To Mississippi and Back

In just two short days, I am headed to Memphis, Tennessee for Pre Field Orientation (PFO). PFO is a 2-week time of preparation and training for overseas ministry, designed for new and NICS staff members. There will be around 100 participants, 100 volunteers and 40+ staff members.

Here I will get to meet some of the team members I will be living and working in Bolivia with, as well as the director of my new school (we have met before, but only through Skype). PFO will be a time to join together in worship and prayer as a community and prepare for the transition of teaching overseas through small groups, interactive panels and professional development. We will be examining our individual strengths and limitations as related to working in community, learning more about the country we’ll be working in, studying the unique characteristics of students who grow up in an international setting and considering how to effectively teach Christianity in an international setting. And of course, having fun! There will be ample opportunities to hang out and get to know others through various activities, such as the ending talent show. Plus, every PFO participant gets a free T-shirt! :)

I am looking forward to this time of meeting new “family” and making close friendships. Also, I get to travel to PFO with one of my close friends, Charissa, who will be teaching with NICS in the Middle East. Charissa and I first became friends in Spring of 2006 on a 12 hour van ride to Portland, Oregon. We were headed there with several other college students for a mission trip. We instantly found common ground in our shared desire to one day teach overseas! Since that time our lives have seem to run a parallel course. We were in the education program at Idaho State University during the same time, even having some classes together; we student taught at the same time; graduated at the same time; attended the same job fair where we both discovered NICS; got jobs teaching in the same school district at the same time; and now we are both headed off at the same time, through the same organization, to teach overseas in different countries! Isn’t God amazing? It is just like him to provide such a friendship in this journey. I am deeply grateful for Charissa as it has been so encouraging and comforting to know someone close to me is walking through the same life changing steps that I am. At times our chattiness during college classes (a college professor once actually asked us to find separate seating during a class!) and school district meetings has gotten us in trouble, and I fear it could be the same at PFO. But I don’t think I would want it any other way! :)

I would love your prayers while I’m at PFO over the next 2 weeks (June 24-July 5). Please pray that:

·      I would build close friendships with my new team members

·      God would continue to prepare my heart to transition overseas

·      I would gain skills to help me become a more effective teacher

·      God would be glorified during this time of gathering together and focusing on Him

Did you know?

• At 12, 000 feet, La Paz is the highest capital city in the World. The airport is almost half as high as a jet’s cruising altitude.

• La Paz is called “The City that Touches the Sky”.

• In the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” a posse begins trailing the infamous duo after they rob one train too many. “Let’s go to Bolivia,” Butch suggests. Here is where the two meet their end.

• La Paz means “peace”.

• Boliva is home to what has been dubbed “The World’s Most Dangerous Road”.  The infamous North Yungas Road stretches 61 kilometers from La Paz to Coroico.

• La Paz has an average year round temperature of 35-65 degrees Fahrenheit.  

• Despite the elevation, the city of La Paz hosts an annual marathon. (One of which I would love to run!)

• Bolivia has 3 main languages:  Spanish, Quechua and Aymara.

• Tourists commonly chew coca leaves to help fight off the effects of the high altitude.

• Throughout many cities in Boliva you can find live Andean folk music being played every night of the week in local peñas (bars and restaurants).

Owls and More

Thank you for visiting! If you are reading this you are probably aware I am moving from Idaho to La Paz, Boliva in just 7 short weeks to teach at an International Christian School. I am very excited about all that God has in store in the next few months. I can’t say this transition has or will be easy, but I am confident it will be worth it. I read this recently in Proverbs. “A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?” This brings me much comfort, especially as I look back on my life and see how God has never failed to direct my steps to exactly the right places and people, all for his glory.

As I transition from teaching in the States to teaching in Bolivia, I am reminded that though the setting, the culture, the resources, the language, etc., may be different, kids are kids, no matter where you are. If my students in Bolivia are anything like my students here, I’m in for a lot of laughs! When working with kids, the old cliché is true: “There’s never a dull moment”. My last week of school was no different. We spent our final week exploring all things “owls”. I have gained a slight reputation these past couple of years as the “owl teacher”. My classroom is decorated (covered really) in owls and our class mascot is an owl (appropriately name “Hootie” and yes, there is a special voice that only Hootie talks in :)). So, to keep my students’ attention on the last, energy filled week of school I decided to do all owl activities, all day, all week. We made owls out of bread, peanut butter and olives. We studied owl wingspans using string, rulers and yardsticks. We created owl journals. We did an owl gallery walk (various stations with images or information set up around the classroom in which students walk to and explore in small groups). We learned about and practiced making and identifying owl calls. It was a hoot! :)

Edible Owls!

At the end of our owl filled week I found myself on the receiving end of many owl gifts: necklaces, candleholders, bags, backpacks, charms, drawings, etc. After thanking my kids for their generosity, I stood at my classroom door one last time and said goodbye to each of my students as they gave me a hug and walked through our door. It was pointless to hold back the tears so I didn’t even really try. One of my students, a boy I grew particularly close to this year, who also happened to be a very challenging student and often the cause of frustration, hung back just a little. He was the last student to walk out the door. Most days I could barely get a high five out of him, but today he wrapped his arms around me and clung to me until I had to ask him to let go. When he finally pulled away, it was with tears in his big eyes. I told him I would walk outside with him to his car if he would meet me in the playground in just a few minutes. By the time I made it outside he was nowhere to be found. It made me sad, but I also knew it was time to let him go. God placed us together for a season and I can only hope this little boy was impacted as greatly by me as I was by him. Whoooo knows what similar stories and students await me in La Paz? :)

Thank you again, for visiting and taking time to read this. Your support means the World to me. Please stay tuned for future postings! 

My crazy 2nd grade bunch!