7/15/12 – 9:06 p.m. - Yesterday & today we have had training for the coaches. It is for all of the Americans, and all of the local students who will be helping with coaching. I didn’t sign up to be a coach, but when I got here, I had been assigned that role. I was very excited, because I think it is such an important role and I am honored to get to be one! My co-coaches are Misty, Peter, and Karen. Misty and Peter are locals, but Karen is also American and is from California.
The training has been very helpful & informative, but I am excited for the campers to get here tomorrow! I have noticed that the local students are really good at encouraging others. When they think someone or something is good, they clap for them. It is so exciting and it warms my heart! Another great things is hearing them sing “You are my Sunshine” and “Joy to the World” (AKA Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog, not the Christmas song) or “God Is So Good” which has for obvious reasons been switched to “You Are So Good”. The theme for the camp this year is Joy and Gratitude. It so great and uplifting to hear them speak about Joy! Everyone is so friendly and wants to learn from each other. I am excited to see how the campers will enjoy the camp. They arrive tomorrow! It is so great to wake up on a Sunday morning and here the students sing about Joy! I just can’t get enough. We had a culture training session today and it was very interesting to see the difference between the two cultures. Also, tonight we heard from the camp speakers and they gave us an overview of their lessons so that we could be better prepared for the group discussions. One of the speakers, Paul Stanley Sr. said, “wouldn’t you like to lay down at night and hear a voice in your heart say ‘Well done my good and faithful servant?’” All of the students thought that was so neat! It brought tears to my eyes – just like when they sing about joy. It makes me so happy! I pray that one day they will hear that voice. He also told a story about his English teacher in middle school or high school who encouraged him to write even though he was a C-student. He then said that 15 years ago he wrote his first book and tried to call the teacher that had encouraged him, but she had died the previous year. The students all clapped. It was like they were clapping for her in her honor. So cool and so nice. I love when they clap for people! I can’t wait for the campers to get here! Also, it’s kind of weird to think that the first service is just now starting at church back in Texas J
One more thought I had today is that this culture is old. 5,000 years. But the awesome thing is that God has been around for much longer and has been at work here and will continue to be at work here long after we leave.
Reminded how great God is:
Deuteronomy 4: "32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things theLord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?"
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