Highlights from the Last Few Weeks

+I showed the Nooma "Noise" to 7th class, and I didn't really expect them to get it, but they really did, and we ended class by spending about five minutes in silent prayer, and when the bell rang, most of them didn't want to leave.

+Two Wednesdays ago I decided to break the norm a little and have 8th class stand up and circle up to pray.  The difference was night and day, and one of the students suggested that they get together after classes to pray as well.

+You've already seen the song I translated!!!   Tomorrow the plan is to play it during service.

+On Wednesday at youth group I got to show some of my photography. 

+Spent 4 hours on the phone trying to get internet switched over to the new apartment.   x.x

+I can't say classes are going well.  I love my students, but I've had near revolutions in 8-10th class in the past few weeks.  Summer is in the air.   5th and 6th class are progressively becoming better adjusted to my methods, organization, and style, but it just depends on the day sometimes whether I spend more time trying to get them into line or teaching.  Only seventh class has truly accepted my culture of "hard work + fun."  And they're a pretty exceptional bunch.  Meanwhile, half of the 1st graders mug me on a regular basis...I wonder to myself if I'd be a better elementary school teacher, and if so, if it's because of my personality, or because I have completely mastery of the subject area, as well as experience. 

+Got a couple friends from youth group to play frisbee with me a couple weeks ago.  Then a group of six seventh grade girls joined us, and it's turned into a regular little frisbee club, with quite a varied and interesting group of people interested.  That was pretty exciting for me.

+A team from Russia, including some old friends, is in Bishkek for the next two months.  I hope to be able to bless them and tag along for some of their ministry, and hopefully incorporate them into some of the things I am doing.  Meeting them today was the first time I'd spoken with Americans and/or anyone I'd met pre-Kyrgyzstan in the flesh since January.

+Today we arrived at the letter Z with my younger class at the Novapakrovka (Let's call it NPK for short) orphanage.  And despite his insistence to the contrary, Sergei is learning to read in English pretty well.  :) 

+I'm two weeks behind on posting my grades.   :/

+I'm thinking of starting a small group...the only thing I can't figure is who to start it for, because I can think of three different target groups.

+The girls at the 8th Mkr Orphanage home (and two of the boys) have accepted me as a regular visitor.  Unfortunately they're total flakes when it comes to English classes or Frisbee, and one of the guys was telling me about going to an adult horror film.  :/   So still trying to figure how and whether to be a part of their lives on a regular basis.

+Having a highly motivated Pastor for a private student has been a joy.  We get to talk about little devotionals that she reads, she's always smiling, and we end each lesson with prayer.  She's sick though, can you pray for healing?  :) 

+Speaking of, something crazy happened a couple weeks ago and I had something along the lines of an anxiety attack, as well as walking pneumonia (my diagnosis).  Praise God, it all seems to have cleared up. 

+We moved to a new apartment right in the middle of downtown.  It's quite large, which is very nice.  They're also about to remodel it a bit, which is also sweet and hopefully won't be too crazy.  The location is inconvenient for some things, but I've been significantly more on time, even to school (just going by minibus rather than walking).  I don't much like living in the rich part of town, but the location is super-ideal for having people over.







+I recorded a translation of a sermon into English for one of the local churches.  It was very cool, a lot of things lately have been very timely and exactly what I've needed to hear, and this was one of them (Have ya'll been praying again?)  ;)   .  This one was about overcoming and putting on the full armor of God.  Unfortunately, there was an underlying current that God wants everyone to be healthy and wealthy which, I think is just bad destructive theology.  I'm very torn between feeling convicted that this isn't me at all, and goes against most of what I stand for (I like St. Francis, Jim Elliot, and George Müller, for instance.), while at the same really wanting to be for solidarity within the big-C Church and affirm their very strong faith and commitment to the scriptures.

+Two weeks from now I'm going to the mountains with a group of orphanage graduates and getting to know an org that works with them.  Eep!  So exciting!  That same weekend will be the end of the grading period for the whole school year!  Ahhhhh!