The beautiful, marvelous, majestic Chimborazo.
Psalm 36:5-6a
"Your love, oh Lord, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the sky,
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
Your justice like the great deep."
Psalm 98:7-9a
"Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord."
So I've been told by a few people that I need to update my blog more frequently, so here is a recap of this morning, which was SO sweet. I went to "SMAC", the aforementioned (see below) English Learning Center, and helped teach English. First of all, I had to make my way there on my own (John Mark was waiting for some friends to come teach him about a GPS), so I went out onto the calle principal (main street) and waited for either the #1, #2, or #3 bus. As soon as I got out there, I saw a bus, and thought about flagging it down, but didn't and sure enough, it was #2. "Great"... was my first thought, but praise the Lord, the #3 came soon after (less than 5 minutes). The bus systems here are very efficient and only cost 18 cents to get anywhere in the town (pretty much... you just have to know which ones to catch). So after riding to the designated spot (that the Mausts had shown me previously), I hopped out and went to the SMAC building. Once there, I saw some people around my age coming in, and was signaled to go to a room upstairs with all of them. I was introduced by "David", the teacher for the day, and then we proceeded. There were about 12 people in the room, guys and girls were about even, and we began the lesson.
The class we were in this morning was called "listening", and it involved listening to a song in English and filling in the blanks on a lyrics sheet. The song of today was by "Simple Plan", and had a catchy beat, but I did not appreciate the content (at least the video that was shown with it). It was fun, though, watching all of the people try and listen for the words, and I was imagining a group of Americans trying to do the same thing to a Spanish song (actually, I was reminiscing, for I have done similar things in Spanish classes). A "word bank" of sorts was written on the board, and David explained many of the words. He spoke mostly in English but also had to explain some words in Spanish. I was utilized some of the time, but was mostly a viewer. A requirement of the class (according to David) is to eventually sing along at the end of the hour, and so that's what all of us did. The students were really getting into it, so it was a lot of fun.
The second hour also involved listening to an English song, this one by Craig David, and helping to explain some of the colloquialisms. There were many that they did not understand (such as "getting down", as in on the dance floor). This song was fairly inappropriate in many different parts, so David, who speaks English pretty well and understands really well, and I had a hilarious time going back and forth saying "you have to translate this one", "no you do", "no you". It was quite funny, and thankfully we were able to avoid some of the worst stuff. After the class, two of the students invited David and I (even though it's my first time here) to a party, to which we politely declined. David and I discussed maybe hanging out on the weekends, but I did make clear to him that I do not drink, and he said he does not either. I don't believe he knows Christ, though (at least in the way he uses Jesus' precious name), so please pray that God uses me to minister to him.
The students are really nice, and I'm going to be helping (well, teaching) them Mon-Wed mornings from 9-11. Please pray that the Lord uses me to bless these students and share the Gospel with them, through my actions as well as words. The only names that I caught were Carlos and Andrea, along with David, so please pray for them, as well...
This class will be a GREAT opportunity to expand my vocabulary, for as they ask what this English word means, I am able to copy down the Spanish word for it, as well. I am quite excited (hence the three paragraphs) about this opportunity, and look forward to getting to know them much better!
The class we were in this morning was called "listening", and it involved listening to a song in English and filling in the blanks on a lyrics sheet. The song of today was by "Simple Plan", and had a catchy beat, but I did not appreciate the content (at least the video that was shown with it). It was fun, though, watching all of the people try and listen for the words, and I was imagining a group of Americans trying to do the same thing to a Spanish song (actually, I was reminiscing, for I have done similar things in Spanish classes). A "word bank" of sorts was written on the board, and David explained many of the words. He spoke mostly in English but also had to explain some words in Spanish. I was utilized some of the time, but was mostly a viewer. A requirement of the class (according to David) is to eventually sing along at the end of the hour, and so that's what all of us did. The students were really getting into it, so it was a lot of fun.
The second hour also involved listening to an English song, this one by Craig David, and helping to explain some of the colloquialisms. There were many that they did not understand (such as "getting down", as in on the dance floor). This song was fairly inappropriate in many different parts, so David, who speaks English pretty well and understands really well, and I had a hilarious time going back and forth saying "you have to translate this one", "no you do", "no you". It was quite funny, and thankfully we were able to avoid some of the worst stuff. After the class, two of the students invited David and I (even though it's my first time here) to a party, to which we politely declined. David and I discussed maybe hanging out on the weekends, but I did make clear to him that I do not drink, and he said he does not either. I don't believe he knows Christ, though (at least in the way he uses Jesus' precious name), so please pray that God uses me to minister to him.
The students are really nice, and I'm going to be helping (well, teaching) them Mon-Wed mornings from 9-11. Please pray that the Lord uses me to bless these students and share the Gospel with them, through my actions as well as words. The only names that I caught were Carlos and Andrea, along with David, so please pray for them, as well...
This class will be a GREAT opportunity to expand my vocabulary, for as they ask what this English word means, I am able to copy down the Spanish word for it, as well. I am quite excited (hence the three paragraphs) about this opportunity, and look forward to getting to know them much better!
In His strength alone...
Luke
2 comments:
Luke,
I wonder if they would let you choose your own songs? Maybe you could introduce them to some upbeat Christian music? What do you think?
I just read your BLOG to Skylar and she said she will be praying for your friends there.
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