Monday, June 21, 2010

Schoolchildren Worldwide

From the kitchen and bathroom windows of our third-floor church complex, I can see the children coming and going to school and can hear two familiar sounds: children playing on the playground and school bells calling them to return to class.

Those sounds are the same everywhere I've been, from Tennessee/Kansas/North Carolina/Illinois/Kentucky to New Zealand to Fiji to Malaysia. It's a unifying sound, reminding us all that we are the same at the beginning, changed only by our surroundings and our culture.

My readers are all very earnest and eager to improve their English. Today a third-year college student said her roommate had flunked out and had to go home, so she is living alone. "Do you want to come live with me?" she asked, smiling. I told her I was tempted to take her up on her offer because she lives much closer to the church building than the Christians we're staying with. But I'll stay with the plan.

Today I have readers without a break from 2 until 7 pm. We supposedly have 10 minutes between readers, and sometimes that works out, but not always. We are excited that every single person scheduled has come! One reason, of course, is the encouragement and reminders given by our angel/secretary, Doreen.

Today Doreen took us across the street to eat at an Indian restaurant. We had a delicious dish that was a scrambled egg/chopped chicken mixture between two pieces of naan, with a curry dipping sauce. We love trying new foods, and we're enjoying most of them.

I appreciate all the prayers on behalf of our readers and us. I think we've finally gotten past the jet-lag problems and are settling into our routine. Kinley and I just made a run to the local grocery store, where we bought cereal and milk for our breakfasts here. We also managed to pick up some Coke Light and TimTams, for those of you who know what treats they are, since TimTams are not available in the U.S.

Now off to my marathon afternoon!

2 comments:

Kenda Turner said...

Enjoying the updates :-) Keep up the inspiring work!

Unknown said...

Lanita, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family and I am enjoying your postings.

Love,
Larry & Yvonne