“And God said what?” It was good! My grade 9 class answered in unison with their weak morning voice. “So if God created this world good and man was the climax of His creation that means Katak here is a mistake, right?” YES!! That woke them up. Any time they can make fun of their classmates they jump on it!
This week we were finishing up a scientific view of creation during devo time. Its one of my favorite things to teach as it shows that being a Christian doesn’t mean you check your mind at the door and it shows how any view of how the world began takes some kind of faith as none of us were there. Its also cool to share with them recent scientific research that supports the Biblical view of creation. That day we talked about how God made us with a purpose and that no one was a mistake. This grade 9 class has about 10 kids that don’t know English at all and they think and say they are dumb. “You’re not dumb and you’re not a mistake! God doesn’t make junk!” They just sat and stared. Once again I wondered what the age is when kids go bad and adults no longer like them. I told them the looks I get from people when I tell them I teach junior high. Why is that? If there is any age that needs to know they are loved and that they can make mistakes and we’ll still love them its this age. Man, that’s not easy when they push the limits but how cool is it when they have people that care enough to give them limits to push! Ok, sorry about the soapbox!
Besides losing all day Saturday to a fever, this week was a pretty normal week of school and after school activities. Mundane? Nothing is ever mundane in the land of gear grinding back firing buses, samlot (a guy on a bike with a seat attached on the back for people to sit in) drivers yelling random things at us while we past, rain that incapacitates the entire city, and smells that make your head spin! Speaking of smells…hee hee…Ben, one of my 4 grade 10 students, was sitting in class working on some class work when his head shoots up, “What is that smell?” The other 3 boys and I look at him and sniff. “I don’t smell anything, but we have a saying in the States that whoever smelt it dealt it.” He laughed and said they say that here too, “but I’ve never smelled anything like this before!” We all laughed and went back to work. Two minutes later Ben raises his hand, “can I go to the bathroom?” Laughing freely I say, “Yes, go!” The other 3 boys and I laughed till he got back. Too funny! Once again, the joys of laughter and light moments make the weeks memorable.
If any of you are interested in my conversation with Oot, please let me know as I’d love to share the awesome story but it will take up too much space for this email. Thanks!!