that means our second mtg. 4 hours long. but you wouln't even notice... and ill tell you why. its on balboa island. thats right sun and sea. then theres food. good food. and we got cool people. we are mostly at that get to know you stage thats really fun. (personally i get a little awkward at times but when we talk about Haiti is all around excitement). add some worship, prayer, planning, strategizing, laughing, and learning, and you got yourself a fun four hour team meeting!! no kidding.
our last hour was that laughing and learning part. guest speaker Danny is a professor at USC. But he seemed more like a goofy dad of a 3 and 4 year old (he was both). We were wildly entertained. First thing he asked for 3 volunteers. Not something I usually jump at. And I didn’t, I kinda felt bad for the guy… no one was volunteering so i shot up my hand. We were then part of this game. With only 2 rules. #1We were only allowed to say one of 3 things (2up, 2down or 1up, 1down) and #2We couldn’t say the same thing twice in a row. As he started asking us what we were I was terribly confused. It didn’t make any sense. We guessed what we should answer with, but the answers he accepted and rejected made no seeming connection. After some more embarrassment he sent us out of the room and we gave each other our theories of what we thought we were supposed to answer with. When we came back everyone else in the room understood and we still did not. That made us feel a ton better and so it was just about 10 times harder to get what the heck I was supposed to answer. Like it wasn’t hot enough. I could feel my face so red, and I could feel the perspiration begin. Danny began to give us some hints. We still didn’t get it. In the end it was an illustration and an experience to understand what it must be like to learn another language. Yeah. It’s tough.
Danny then taught us some practical ways to teach kids English. Laughter. Music and Songs. Motion. The more fun the better. The more meaningful the better. (Lucas kind of already naturally discovered some of this stuff in his quest to teach him and I Creole. He also gave us some ideas about what to bring that usually perk an English learner’s interest. Like photos. hmmmm... I think we are going to do just fine.
our next meeting is june7th. back in balboa. Haiti will be just a bit less accomodating. but thats a reason i love mission trips. God is so vividly needed for everything. from your tolerence with the heat to the sustainability of your stomache and health to your ability to love selflessly. you just cant be about your own comfort. you are praying and seeking the Lord like crazy. like your life depended on it. man. to prepare for Haiti lets do that here. need God. vividly.
alicia simmons