Fall Updates

Well the year continues to be a busy one!

Teaching is going well and I'm learning more about my students each day. It's great being able to work with them in small groups because I can get to know them better and also focus my help on what they really need. The modified math class I'm teaching is going well and the first quarter has mainly been reviewing basic arithmetic and place value. We just learned how to multiply multi-digit numbers.

At school, the secondary classes had their fall Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) where a team from Georgia came over and talked to the middle schoolers and high schoolers everyday during chapel. This group has come to ICSV for the last couple of years and have built up relationships with the students. It was cool to see them welcomed back. SEW culminated with a worship night on Thursday and it was incredible. Usually, only Christian kids and staff attend with attendance being ~50. This year our Christian students came but a ton of our non-Christian students came as well; they even invited their friends and immediate family! God was moving that night and it students shared their stories openly, for some of them it was the first time they were doing this! By the end of the evening, about 20 students gave their lives over to Christ! During all staff devotions the next morning, the Georgia team leader shared how they normally feel the weight of sin as soon as their plane lands, but this year it felt lighter. In previous years, less than ten students have given their lives to Christ so God was definitely working this year. Please pray for these students as they start this walk with God and discover more of Him.

In more personal news, I'm taking German classes 2x/week this year at the Deutsch Academie in the A1.1 class. This is a class for beginners who have no previous knowledge of the German language. The class is on Monday and Wednesday evenings and are three hours long. I've really been enjoying my class and I do see my German skills slowly improving. Obviously, if I was forced to speak German everyday it would get better faster, but working in an English environment doesn't really promote using German regularly. My plan is to take the A1.2 class as well which would be the last class in the A1 level. After taking both classes, I would be able to have a very basic understanding of German and be able to converse on simple topics. If you would like to know more about what this A1 level means, you can read more about the CEFR levels here. Jetzt kann ich ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen.

I am also doing some babysitting for our school chaplain and his wife. ICSV is offering German classes at school, which I found out after I signed up for mine, and he and his wife are taking classes while I watch their three children. They have two girls (ages 2 and 4) and a boy who is in first grade. They are so much fun to watch and I love spending Monday and Thursday afternoons with them. I have my small group on Tuesday evenings so Friday is really the only day that I can just come home right after school and relax. It's a busy life but it's a good one :)