana groups each week (in Spanish!).

5.  Speaking of Spanish...I'm also getting tutored in Spanish, for an hour and a half, twice a week.  It's coming along really well and my tutor has already said he definitely considers me bilingual!

6.  I am also responsible for helping to get music together and to practice singing with another missionary to lead worship at a missionary women's conference that's coming up in Pucallpa at the end of October.

7.  I am aware that I do need to take a break every once and a while, so I make sure to have some fun and get some physical activity by playing volleyball and ultimate frisbee with some other missionaries and Peruvian nationals each week.  I also get together with the other single missionaries once a week to have dinner and hang out.  Here's a picture from our most recent dinner, last Friday (I'm in the middle):

That was definitely the shortened version, but hopefully you are all satisfied in knowing that I am staying busy and loving every minute of it!  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support that got me here!  Keep it comin'!  God bless!

 

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hello again!

So it's easy to "tough it out" when you have to deal with little inconveniences for a short period of time, but recently it's been hitting me that these things I'm dealing with are not for a short time, but for 10 months!  For example, I just realized the other day that I have been here for going on three weeks and I haven't really had a chance to sing the whole time!  At home in the States I can belt it out whenever I feel like it, but here, that would be disruptive to everyone around me since there's really no privacy.  I didn't realize how much that would effect me, but it really got me down.  So I prayed for the Lord to give me an outlet to sing.  Within 5 minutes another missionary approached me asking if I could help her to lead worship at a missionary women's conference that's coming up!!!  How awesome is God that He doesn't just answer our "big" prayers, but that He cares so much and so personally for us, He takes care of our little needs as well?!  I'm hoping and praying that this opportunity to sing will help draw me closer to Him and be a comfort to me in this time of confusion and adjusting. 

Although there are some things I'm still getting used to, life here moves too fast to spend much time thinking about it.  SAM Academy has been keeping me busy with planning lessons, creating and grading tests, and coming up with projects and assigments for the kiddos (below is a picture of the classroom where I teach). 

Now that I've kind of got a handle on a teaching and the daily expectations at the school, I'm already adding more to my plate!  Next week I'll begin meeting with a Spanish tutor to help me regain what I've lost of the Spanish language and to learn even more.  My goal is to be able to say with confidence by the time I leave Peru that I can speak Spanish fluently.

Next week I'll also get an introduction to Latidos de Esperanza (Heartbeats of Hope), the crisis pregnancy center.  I'm planning to spend some time in the center as well as sitting in on an abstinence class that one of our missionaries teaches at the local public school.

There are two youth ministries I'm considering joining and both meet on Saturdays.  I've only attended one so far, but tomorrow I'll be checking out the other one.  I'm hoping to get plugged in as soon as possible, though, so hopefully after this weekend I'll know for sure which one to dedicate my Saturdays to.

Anyway, I'm very excited about getting involved in different ministries, just please keep me in your prayers that I don't do as I often tend to do and spread myself too thin.  Everything's just so exciting, I want to be a part of it all!  (I do understand the importance of a Day of Rest, though, so Tuesdays are my "nothing days".)

If you'd like to see some pictures of Pucallpa, I've recently put some up on my Facebook.  Thanks for reading and have a blessed week!