Prayer Request

We are going through some leadership transitions here, and while those seem to be going smoothly, it seems that at the same time we are being attacked on many sides.  So, I ask that you be praying for all of us here right now.  Thank you.

Photo of the Week: Sunrise

This morning as the sun rises, I hear many birds chirping wildly outside the house, a rooster in the distance, a dog barking somewhere, the muted sound of traffic on the highway, and the morning prayer meeting coming to a close in the upstairs living room.

Repectfully Refusing

A couple weeks into my time here, I was called into a classroom to work with a boy who would not participate in class.  To make a long story short, he swiftly shut down completely - refusing to speak, look at me, or follow any sort of direction.  He cried and became self-abusive (banging his head on the desk and pulling his hair out).

I was at a loss for what to do - everything I knew wasn't working.  After hours of this, we finally got a response out of him - a nod of a head that he'd be willing to let us take him home, which we quickly did.

I asked his teacher, what was that?  She then informed me that he does this quite often.  Oh boy.  In my mind many things had gone wrong that day, and I needed to think of what to do differently next time that happened.  At least I was going to get another chance at it to do it right...

After speaking with him when he was in a better mood, we set up a behavior plan, and so far it has been working really well. We've also set up more communication between the teacher and his house parents, and have had a lot of people praying for him.  Things certainly aren't perfect, but he has been doing so much better lately, and I was really thankful for that.

But, then this Wednesday happened.  His math teacher brought him out, saying he was refusing to take his test.  I could see the boy was in his shut down mode again, so I tried to wait him out - he stood in front of my desk for about 1/2 hour crying and repeating over and over again that he didn't want to take his test.  At least he was speaking this time.  I tried explaining that I understood, but I quickly realized he wasn't listening and was beyond reasoning with.

He was also being self-abusive again, and I kept an eye on the sharp pencil he held in his hand.  When he began to poke his hand with it, I took the pencil away.  Then he began to hit himself harder.  I told him I wouldn't allow him to hurt himself (he didn't know this, but I am trained in non-violent crisis intervention and could fairly easily put him in a hold if he became seriously dangerous - I did NOT want to have to do that though).

The rest of the day was a struggle and I was very spent by the end of it.  I couldn't even make myself go to lunch.  I honestly didn't want to see any more kids of a while.  I just laid down on my bed and promptly fell asleep.

The second part of the math test was the following day, and I was not looking forward to that happening again.  So, when he was in a better mood later on, I spoke to him again and we worked out a new deal.  If he still wanted to refuse his test, that was his choice, but he needed to do it calmly and respectfully.  If he began to cry and hurt himself, he would go home.  He agreed and we shook on it.  I also asked my family and the staff here to be praying for him.

As he went into the test on Thursday, I made eye contact with him and asked him if he remembered our deal.  He smiled and said yes.  He made a small effort to take the test, but then refused again - but this time he did it with a smile.  He even spent the rest of the class period voluntarily copying multiplication tables.

Now, some people might not think of a kid happily refusing to take a test as a win, but I was overjoyed about it.  I am very proud of him.  I figure that in the end getting a good grade on a math test won't quite compare to knowing how to govern one's emotions.

Only God knows how many times we'll have to go through this for him to really get it down, but I trust He will give me the strength to continue to get through it - even if it is only enough strength for that moment and all I can do is collapse on my bed at the end of the day ;).

On a very good day, our buddy came back during recess to study for a history test with his friends.  Too cute :)

Photo of the Week: Redecorating for Spring

I love the jacaranda trees in bloom around Oaxaca.  I got a kick out of seeing that these ants had used the flower petals for their home.  I rarely have anything good to say about insects, but I actually like these ants ;).

Answered Groans

Last Friday I was leading the morning devotions for the kids.  I think it's been more interesting and engaging for the kids since I've starting using some AMO practices.*  I was kind of excited to be leading them again.

However, Juan** was back.  He'd missed school on Thursday due to major tantrums the night before.  His house mom asked if he should return on Friday, and I decided to give it a go - give him a chance to behave better and learn.  Only it was now Friday morning and he was not behaving better...

I stood there looking at the kids ready to do devotions, and there was Juan with his back turned to me and picking fights with others.  I stared at him, so badly wanting to send him inside.  But it was very likely he'd refuse and we'd end up in a power struggle in front of the whole school.  I didn't know what to do.

Then, an amazing thing happened.  Juan turned and smiled at me and asked if he could go inside.  "Yes! Yes you may!" I said.  I think I surprised him in my eagerness ;).  I even helped him with his backpack and then called in to his teacher to let her know I'd sent him in.

I don't remember praying in that moment, but I feel like what happened was an answer from God.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit interceded when I groaned.  Thank you Lord :). 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Romans 8:26 

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*By AMO practices, I mean researching the passage, knowing my stuff, asking questions instead of just telling the answers.  For example, we are going through the Psalms and were on the none too thrilling Psalm 74.  I don't want to disrespect Psalm 74, but it's not exactly typical reading material for elementary school children.  

But the kids and I now know that Asaph probably wrote it, we have an idea of who Asaph was, what he was probably going through when he wrote it, and how many psalms Asaph wrote.  I think it's safe to say that made the passage more meaningful for all of us.  It was neat. 

**Note: I will continue to change names for the privacy of the kids.  However, if there are kids you would like to be praying for, feel free to email me and I will share their real names with you.

Diary of a Greenhorn Director

The teacher came in from recess duty, letting me know that two of the younger kids, Juan and Pedro, had been in a fight.  They were waiting for me on the porch.  I went out and talked to them.  Juan sat against the wall with his head in his arms and refused to speak.  So I got down to Pedro’s height and listened to his side of the story - that after some exchanged words, Juan had shoved Pedro, Pedro shoved him back, then Juan punched Pedro.

I gave Juan the chance to refute the story, but he continued to refuse to speak.  I asked Pedro if shoving Juan back had made the situation better.  I also thanked him for not hitting Juan back.  I asked Pedro to apologize to Juan.  He did and I sent him inside.

I asked Juan to stand up.  He refused.  I got down on the floor beside him.  I tried to get Juan to talk.  He still refused.  I've learned that stern words don't work with Juan, so I talked at him cheerfully for a little while – just trying to perk him up and get a response.  Nothing.  Asked if he was ready to go inside.  No response.  Told him he could get up on his own or I could help him up.  He finally shook his head no.  I honored that and gave him five minutes to come in on his own.  He didn’t.

This whole time I desperately wanted to just make Juan go inside.  He’s a small kid and it wouldn’t have been hard to help him to his feet.  I’ve done it with the older kids and I’ve only ever had to do it once for them to realize I was serious about them needing to stand up.  But my experience with Juan has taught me that any sort of touch when he is upset escalates the situation drastically.

So, I needed to use persuasive words.   Persuasive words can be quite challenging in a second language…  I calmed myself with a deep breath and a prayer and I went out on the porch again.  I told him his time was up.  He needed to go inside.  Nothing.  I said  he could go in or I could bring his house parents.  He said they weren’t there (hey - a verbal response!).  I said, ok, then maybe I should call the supervisor.  Should I call her?  No, he said.  He stood up and walked in with me.  Yay!

I asked if he was ready to apologize to Pedro.  I truthfully thought that he wouldn’t be and I would have to go explain to Pedro that Juan just wasn’t ready to apologize yet.  But he said yes!!! To be honest, I was rather shocked.  I pulled Pedro out of class.  Juan offered a sincere apology.  Pedro accepted it.  I was so happy I hugged them both – surprising us all, I think :).

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*Note: I did change the kids names - for their privacy (I don't think I'd like someone blogging about me without me knowing it...).

Photo of the Week: The Neighbors Are Fighting...

This is was a disagreement that took place out my back window. 
They weren't kidding around either.  I don't know if you can tell, but there was a lot of dust kicked up around them as they bumped heads.  The fight did seem to have something to do with a female...

AMO Review - Two Thumbs Up!

The AMO training this week was a great blessing to be a part of.  It is a great program, but more than that - it was a major mind shift in the way we look at education and our role as Christians to train up our children. 

In the following posts I’m going to share main points that stood out to me each day.  My mind was rather sluggish in processing all of this, so hopefully I can explain it well so you can have a taste of what AMO is about ...if you’re interested ;). 

This really is just a brief review of what we learned and did.  If you are curious to learn more, you're welcome visit www.amoprogram.com/en.  I was very impressed by what we learned, and suggest it for other ministries as well (they also give trainings in the U.S.).

One day as we got up for a break, I looked down and saw this before me on the table:

 

I think that’s a pretty great way to learn – with the Bible open, with a solid book of material to take notes in, and with a notebook for all the other great things your teacher is sharing with you.  You may notice my notes are in Spanish and English.  That’s kind of where my mind is at these days ;).

AMO Day 1 – A Biblical Foundation

Education began in the garden of Eden with God teaching Adam and Eve.

Education is not neutral.  It’s a function of society and produces the values and traditions of the culture and institutions of a nation.

What is at the center of education?  (it should be God)

God called us to transform the world. In whose hands is the education of our country?

What a shame that kids pull away from the church as they grow up.  But if we were teaching them about the real God in all things…  

When we don’t make disciples, we end up with a church full of Christian babies.

Even though we love God with our whole heart, our mind still thinks in a secular way (like the way we learned in school).  Our mind needs to be renewed.

Education is not to entertain kids, it is to form them.

AMO Day 2 – Attributes of God and the Power of Words

We looked at amazing photos of nature and thought about how that reflected the nature of God.  When kids paint stars pink, or a tree purple – do not tell them they’re wrong – it is clear that God was generous with colors in nature and there really are pink stars in the universe and purple trees on the earth.  How can we know what God has put in the hearts of children?  Be very careful to not limit their imaginations.

Saul approved of the killing of Christians in the early church and began to destroy it.  He later said that his days were planned from his mother’s womb.  The Lord had a plan for Saul from the moment he was formed – it was made complete when Saul chose to follow the Lord. 

You don’t know who you have sitting in your classroom.  Every child comes with a plan from God.  Never crush a child’s dream.  You don’t know who put that dream in that child – what future God has for them.

Regarding challenging children:  you must observe them, build a relationship, then give them opportunity to make decisions – they have to learn how to manage their will; God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise.

We love to be blessed – children need to be blessed.  In the AMO program, blessing cards are sent home for the father to read to his children.  If the father is not present, and cannot be reached, it can be another influential man in the child’s life.  But they emphasize that it must be a male, reestablishing the ideal of what God created a family to look like.

The power of words – compare what you find in Genesis 1:1-27 (creation, life, order, light, care, structure, order, color, goodness, plenty, variety, beauty, individuality) to what you find in Genesis 3:1-19 (doubt, shame, destruction, accusations, fear, disorder, curses, pain, separation, pain, death, hard work, enmity, ambition, rebellion). 

The tongue has power.  We have to teach children how to wield that power.

Practice teaching an AMO class

AMO Day 3 – Self Government and the Power of Story

Who governs your life?  It is impossible to govern a classroom if you are not able to even govern yourself.

The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy.  That’s what our classroom should look like.

The more we’re able to govern ourselves internally, the less we need external government.

The purpose of discipline is restoration.

Education is relational.  Rules without relationship bring rebellion.

Education forms habits.  You have to be consistent.  You cannot get tired and give up.  Consequences need to be immediate.  When limits are clearer, the child feels more secure.

Remember that you are not the Holy Spirit.  We talk to their conscience and then let the Holy Spirit do its work.

Regarding literature: A book always has a purpose.  An agenda.

Classic literature nurtures children with a vision of greatness – it shows truth and beauty.  It appeals to our imagination.

The aesthetic tastes of our kids has been corrupted, broken, and contaminated.  Classic literature should inspire imagination, build noble vocabulary, cultivate expression in speaking and writing, and connect children to the greatest authors and their wisdom.

The pièce de résistance of literature is the Bible.

Reading Heidi on the way to class.

AMO Day 4 – The Principle of Christian Character and Our Role in The Story

The person who has more internal government needs less external government.  We have to make the decision of who is going to govern us – constantly.

Character is formed through our decisions.  Character is formed through imitation.  Teach kids about the Heroes of the Bible.

Christian character begins with accepting Christ. 
Evangelism has been advanced in history by people who died to themselves
and took on the character of Christ.  We definitely need the help of the Holy Spirit to do this.

Like a styrofoam cup full of liquid (be it coffee, water, soda…) we may not be able to see what is inside it, but if you knock it around or squeeze it, what’s inside will come out.  So it is that our true character comes out under pressure.

We have to govern our time.  God gave us 24 hours for a reason.  If you are running out of time for truly important things, maybe you are doing something He did not ask you to do.  God put limits on His Creation because He loves us.

Do not let technology govern you.  You have to learn, model, and teach kids how to manage technology in the way of God.

We should not talk about Bible stories, but rather The Story of God,
which still continues and that we are a part of and each child has a role in as well.

Acts 29 is where our story is, where the Holy Spirit left off telling the history of the Bible and where we continue it.

Our AMO Class

AMO Day 5 – Fine Arts, Fantasy, and Imagination

What is nurturing the imagination of our kids today?  What is filling their imagination?

Don't only make rules about what your kids can and can't watch.  Sit with your kids, analyze what their watching along with them, come to conclusions together about whether it is good or evil.

We took time to reflect on great works of art, like the following one of Daniel:

 We thought about what we saw in that painting:
Hunger, Danger, Protection, Darkness, Light, Separation, Expectation, Faith, Power...  What do you see in the picture?

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Then we looked at this image that we use with children:

What kind of God are we showing them?  Where is the sovereignty and power of God in this? And we wonder why kids leave the church.  What if they have to fight their own "lions" at home - have we taught them about a God big enough to protect them?  Instead of trying to entertain our children, lift up Christ and He will draw them to Him.

We have to take the teaching of the Bible seriously.  Hard times are coming.  Build your house on the firm rock of a real God and not on the shifting sands of popular culture.

We have the responsibility to inspire, nurture and instruct our imagination – our whole life long.  We need to do that with children too.  Teach great works that nurture fantasy and imagination where good wins, where faith, courage, honor, sacrifice, freedom and love are celebrated, where hope is offered (i.e.Chronicles of Narnia).

Discipline your thoughts.  Keep yourself in Him. Spend time in God’s word.  
 “Friend, sit and spend time with Me today.  I know what awaits you, let me prepare you.”

We were given time to make pictures of the Swiss Alps in Heidi.  I love how they turned out so diverse.