ODR Outlook

Archive for August 30th, 2010

My wife and I have now been in Saipan for 25 days, and before we know it we will have been here for 25 weeks.  As my wife mentioned in her blog yesterday, the days are truly flying by.

Reflecting over the last 25 days, our first Joint Worship at Saipan SDA School stands out as I still clearly remember the question that was asked of me: Do you like challenges?  Initially my response was, “is this a trick question?”, if I say yes, will all the students gang up on the the new teacher to give him problems and challenges?

I did respond “yes” to the question, and up to this point as I start my 14th school day, each day has presented a new and unique challenge of it’s own.  Whether it’s discipling a child who has used inappropriate words in the classroom, or a student who just launched a pen across the room and hit his fellow student in the eye, or just learning how to teach and plan a basic lesson plan that keeps me up each night until 9:00 pm.  Each day has been a challenge, and has pushed me to grow and learn in a new way.

I believe God calls each of us to push and challenge ourselves, and to look for new experiences.  Whether its planning a community event, helping at church in a new way, being your kids soccer coach, or traveling to a new country for a mission or evangelism project.  In doing so, we will not only experience a new and exciting aspect of life, we will become more well rounded and ready to embrace the challenges that will face us in the future.

Well the days have flown by. I had all intentions to write about the first day of school. It came and went, but I felt too overwhelmed to write about it. It was just another piece of homework for “teacher” to do. The first week went well but I was nervous every day. That has worn off a bit. Ronald and I moved into an apartment off the compound. We have been adjusting to Saipan quite well. I thought there would be more to adjust to, but the only thing that has been hard is the amount of work it takes to plan for teaching. The actual teaching is fine, the kids are great, the staff is wonderful, the food is delicious, the view is breathtaking, the weather is okay, and we even get our laundry washed, dried and folded for $3 a load! Oh ya, not to mention, everybody in Saipan is really friendly. We’ve been very happy with our nice principal and his wife. They are inspirational.

One of my favorite parts of this new life though is the kids. Its what draws me to the job. They brake my heart everyday. I hear their voices in my sleep at night, “teacher, I’m done” “teacher, can you help me?” “teacher” this and “teacher” that. Being around children always reminds me of the simplicity that life should be. They are sweet and follow directions (most of the time). I pray that God can use me to help shape the lives of my students to be God-fearing young people. I doubt everyday that I can be an influence in their lives, but I know that God has the power to do things that I never imagined. Just last week for instance, the students were invited to come to church. One student of mine became very excited that he was invited to church. He wanted to know what he should wear and what we do at church. Lo and behold, he was there on Sabbath morning. It made me so happy!

Here are a few pictures of my precious students who are responsible for most of my joy and frustration

(Best Friends)

Joint Worship

gecko

Best friends again

Tag is our favorite game!