You know when you´re feeling really overwhelmed with something and on the verge of crying but trying your best to hold it in and then someone asks “are you okay?” or “do you need a hug?” and then you release full on Niagra Falls levels of tears….? Well, over the past four weeks (yes – I´ve officially been here four weeks since yesterday, crazy!!) I´ve had my fair share of moments like that. I do something embarrassing just about every day (I considered doing a whole blog post on embarrassing moments but I´m whimping out, sorry haha) and some days are just so long and confusing that I come home and try not to cry but end up crying anyway when my host family asks the very simple question of “Como fue su día?” or “How was your day?”
The crazy thing is that even on those days where I end up crying because things are hard or confusing, God has this way or bringing peace to the situation. This post is going to be about two moments that happened last week that will seem so small, but meant so much.
So that happened… #1
I have this English class that I teach after school 3x a week and let’s just say, it´s not always the easiest. The kids are actually very polite and fun, but because of the reality of the school environment, schedules are always changing and the number of kids in my class has dropped dramatically. I walked into class last week and there was literally no one in the room… I was so sad because how am I supposed to teach a class to no one?? I waited 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins, and finally 3 kids showed up. I decided to just start the class with 3 kids. I planned my lesson for at least 10 kids, but 3 it was.
I was about to write something on the board when one girl asked what the meaning of “Shape of You” was. Now, if that title isn´t ringing any bells – it´s the name of a popular Ed Sheeran song. I laughed because how on earth was I going to describe to a 12 year old what that meant (because in reality, it´s about how the singer is in love with the shape of a woman´s body). I decided to just try and translate the words literally first. Of course I forgot how to say “shape” in Spanish so I proceeded to draw shapes on the board. Then, I drew a woman on the board and tried to explain how it was a metaphor for how much he loves this woman and the shape of her body (why oh whyyy I actually tried to explain this to 12 year olds, I´m not sure). In my attempt to explain this all as quickly as I could, I managed to draw the world´s WORST drawing of a woman, EVER. (check out the picture I´ll put at the bottom of the post for proof) I basically drew a blob with hair. Well, the kids thought it was the funniest thing in the world and one kid even said “it looks like her hands are knives” and granted, it really did… I couldn´t help it, but I burst out laughing with them. I couldn´t believe how silly my picture was. We spent the next 3 or 4 mins laughing so much at how much I clearly couldn´t draw that I think the kids forgot all about the fact that I just explained a slightly inappropriate song title to them and that there were only 3 of us in there.
All my stress and sadness about how small the class was, diminshed. At this point, 3 more students had joined the class too. We then continued the class and I taught them all about different activities (walking, swimming, running, etc.) and I acted each one out to them in an attempt to get them engaged and interested. It worked really well and they loved it! They loved it even more though when we got to one word in particular… I hadn´t thought properply about writing “dance” on the board until we got to it. Suddenly, I was playing a random song off my Spotify and “dancing” infront of all the students. If you know me at all, I can´t dance to save my life. But, thank goodness I could laugh at myself because I think it made the students’ day -the crazy “gringa” dancing infront of them. One girl even ran up to the front and asked if she could dance with me, so I took her hands and danced with her for a bit until I told her we had to continue with the lesson.
You see the thing is, I was so worried about that class that day. I usually have at least 10, sometimes up to 17 kids in my class. But none of that mattered because I ended up breaking the ice and reaching a new level with the kids that were there, and all through my terrible artistic skills and embarrassing dance moves. So, moral of the story – if you can´t dance, it might actually come in handy one day 🙂
So that happened… #2
This next moment is a little sweeter. And shorter. I came home one day last week and cried to my host family because the schedule at the school keeps changing here and I spent a few too many hours waiting around that day and it had just got to me (and made for a kind of long and boring day, to be completely honest). My host mom and grandma were quick to give me hugs (and even chocolate) and comfort me until I calmed down.
Now fast forward a few more hours… I was calmer at this point, but still feeling a bit down about the day, so I tried to describe some of the things I’m doing in school to my host family to try and start conversation. I explained how I’ve been teaching the kids a song in English and Spanish about God’s love. I asked if they knew the song, “Cristo me ama” or “Jesus Loves Me” and before I knew it, my grandma pulled out her old hymn book and found the song in Spanish. We ended up singing every single verse together (turns out there’s more than just one verse to Jesus Loves Me) and one song led to the next and soon enough we were singing hymn after hymn, for hours. Some of them I recognized the tune, others were brand new to me, but I sight read anyway. It was so special. Just three woman standing around an old hymnal singing and praising the Lord together. I didn´t always know what I was singing and we all weren´t always in tune, but it didn´t matter. It didn´t matter that I don´t know perfect Spanish and they don´t know more than maybe 5 words in English. We were just three people who love the Lord singing together.
(The featured image for this article is of the old hymnal!)
So what am I saying?
I don´t always have silly or special moments like that every day. Some days really are just long and hard. But, the truth is our Lord knows us and knows what we need. He knows what will make us laugh and lift our spirits and he knows how to use gifts and talents that have, or don´t have for that matter, to connect with His people. Allow yourself to be strong enough to be weak enough to let God handle it. Because, He knows what he´s doing – especially when we don´t.
I can’t believe I have already been in Belize for two weeks. I have loved living here! My first two weeks have been very busy. The first few days here consisted of David and Mary Beth showing me around San Ignacio. We also did chapel services for the three different schools that David is chaplain for. I loved seeing the young children at St. Hilda’s so involved in the worship music. On Thursday of my first week here I began to join David and Mary Beth for home visits. We typically go to visit members of the two churches around two or three times a week. We have visited about 15 homes total since I have been here. On Saturday night St. Andrews held a choral festival service where Mary Beth’s youth choir performed, the congregation listened to readings from the Bible, and sang songs to prepare for Pentecost. On Pentecost Sunday, I joined David and Mary Beth for the two church services they put on. The first service was at St. Andrews Anglican Church, here in San Ignacio, and the second one at St. Hilda’s in Georgeville.
I was able to start working at St. Hilda’s Anglican School during my second week. I spent my first morning helping teach a young girl with special needs. The other day I was there I was able to observe and read stories the children in a Standard 1 classroom, which is equivalent to second grade in the U.S. One of my favorite parts of my second week was attending the youth choir party. Mary Beth’s youth choir that she leads at St. Andrew’s had a party for their last rehearsal before their summer break. We played youth group games and ate snacks. It was so much fun to see how competitive some of the girls were during the games we played. I had my first meeting with the lady I am working on Vacation Bible School with. We are currently working on creating the curriculum for the VBS at St. Andrews in July. I plan on using this curriculum to have VBS at St. Hilda’s the week after the VBS at St. Andrews. We went on more home visits and have started taking a couple of other members of the church with us each time. One of my favorite home visits was to a family in Georgeville. Their children go to St. Hilda’s school and church. The daughters were so cute and one of them picked up Mary Beth’s phone and tried to take a selfie with me. It was so adorable!
Since I have arrived in Belize I have tried many new types of food. The local fruit here is so amazing! It is currently mango season and there are mangos everywhere. I have discovered that Belizean’s are in love with mangos. When I arrived in Belize I was very surprised to see that their oranges here are green on the outside. One the the most interesting fruits I have tried here is mamey. It was good but very strange. It had an avocado like texture but was a bright reddish-orange color and tasted like a cooked sweet potato. One of my favorite things I have tried has been soursop juice. I get it at every restaurant that has it available. Another one of my favorite new things is fresh coconut water. I have tried coconut water in the States and I was not a fan but my host family insisted I try it here. I am so glad I did. It is so so delicious!
This week a mission team is coming from Florida to hold a free medical clinic in Georgeville and I will be helping them with their VBS they are holding in the mornings at St. Hilda’s school. I am excited to continue helping out at St. Hilda’s and building relationships with the children and families in the area and hopefully this will help encourage more involvement in the church. Belize is a beautiful country and I am looking forward to see how God will use me during the rest of my time here.
Most of my week (Monday through Friday) is spent at the school in Chol Chol where I’m helping. However, on the weekends I get to explore! I’m very grateful that God put me in the hands of a host family who wants to show me around and a mentor that worked hard in advance to connect me with local people here who are around the same age as I! So here´s a little bit about some of my adventures here over the past few weeks…
Adventure #1 – El Campo
El Campo is the countryside! I have actually been able to go to the Chilean countryside a few times now, for various things. I visited 2 different families and even the land where my Chilean “grandmother” used to live. Each trip was between 35 mins and 1hr and 15 mins away from where I’m living. The countryside is very beautiful. It’s winter here, which means it rains a lot and is very cold, but our trips were still fun despite the weather! My first trip to el campo was just to look around and take in the beautiful nature! I learned that the national flower of Chile is the copihue (pretty and pink!!) and that if you’re careful, you can even swing on some of the branches (haha, my little 6 year old host brother taught me that one!)
My second trip to the countryside was to visit the bishop´s sister and mother. This was a very special trip. I couldn´t communicate that much to either of them while I was there (still trying to figure out Chilean Spanish), but I did my best to smile and be appreciative of everything. I got to explore the land and even watch my host family knock fruit down from the trees that had not yet fallen during the change of season. I also learned that if you pronounce “membrillo” (the fruit) just a little bit differently…well, let’s just say it’s not a fruit anymore! Haha!! (Oops, gotta laugh at yourself when that happens!)
My third trip to the countryside was to visit another family. It was a quick visit, but also a very special one too. I think I might save the details of that one for another post!
Adventure #2 – Temuco
This past weekend I got to go on a city tour of Temuco (the city where I’m living!). I went with a local girl, Carol who is close in age to me and studying to be an English teacher. We went to the Pablo Neruda train museum, the football (soccer) stadium, and this beautiful lookout spot (Cerro Nielol). It was a really fun day getting to explore and spend time with a new friend!
Adventure #3 – El mar
This adventure might have been my favorite! This past Sunday, we got in the car after church and drove just a little over an hour to the town of Puerto Saavedra by the sea, or “el mar.” We only actually stayed there for probably 20 mins, but it was worth all the time in the car because it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I wanted to cry it was so beautiful (although if you know me at all, everything makes me cry!! haha) It didn’t rain, the waves were beautiful, and we even got to see the sun begin to set. It was one of those days that just leaves you in complete awe of God’s creation.
Louise and I boarded flight 110 to
Johannesburg on June 8 together with our newfound friend and mentor, Jeremy
Koeries of J-Life. We were heading back to Johannesburg to follow-up with those
we trained the beginning of May as well as to train a new batch of trainers.
We stayed in a lovely Convent by the Name
of Koinonia, in an area known as Bezuidenhout Valley.
The training, however,
took place in an area known as Sophiatown….one of the oldest racially mixed
communities in Johannesburg which was destroyed in 1955 when over 2000
policemen forcibly moved people to different areas according to their ethnicity.
Almost all the buildings were demolished, but the suburb was rebuilt, renamed
Tromf (Triumph) and zoned as a whites only area, until the name Sophiatown was
reinstated in 2006. The training centre itself was one of the few structures
not destroyed by the bulldozers. It used to be an orphanage, but is now the
Diocesan Headquarters for the Diocese of Johannesburg. Sophiatown was also home
to the much loved and respected anti-apartheid activist, Father Trevor
Huddleston. Jeremy, Louise, and I managed to visit a centre named in his honour
as well as the church he shepherded and where his ashes have been buried.
On Friday, 9 June, John Abrahamse, the
international director of J-Life, met with our May group for follow-up to see
how they had used the material they had learned previously. He also wanted to
show them how to coach their own disciples and how to teach others to coach
their disciples. All the training materials are designed to create a
multiplication effect in the Parishes, Dioceses, and the Province. To quote the
Apostle Paul, we seek to train those who “will be able to teach others also” (2
Timothy 2:2) until every member of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa has
been trained or equipped to do the work of the ministry.
Unfortunately, as it
was held on a working day, a number could not participate, but we have
encouraged them to form small support groups among themselves and to teach and
coach each other as well as to hold each other accountable. The J-Life leaders
have also graciously made themselves available should our faculty or teams need
assistance.
On Saturday, 10 June, we started training a new group, made up of representatives from the Diocese of Johannesburg and the Diocese of the Highveldt. Some will become Growing the Church Faculty for their respective Diocese, while others will become Diocesan Team Leaders who will serve to train Parish leaders who, in turn will train parishioners.
We returned from Johannesburg on BA flight
6407 on Sunday, 11 June, tired, but joyful. It was a wonderful training event
that we will remember for a very long time.
This year’s Assembly is all about mission on our doorstep. SAMS will be in attendance, and there will be plenty of opportunities to connect with members of the SAMS community to inquire about serving through mission. A member of the SAMS community shares how she got involved in mission right where she lives.
Crossing the doors of my church this year people came from Central Asia, Latin America, Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. My church is not in some exotic location but in the heart of Rust Belt America. It has been my privilege to be involved in teaching English as a Foreign Language at my church.
I have been able to sit in on Bible studies where several of these students have come to inquire about Jesus and the Christian faith. God provides many of us who live in North America with wonderful opportunities to establish friendship and share His love with people from around the globe. Local can be global.
If you are interested in a ministry like this, inquire with your local literacy groups if there are refugees who need conversation practice, contact the international student department of your local college or university and find out if you can host students for Thanksgiving or other special events. Or you can volunteer with a refugee resettlement agency. As individuals and as churches, many avenues are open to welcoming the world to our own doorsteps.
