Gloria

Gloria has really taken charge of her own faith. Before she left for winter break, she was unsure if she was truly a believer. I asked her to share her experience with me. I came to the conclusion that she was a genuine believer. I also asked her the "3 Questions" I'm kind of known for asking students.

1. Do you believe you have sin? Do you believe you have offended God and disobeyed Him?
2. Do you believe Jesus can erase your sin through his life and death? Do you want his forgiveness to cover you?
3. Do you want to commit your life to God and be faithful to Him always and only?

She answered yes to all the questions. And was kind of shocked that how easy the whole process was. I told her if she believed all those things to be true and wanted to commit her life to Jesus, then all she had to do was believe it in her heart and affirm it with her mouth. She did. She's been blossoming ever since!

(Gloria is on the right. Yvonne is on the left.)

Starting in March, she and others have been reading James together. Coco asked, "How can God make us stronger and give us peace?" Gloria wanted to share a personal story.

Gloria shared about how she always felt guilty going to the temple and bowing down when she believed in God. She never felt like she could stand up to her parents. After she made her confession verbally, she felt much more strong spiritually. She told us how she stood up to her parents over the winter break. She felt great peace and power. Like she could do anything! She feels stronger and stronger each day. She was not disrespectful, but lovingly said no, that she would not go to the temple and bow down. She would not burn incense. She would not give offerings.

Listening to her story and her witness to the other students almost brought me to tears. She has such a sweet soul. She's so gentle and kind. She could've been disowned from her parents, it could've caused a lot of drama and conflict. But she stood her ground. This is a great difficulty for many brothers and sisters in Asia. Many festivals and holidays are focused around the afterlife and worshiping ancestors or temple activities.

I'm excited to continually be a part of Gloria’s growth and just watch her blossom. I'm not doing anything. It's all the Spirit alive inside her.

It's like Christmas!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hand out 50 Bible to my students. I teach 6 Oral English classes. But every once in a while, I get to teach a "Bible and Christanity" class. It took some convincing, but I finally got my supervisor to give me the okay to let students BORROW Bibles IF I could find some place to purchase them. He wasn't convinced I could find a place that had that many or that I had the funds to buy them. But the Lord always provides... So, some friends helped me ordered them online. The students were excited for their new books. And I prayed that unkind eyes would be sheilded from what I was doing. So, when I handed them out, it felt like Christmas to me. Giving them a great gift.

Nana, the Turtle

I went to visit a friend in another city this past week. It was a lot of fun. She has a great big apartment. I was a little jealous. But that isn't what I want to write about. It was a really joyous time. I loved getting to hear about her heart and share my own with her. It was really great to hear about the lessons she's learned here and what she hopes to take back with her. I felt like we talked about EVERYTHING. Like every possible topic. And even though I'm an introvert, I process externally. She just inspired me and refreshed me. I felt so encouraged through our time together. We found out we both had done the same summer program. And I think she went to school with the brother of another friend here. We talked about boys, decisions and guidance about the future, doubts and new found trust, friends, family, going home, language study, teaching, people we meet with, peace, praises, culture things, and crazy Asian things. Things we love and things not at the top of the love list. I think it's really rare that you meet a person and connect so quickly with them. It will be really fun/great to see her again in May. She also introduced me to some local noodles which were out of this world. SO GOOD. We also stopped by her favorite coffee shop. I loved it. It was fun to be shown her city by her. I'm kind of a mug collector and she helped me find one. It was just a really good time. Around 5 it was time for me to head home. It was refreshing and fun to travel alone on the way home. Some people might be leary of it. But I kind of like it. And I just feel proud and comfortable that I knew exactly where I was going and how to get there. The video has photos of her apartment, mine, noodles, the coffee shop, a local toilet (just in case you've never seen one), the bus, and a prank that was pulled on me. My national friends have always tried to punk me and others before. But they don't really know how. One idea they had come up with was putting a bag over someone's head. I think they just didn't know what to do, or where to draw the line. I think they had a little help this time. I got home around 1030. My apartment was kind of a mess. So, I cleaned stuff up and unpacked. Then I was getting ready for bed and noticed a note and a funny bag with pellets. I skimmed the note and then held my breath. I thought they had put something terrible in my bed. I throw back the blankets and...nothing. I read the note again. "...share the bathroom." Oh no!!! I go to the bathroom and expect a fish in my toilet. Nope. A turtle in my shower. Hahahahaha! I couldn't believe it. I thought it was dead at first. But it was very much alive. So, I called my crazy friends and congratulated them on punking me. All in all, this past holiday break was good.

First Day of School

School is wonderful. Sometimes during the semester I think, "Is this my life? Semester after semester...Over and over again...?" And I doubt what I am doing. I doubt why I am here and where I am. I remember my desire to be famous or important and have some sort of status in the world. I want to leave my mark. I want to be known in the world.

But then I remember my call to be minial. To be normal. To be regular. My call to a mundane and repeitious life. When you first read that, it might seem bothersome or sad. But I see the beauty in it. Dying to myself and my own selfish desires for something higher.

Who says I can't have an impact as a teacher? Who says I can't have influence? Who says I can't be used in the smallest of ways? Who says what I do is insignificant? Who says what I do is small and useless? Well, the Lord stomps out those lies.

Monday Classes from michelle on Vimeo.

Learning. . .part 2

If you have not read Teaching...part 1, then go do that before you read this post.

One week later.

My roommate Jessica, gave me a little pep talk and helped me sort things out before class the next day. I was planning on talking to the student in private about his actions. The student I'm referring to is to the one that yelled at me. I was hoping for the best case, but also prepared for the worst case. I was going to ask him if there was anything wrong. Then apologize for losing my temper. But there has to be punishment. I was planning on making him give a speech about respecting authority. Here's what happened.

I'm waiting for class almost to begin. I ask to talk to him out in the hall. He starts out by saying he is glad I asked him to talk because he wanted to talk too. I let him talk first. He SINCERELY apologizes for yelling at me and talking to me the way he did. He was having a bad day and the teacher from the class that he has before mine made him very angry. The teacher is supposed to help them study for a big test, but instead told them to study on their own and played games on his computer. He apologized again.

A wave of peace filled me. I was so grateful that God had orchestrated things this way. I forgave him and told him if he ever wants to talk, I'm always willing to listen. If he ever needs help, he can call or email me. And if he's having a bad day, just don't come to class or take it out on me. And I apologized for yelling at him and losing my temper, explaining that no matter what students do, I need to respect them if I expect them to respect me.

End Story.

Writing Class.

The class is busy writing cover letters while I grade old argument papers. The three girls come up to my desk. The ones with the 0s and comments to come see me after class. They hand in their cover letters. The first thing one of the girls says is, "We know." I don't even get to put on my teacher voice or face. Just in case, we are not on the same page, I ask them if they know why I wanted to talk to them. They all nod with these goofy smiles. I ask them why. "Because this is not our work," the spokesgirl says. I sigh and nod. I then proceed to tell them the bad new. They get 0s and cannot make it up. This is not okay to do in America or anywhere. They must do their own work. It is NOT okay to cheat in my class. I will not tolerate it. Those goofy smiles have fallen from their faces and next comes the plea. The spokesgirl asks if they can re-do it and bring it next time. She ask twice I think. Both times get a no. Then panic is on her face. I assure her they will not fail the class. They have other assignments that can improve their grade. But if they continue to cheat, they will fail. I tell them I am here to help and all they have to do is ask. If they needed more time, they should have asked. They explain they were just lazy. They promise not to do it again.

Lesson Learned.

I think God prefers it when we go to Him with our mistakes. When we seek Him out to ask forgiveness. He is more than willing to give grace and mercy, but we have to acknowledge and lay our faults before Him.

Teaching...part 1

The last couple of weeks I had to do some. . .disciplining in my classes. I guess, that's what you could call it. I try to keep my posts short, but the detail are kind of important.

About two weeks ago, a student in my oral English class kind of lashed out at me. At the beginning of class, I had kind of called him out about speaking not speaking English in class. I told him and the people around him that they would have to split up, hoping that they would speak more English. They are all proficient in English, so I wasn't really sure why they did that. Anyway, at the end of the class, I announced that the class was going to prepare for the following week. I encouraged them to be as creative as possible and we could do anything, absolutely anything, as long as we all spoke in English. Most of that class seemed excited. Except this one student. He then began to question me about what was my role, what was I going to do while they taught the class, why was I going to even be here, if they were going to teach the class, they didn't need me.

It's really difficult not to take things personally. I explained that this was a one time thing. I wanted to test their creativity. I wanted to give them freedom too because they don't always like what I plan for class. And I told him I would fully participate in whatever they planned. He just wouldn't have it. He started yelling at me. My heart quickly sank and rose. I was sad and hurt that I was being attacked so directly and completely humiliated and embarrassed. But then my temper kicked in. I didn't yell, but I raised my voice unneccessarily. I told him that he was not required to come to class and that my rules from the beginning of the semester were still true; if you don't want to be here or participate, don't come. I told him not to come next time if he didn't want to. It didn't matter to me. He kept saying they didn't need me. I kept telling him, this was a one time thing. They other students were clearly uncomfortable with it all and tried to get him to stop yelling. The bell rang and I told them I would see them next week.

Pause-Break in that story...

Last week in my writing class I assigned a How To paper. The students were supposed to write directions about how to make something or cook something. This week, I graded them and came across three exceptionally good How To papers. As you might have guessed, the three girls that had turned them in usually have less than average writing. Cheaters!!! I hate giving 0s. I really really do. But I had told myself that if I caught cheaters they would get a 0. So, I just wrote a note on the grading sheet that they needed to come see me after class.

Tune in later to hear what happened...