The bugs are big here. Yesterday, a child came up to me with a large beetle and placed it in my hand. I felt that momentary fight or flight instinct, but I let the boy place the beetle in my hand. It was quite fascinating. When Bryan came over and tried picking it up, its barbed feet clung to me. That was also quite fascinating. It eventually let go and I was able to say I had held a large beetle in my hand. I will have to find out what it is called. I will also have to find ways to avoid being able to say such things.
Today, David found a skink and brought it over to the table in the open air dining hall. I don’t have a problem with lizards and the like. There was no instinct to jump away much like I felt when the boy approached with the beetle. The skink was a tiny thing, the length of a pencil and much skinnier. Its tail was equal to the length of its body and it had beautiful green stripes running the entire length. It appeared so fragile looking and you could see where its tail had been broken off once before and had grown back and even the tip of its tail had been broken off and was growing back. It was resting on the back of his hand and I place my finger under its head and it crawled up on my hand. It was fascinating.
I guess you can tell there are many fascinating things around here. Did I tell you about the elephants we saw yesterday and today? Fascinating creatures when you’re up close and personal outside of a zoo or circus. There is no cage or fence or ring to separate you and you begin to feel very vulnerable when you size them up. They were helping with some large logs along the side of the road on the island where we taught. Made you wonder what it must have looked like to see them on the ferry going across to the island.
Well, we survived our first two days!! They started early enough, around 5:30AM, with getting dressed, eating breakfast, gathering our supplies and heading for the ferry. This week’s English Camp is being held on Kho Khao Island. Much of the island was devastated by the tsunami, but a portion was high enough to be spared. That portion became the center for much of the relief work on the island that followed. As we crossed the channel, we could see some of the houses that Dean’s crew built. We could see a stretch of beach that looked bare and Dean told us that trees had grown there before but were broken and stripped down to the ground leaving the beach barren. He told us of an island that had been out beyond this island which was now gone. There were about 50 people who had lived on that island and they and their island completely disappeared.
The school where the camp was held is located on the higher ground that was spared in the tsunami. School is not in session right now, so we were allowed to conduct the camp there. English is taught from kindergarten to sixth grade, but the teachers themselves have little understanding of English pronunciation or usage such that what English the children learn is rudimentary. Some of our team members had prepared a lesson plan for the week and we brought supplies to use for the classes. I have not seen the other classes, so I cannot speak for the others, but I have the first grade and we have had a blast. It has been fun, but it has also been exhausting. I feel good now knowing I made the right decision not to become a teacher. It’s hard work!! The children I work with have been wonderful, they are so mindful and respectful. They have been taught from early on to respect their elders and they say thank you and good morning and they are neat! That completely blew me away! We passed out candy in wrappers and they ate the candy and then got up and threw the wrappers away in the basket!! How I would have loved for my daughter to have done that at that age!! (Heck, I’d love for her to do it now, but this isn’t about her…) Anyway, the two days have come and gone and we’re gearing up for the next two days of teaching and playing games.
OK, now, did I say it was hot here? Did I also say anything about the humidity? Well, let me say this about that. What the…!! I will never complain about the heat in Oakdale again! It’s not that it is hot, but the humidity is so draining, it’s maddening! I feel I’ve been sticky the whole time I’ve been here. We’ve been fortunate to have access to regular showers and plenty of good drinking water. The place where the women are staying has air conditioned bedrooms for us, so we can sleep at night. The rest of the time, we’re sticky and sweaty. And don’t get me started about the toilet facilities… sigh. That’s better left to another time… if at all.
We’ve covered the woman from Mark 5 with the issue of blood. We’re covering the centurion of Luke 7 whose faith surpassed all of Israel. That was the discussion for tonight’s devotional. We have tried during this trip to meet regularly for debrief and devotional discussions. Pastor Paul has been providing the passages for study and we have contemplated and journaled and then discussed them. Tonight’s discussion was on the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant. We’ve also been discussing humility and its various stages and forms.
He was a middle-manager. He knew how things worked and he was used to things working as expected. He knew about Jesus. He knew He could heal. He knew if Jesus commanded the servant to be healed, it would happen. He also knew he wasn’t a Jew. He knew how Jews were. They only helped their own. But he had been a friend to the Jews, so he dared to ask some elders to go and ask. He knew if they asked and Jesus answered, whatever the answer would be, the expected outcome would follow.
The elders were beggars. Beggars only want to take care of themselves. They don’t think of anyone else. They want the status quo. It’s good for them. And they will work to make sure nothing changes that. The elders were used to acting humble in front of the Romans. Humbling themselves before a “prophet” was no big deal.
And Jesus went with them…, because He knew what would happen. Here was another object lesson.
Why do I suddenly feel I’m more like the beggars, er… the elders, now than the centurion? I’m more centered on taking care of myself, my needs, more than the team or the children…? I’m saying and doing the things I think others want to hear, but… where’s my heart? What are my motives? It’s so easy to cover things up at home, but in the field, they glare at you. Not very prettily either. Actually, it’s not easy to cover up at home either. Sigh. Devotions can be a pain sometimes… particularly when they reveal truths we’d just as soon not acknowledge. Something about that “ignorance is bliss” thing, you know.
Tomorrow, we discuss the widow’s mite from Mark 12. I don’t think that passage will be any easier on me either. Not fair to take advantage when I’m tired and way out of my comfort zone. I have no defenses then.
All Things Elda 