Thursday, July 15
From Thomas—Green English has been going pretty well. One of three green groups is using the intermediate curriculum while the other two are using the beginner curriculum as planned. I am excited that we have some students advanced enough to work at that level. As I have done in the past I have taken a few students aside during closing ceremonies in order to give them a little extra time to practice their English. Erin accompanied me today and we were able to talk with the students about the lyrics to a few hymns. May the truth of God’s Word which is found therein implant itself in their hearts! Erin is beautiful and I can’t wait to marry her!
From Alé — Our fourth day of Vacation Language School went great! Our blue group has been making a good bit of progress. Yesterday, a girl named Singer was asking questions about the song we were singing—Lord I Lift Your Name on High, and we were doing the motions and while we were singing “from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift your name on high”, she asked me, “What is a cross?” and I explained to her, and she replied, “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?” and I said to save us from our sin and then I asked her if she wanted to know more and she said “yes!” So, I took her a lady named Shoali and she talked to her and prayed with her. If you think about it, please pray for Singer and that she really does understand. Pray also, if you will, for tomorrow that we will finish strong and begin well next week.
From Frances (Fi) – I’m in blue English with Ann Ashcraft and our translator, Helen. I’ve loved helping teach English and getting to know the kids. Helen was able to share the gospel with all of the blue group kids in our class today, which was such a blessing. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Helen, she’s a very sweet lady and loves the Lord. The kids in the blue group are some of the younger ones in the camp and it can be pretty hard to keep their attention for a long period of time, but she did an amazing job. Please pray for the children who heard that message. Two little girls in the blue group, Lucy (7) and Judy (8), started out as being really shy during the beginning of the week, but today they really opened up and I had a lot of fun getting to know them as much as I could without speaking their language. Hope that wasn’t too boring ? Please keep us in your prayers!
My name is Maddie and I am 14 years old. I came to America 2 1/2 years ago. I used to live in Ethiopia in Africa. My father died of HIV and my mother has HIV and is dying. I have two sisters and one brother. My mom wanted us to have a better life and sent us to orphanage. I had prayed to God when I lived in our village in Ethiopia to know who He was and He answered my prayers. When my new family was ready to adopt us we were sent to the capital city of Addis Ababa. The nannies at the care center shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with me and I became a Christian. It was the greatest gift I ever had. I then prayed for a strong Christian family. God has blessed me with parents who love Him and brothers and sisters who love God as well. I want Jesus to be the center of my life always. I am grateful to be with all my family and I pray that other kids like me - parents with HIV - will also find a Christian home. I desire to be a nurse so one day I can help my people by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ before they die.