The air is fresh and cool in the classroom which will soon be my new home. The students are bundled up against the cold, while I am enjoying the weather in my shirt sleeves.
As Anond forecast, more new students arrived today. I have two students in my class. You might call my class the “special ed” class. One of my pupils is Ja Hay, who has been stuck in the beginner class for several years. He has a speech impediment and has a difficult time grasping English since he is older. The younger students have had more exposure to the language in school and are quicker to pick it up. My second pupil, Isa, is one of the first-time students in the school. He also is older and hasn’t the most rudimentary knowledge of English. I wonder if he, too, has a speech defect, since he had lots of trouble imitating the sounds. Of course, both of them have terrible teeth, which makes clear speech difficult.
I longed to ask both of them about their background and their goals. However, I couldn’t do either — or even explain to them what we are doing. Brother Anond helped us out, though, and we made a start. I asked Paul, who just walked past, about these guys. Ja Hay is known as one of the better pastors. Isa was saved in prison where he served 17 years for drugs.
Sebat is helping me learn La Hu with the help of a book that Anond’s sister Ma Ta gave me. I fear I am just as slow as Ja Hay and Isa! I do my best to imitate the letter sounds, but they sound impossibly alike to me. K says “ka” and K’ says “ka” and KH says “ka” and so does KH.’ Learning La Hu should teach me more patience as I try to teach these guys English!
I’ve arranged for So Pick, the taxi driver who works for the orphanage, to take me to the Makro store to buy some things I need for setting up housekeeping — and to buy some groceries for my long-suffering and hungry husband. I’m excited about moving to the mission compound and eager to get started.
Now I’m writing this on the morning of Jan. 10. I made my journey to Makro and bought groceries — but not a George-Foreman type grill. I bought a contraption that grills and steams at the same time, but am not sure how to use it, since the instructions are in Thai. Paul was so tired last night when we got back to the condo that he didn’t want to eat, anyway, so he just had a bowl of soup.
He got up so early to prepare for class — about 1:30 a.m. Then a busy day teaching — and he pours his heart out when he teaches and gives it everything he has. He gave the men a special message that had been on his heart from Luke 14. He wanted them to feel the urgency of giving their all to the Lord, to focusing on ministry to the exclusion of earthly things. Nothing should deter them from their goal of serving God and spreading the Gospel. He was horrified to discover that the translation they have, which we knew to be a poor translation, says, instead of “If any man comes to me and hates not his father or mother..” says “If any man loves not his father or mother…” Of course, that is not just inaccurate, but it says just the opposite, and doesn’t make sense. This is, naturally, a huge concern! I have heard that there are three translations of the Bible in La Hu. Surely there is a better one than the one they are using. No wonder they are not strong on doctrine when they don’t even have a reliable Bible to guide them. I’m thankful Paul straightened them out on this passage.
Now we are off to breakfast and then to another day of school.
Prayer requests:
Strength and wisdom for Paul and Bro. Camp as they teach.
That the students will all show up and come with a heart to learn.
That we can move soon to the mission compound.
We appreciate your prayers!
Susan