Classes Have Begun!

The team woke up bright and early today as it was the first official day of classes. This morning, before academic classes began we had a brief worship and devotional class with all of the students. Although we are all still recovering from our long flight, the small set aside time in the morning to worship and meet together as a group filled us with a lasting energy for the rest of the day to come. Academic classes began just after our period of worship. As classes began we were all filled with lots of excitement and anticipation of what it would be like to jump in the classroom and actually teach. Despite the nervousness and anticipation many of us felt, classes went extremely well. Everyone came back from their classes with great stories of how well the classes went and how receptive the students were to us jumping in to teach our spiritual disciplines.

Kacie is going to be sharing some of her experiences today with you that she had at the Academy.

Kacie: It is surreal how much the academy has felt like home since the moment I got here. The kids bring such joy and their smiles make my day. Today was our first official day of jumping into the rhythm of teaching spiritual discipline classes, after-school activities, and helping in homework time. The members of our team that taught today shared on silence and solitude, taming of the tongue, scripture study, servitude, and worship. I think I can speak for everyone when I say talking with these kids about God was so encouraging because they were very receptive to learn more and most of them had a strong base of knowledge. I taught a scripture study to the grade 6 and 7 kids and after simply asking questions like, "Why do we read the bible?" and "What is the bible?" I was quite honesty impressed with the mature answers I received. As a teacher, it was really fun to dive into a South African classroom and use the teaching strategies I've been using for a few years in a new continent and place. All of my goofy ways of teaching transferred to these kids and it was so much fun! The after school program went really well. Today Keely taught a hiphop dance class to most of the students and these kids can dance! We also held a sports hour of ultimate frisbee and soccer. Finishing up the afternoon Stephanie and I taught an art project and Nate got all of the kids participating in a few silly drama games. I've really enjoyed my time here at the academy so far and can tangibly feel that I am right where God is calling me to be. How great is our God to orchastrate a trip like this that brings us half way around the world to serve students at a boarding academy and really love into them and teach them about God. He is so good and I feel so blessed to be a part of this team. Lastly, I praise God for the devastatingly beauty of South Africa. Seeing God's creation of the mountains, trees, and neighboring vineyards while leaving our rooms each morning and walking to the academy to worship with the kids has taken my breath away every time. God's glory is surrounding the farm and it brings my heart such joy to simply be a part of it for these few weeks. :)

In addition to the classes starting at the academy, another subset of the team drove in to Sweet Home to meet with the CHE's. Kim was one of the people that went on in to Sweet Home this morning and has been kind enough to share some of what they experienced today.

Kim: The most important lesson that we learned today in Sweet Home as a team is that the best thing you can bring into the township is a flexible and willing spirit. Today in Sweet Home, our focus was on providing trainings for the teachers who work at the creche (preschool) and the informal school. Right now, there are 70 children enrolled at the creche, and there are 3 teachers. Keep in mind, this is in one room. I was so encouraged by these 3 women. They have such a hunger and openess toward learning more about how to teach preschool that they made the training easy for me. The support of the rest of the Sweet Home team was also a huge blessing today. They stayed behind at the creche, so that the teachers could be trained in an environment free from distractions. Their flexible and willingness to do this truly opened the door for the teachers to fully engage in our discussions and activities, which in turn, gave them some new tools for them to use this afternoon when they went back into their classroom.

The original plan for this afternoon was that our team would be teaching the class at the informal school in Sweet Home. This changed around lunch time when we learned that the children were no longer attending the school at this time. Again, flexibility and a willing spirit came in to play. The activities that we planned changed into a second teacher training. During this training, we allowed the teachers to take on the role of their students and really interact with the materials to gain a deeper understanding of how they can teach to their students in a fun way.

As I sit back and reflect on the trainings for the day, I am encouraged and reminded by God that He has a plan for this township and for the people who are answering the call to serve Him there. As I looked at these teachers today, I was reminded of how important it is to keep our passion and love for others rich and alive. It is through this that we can truly make an impact on our community. The teachers in Sweet Home are a true testament to this.