Our Teacher Orientation, June 26 - July 2, went well. Thank you to those who knew about it and prayed. The airport simulation is always the most stressful event for me because a lot of people are needed to put it on. I have to find all kinds of "airport workers" (volunteers) who have had overseas experience and speak another language. We attempt to put the participants out of their comfort zone and give them a taste of what traveling in a third-world culture could be like. This year I asked for prayer that the stress would not kill my joy. The day before, I was still lacking people, but I didn't stress and by the day of, I had as many as I needed!
This year we had a more diverse group than usual:
- Of 18 participants we had teachers, two sets of boarding home parents, two tutors for homeschooling families, a youth worker, and a school nurse.
- They ranged in age from 17 (tutor) to 67.
- They are going to 10 different countries.
- The first tutor left July 22; some go next year.
- Eleven hope to be on the field in the next 6-7 months.
Ben is an MK (missionary kid) who grew up in Mali and Senegal. He has a heart to work with teen MKs at our center in North Carolina. In his newsletter report on the airport simulation, he said, "Although the scenario was stressful and the temperature was around 100 degrees, I speak from my experiences growing up in Africa as a missionary kid when I say it was very realistic." [He was arrested in the simulation for carrying his machete.]
Cliff taught in New Jersey public schools for 32 years. He had worked enough years to retire, so he is now seeking prayer and financial partners so he can head to St. Petersburg, Russia, to teach math. The principal at the school there wrote to say he was a real answer to prayer. Cliff is realizing the way he's taught for many years may not work with kids from other cultures. [Cliff left on Friday 8/21!]
Sarah is in the process of joining Wycliffe and is finishing a masters in Chemistry. She is looking at teaching in China using a somewhat new and unique methodology: a Modular Study Group. The students travel to attend class for one week each month and cover most of the teaching for their classes and then they return home for the rest of the month to complete assignments. They can talk to their teachers over Skype and email if they need extra help.
In other news...
Alan is still working on creating the smaller fonts for different regions of the world we mentioned last time. In addition, he's taking on more administrative responsibilities in his group. While his director is taking a year-long Sabbatical, Alan will be serving on a leadership team with three others. His main role will be as technical liaison for his group.
We will be in Georgia October 11-November 1 and hope to see a lot of you who live there. We will be attending our home church's missions conference the first week. After that we will be available to speak to small groups or classes. Our committed giving is about $235/mon short though we are quite thankful occasional generous gifts have been making up the shortfall.
