Ten

In following with my last note on counting blessings, here are ten things from the past few days that I am thanking God for...

1~Teachers that love the Lord and are committed to their calling as Christian educators.

2~Praising God through song with gifted musicians like Patrick and Guitho.

3~Sweet children who always want a hug.  Rosemika giggles and stretches out her arms anytime we walk by.

4~Creativity.  Magdala and Youveland love to color and paint together!

5~Friends who speak the truth in love into my life.  Kris is back for a second summer of fun together and I am thankful beyond words for our time together and her encouraging testimony!

6~Bernaldo's love of learning.  He can read anywhere, even in the noisy, bumpy, crowded, and rainy tap-tap on the way back from the beach.

7~The beauty of God's creation.

8~Fun times with friends.

9~God's grace and mercies that are new every morning.

10~Smiles.

Thank you for counting with me!  I'm praying that God would use these words from Haiti to encourage you as you follow along and provide prayer and encouragement!  Love in Christ, Jessie

Counting

This morning, as the teachers were working through more conversation on behavior and discipline, we kept being interrupted by some very noisy counting coming from the children's summer school downstairs.  During a break, I walked downstairs and stuck my head into the second grade classroom.  The students were practicing their numbers in English and had created some kind of a comptetition to see how fast they could count.  It was fun to see the children all happy and engaged in their learning during a very hot summer day!

This idea of "counting" stuck in my mind as I came out into the yard this afternoon.  The older children from the children's home (and some of the little ones too) have been working hard to lay paving stones in the yard, which for the past three and a half years has been concrete, dust, and rubble.  For the children that live at Christian Light, this yard is their only open place to play.  This is were their daily soccer matches occur, where the little girls jump rope, where the big boys play basketball, and where countless other events take place.  

The courtyard is an important place to the children's home and the school, and the paving stones were very welcome additions!  In fact, everyone has responded with pure joy over this relatively small improvement. The Haitian staff who are responsible for cleaning and dusting all of the rooms were jumping up and down and singing when they learned that the yard would no longer be one big dustball, and the little children have been cartwheeling around the yard since the paving stones were first being put into place.

This "attitude of gratitude" came to mind today as I watched a few of the older children playing soccer on the paving stones.  These children, who have experienced so much loss and disappointment, who have suffered neglect and abuse, and have survived various natural disasters and lived through unthinkable tragic circumstances, these children are thankful.  They count their blessings.  They look at the paving stones in the yard and rejoice.  They have learned far better than I how to have a heart of gratitude, a heart which is contented and satisfied.  In their acceptance of their circumstances, they testify to their faith in God and they daily acknoweldge in both word and action their reliance on Him for all things.  

So I am left tonight thinking of all the blessings I have been nelgecting.  Those gifts which God has given to me that I have failed to count, that I have failed to credit to Him with a heart of thankfulness.  My prayer today is that God would help me remember these children and their ability to count their blessings, and help me to be faithful in counting too.

Thank you to my friends and family for following along on this journey with me!  Tonight I count each of you as a blessing God has put into my life!  Love in Christ, Jessie

Heart

Teacher Institute has officially begun!  It was a great treat to welcome the Christian Light School teachers to our second summer training.  There were lots of smiles and hugs as we greeted each other after a year apart.  

It was exciting to hear about the growth that has happened in the school over the past year, including meeting some amazing new teachers who have joined the CLS staff.  

Our topics for discussion during this four week training are based on the feedback the teachers gave last summer.  They wanted to talk more about behavior, classroom management, and assessment.  We have planned out a summer that will hopefully be fun, useful, and encouraging to these wonderful educators.  

Monday we started with a review of the work we had done together last summer.  We watched the video that we created last summer with each of the teachers sharing their personal philosophies of education.  Their beliefs about God calling them to teaching and their hopes for a change in Haiti springing from an educated youth are inspiring themes that continue to come up again and again.

On Tuesday we dove right into our first new topic of study- behavior.  We started brainstorming ideas about behavior and discipline.  It was great to laugh together at the challenges that are common to all teachers.  When one teacher would share a behavioral concern, a collective sigh of agreement and frustration would echo across the room.  It was also good to hear the teachers sharing words of encouragement with each other after a long and sometimes difficult school year.

Our first major "assignment" was to chart one of the behaviors we struggled with this year in the classroom.  We wanted to follow the Biblical concept of the heart being the "wellspring of life."  If we can determine the heart motivation behind an action, we can help counsel the child toward a change of heart.  We spent a long time talking about how Jesus calls not for a change of behavior, as if an exterior shift could lead to permanent change.  Rather, we discovered that over and over again in Scripture, God provides for a changed heart which then overflows with changed behaviors.  

As always, the teachers dug into the new material with thoughtfulness.  We had a good discussion about how to help our students discover their heart motivation for their actions.  We recognized that any permanent change can only come from Christ's work in our hearts.  It is a great treat to be able to think and share and pray and learn together with this group of Christian educators.  I am already feeling encouraged by these dear brothers and sisters!

Thank you to my friends and family back home for your  prayers and encouragement!  Love in Christ, Jessie

Family

On Sunday afternoon I was able to go visit the "Kingdom of Kids" Orphanage (KKO).  Last summer in Haiti I made a dear friend, Barbie, from Connecticut who was in the process of adopting three teens from KKO.    She is now working on 35 months of struggle with the Haitian and US governments to bring her "Haiti Three" home.  It was a great treat to be able to go see Daniel, Edeline, and Shelove again. 

It was exciting to see the glint of recognition in the eyes of the kids when we walked through the door. I gave them loads of hugs and just kept saying over and over again, "Momma loves you!"  We took pictures together and recorded videos to send to Barbie.  

Also, one of the teens from Christian Light School came with me to visit and help interpret as the children at KKO have limited English.  Below is a picture of Kervens, from CLS, working on English with Daniel.  What an encouraging sight to see teenage boys helping each other, accepting each other, and working together toward a powerful end- that Daniel may be more fluent in English when he finally makes it home to the US.

Visiting KKO and seeing all the children waiting for adoptions to go through reminds me of the power of family.  It makes me thankful for the family God placed me in, and also inspires me to support those around me working through the adoption process.

This concept of family applies also to being a part of the family of God.  I love the picture the scriptures give us of being "adopted" into God's family...

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

  ~ Galatians 4:4-7

After my visit to KKO I am again reminded of the power of family, the importance of belonging to others, and above all, I am thankful to belong to God, and to be His adopted child!  

Thanks again for your continued support and encouragement!  Love in Christ, Jessie