April 10, 2007hello prayer team and friends!
i love teaching! it's so much fun and i am so blessed by my students! today they took an assessment exam and then i met with them one-on-one to assess their verbal english abilities. it was so great to meet with them individually because i got to ask them more questions about themselves. a lot of them have families at home, and some of the men totally lite up when i asked about their children. i asked them what their kids' names are and how old they are, and then i would get excited about their answers which made them just beam. it was a lot of fun. afterwards, two of the helpers and i took them down the road and treated them to sodas...which is a big treat here, everyone loves fanta and coke. each one of them thanked me, saying "thank you teacher, God bless you." they show teachers a lot of respect and respond well to kindess.
i have two student's stories that i want to share with you all:
Claude is from an island off of Australia where he is part of a tribe. He did his DTS (discipleship training with YWAM) in France. While he was there God gave him a dream, where he saw a group of people dancing and worshiping God from a different culture. They had on clothes that were different to him, and the Holy Spirit was there with them. Then God put it on His heart to come learn English in Africa. The first day the students were here we attended worship in the prayer hall, and he looked around and realized this was the fulfillment of his dream. He is one of my most enthusiastic students.
Mark is a Maasai. Last night he told me about the lions he has killed (so that makes two lion killing students!) He showed me pictures of him in his Maasai clothes, with his family, and how after killing lions they wear the manes on their heads. that was a side note (: Today he shared his testimony with me because i asked him how he became a Christian (his english is very good, but he has a very strong Maasai accent.) His story is as follows......
A missionary came to his village/tribe and was preaching everynight. After one of the services Mark went home to go to bed, and while sleeping God gave him a vision. He heard knocking and God call him by his Maasai name, three times. When he looked there was a bright light and a big man dressed in robes and light. The next day he went to the missionaries and received Christ as his Lord and savior! He went home and told his mom that he became a Christian and was going to cut his hair. The Maasai's hair is a sign of being warriors, and it would go against their culture and beliefs to cut it. But Mark was putting away the witchcraft that the Maasai follow and embracing Christianity. His mother told him he had to leave, that his father would kill him if he did this. So Mark went and lived in the bush for a month. Another group of missionaries came to a nearby village and told Mark about YWAM. One of the men was from Kenya, and he payed for Mark to come to DTS here in Arusha! Since then, Mark has been reconciled with his family but he is still the only Christian. He is now a preacher/evangelist and out of his whole region he has 30 people in his congregation. Pray for Mark and his ministry! He wants to learn English so God can teach through him.
The Maasai have many beliefs and rituals that go against Christianity and basic Western beliefs. They are one of the hardest groups of people to reach because of this. One of their beliefs that isn't as heavy to share, is that the women don't believe in pregnancy because they can't see the baby! so if you were to tell a Maasai woman that you are pregnant, they wouldn't believe you, because you don't have a baby with you!
I'm sure i'll have many more interesting stories about my students to come. Thank you for your emails, it is such an encouragment and joy to hear from you at home. and thank you for your prayers.
God bless,
Christina
i have two student's stories that i want to share with you all:
Claude is from an island off of Australia where he is part of a tribe. He did his DTS (discipleship training with YWAM) in France. While he was there God gave him a dream, where he saw a group of people dancing and worshiping God from a different culture. They had on clothes that were different to him, and the Holy Spirit was there with them. Then God put it on His heart to come learn English in Africa. The first day the students were here we attended worship in the prayer hall, and he looked around and realized this was the fulfillment of his dream. He is one of my most enthusiastic students.
Mark is a Maasai. Last night he told me about the lions he has killed (so that makes two lion killing students!) He showed me pictures of him in his Maasai clothes, with his family, and how after killing lions they wear the manes on their heads. that was a side note (: Today he shared his testimony with me because i asked him how he became a Christian (his english is very good, but he has a very strong Maasai accent.) His story is as follows......A missionary came to his village/tribe and was preaching everynight. After one of the services Mark went home to go to bed, and while sleeping God gave him a vision. He heard knocking and God call him by his Maasai name, three times. When he looked there was a bright light and a big man dressed in robes and light. The next day he went to the missionaries and received Christ as his Lord and savior! He went home and told his mom that he became a Christian and was going to cut his hair. The Maasai's hair is a sign of being warriors, and it would go against their culture and beliefs to cut it. But Mark was putting away the witchcraft that the Maasai follow and embracing Christianity. His mother told him he had to leave, that his father would kill him if he did this. So Mark went and lived in the bush for a month. Another group of missionaries came to a nearby village and told Mark about YWAM. One of the men was from Kenya, and he payed for Mark to come to DTS here in Arusha! Since then, Mark has been reconciled with his family but he is still the only Christian. He is now a preacher/evangelist and out of his whole region he has 30 people in his congregation. Pray for Mark and his ministry! He wants to learn English so God can teach through him.
The Maasai have many beliefs and rituals that go against Christianity and basic Western beliefs. They are one of the hardest groups of people to reach because of this. One of their beliefs that isn't as heavy to share, is that the women don't believe in pregnancy because they can't see the baby! so if you were to tell a Maasai woman that you are pregnant, they wouldn't believe you, because you don't have a baby with you!
I'm sure i'll have many more interesting stories about my students to come. Thank you for your emails, it is such an encouragment and joy to hear from you at home. and thank you for your prayers.
God bless,
Christina
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