Two teachers  in particular have become very dear  to me. Like aunties. One of them says she has a Christian mother!

The students have been a delight to teach. Some classes eager to learn English, other classes, consisting of predominantly gangster boys, not so eager. One thing was evident though; they needed someone to believe in them. The last day of classes was the most blessed that I have ever taught. Prepared with a video to teach on, I opened my laptop, only to find that the video was gone! What to do now? I had no idea what to teach! The Lord had other plans. He led me, forming ideas as I went. This time it was not an English lesson. Somehow with my broken limited Thai, we talked about goal setting and how to reach goals! About learning to think positive because thoughts influence emotions. We talked about the benefits of learning English and how to learn it on our own. The students eagerly set goals of learning 3, 5 words in English per day, to reach a bigger goal of 2,000 words per year. Even the gangster boys appeared engaged and eager. They seemed to leave class walking a little taller. The few weeks we had together hopefully left a  positive imprint in their lives.

One day I noticed a girl drawing a picture of Jesus on the cross. The public schools study Christianity as a religion. This was a perfect opportunity to share of the hope and beauty of our King!

One positive change i had seen in one of the “gangster” boys is that he never paid attention in class and would always hit others. Checking up on him and making sure he finished his work did a change in him. He actually stayed after class one time to finish his work and thanked me! As if to say,” Thank you for caring.” The last few classes he was engaged and didn’t hit as much. What a surprise it was to see him walk over to me one day, and just stand there smiling! What a transformation!

Before one of my classes ended, the students who had attended the camp led by a team from California, asked me to sing a song they had learned with the words “love is in my heart, joy is in my heart, etc.” They added in the words “teacher is in my heart.” It was a bittersweet moment. A few days later, a few of the girls came by Avoda on their motorbikes to visit us! They are coming here!

“I have chosen you and have ordained you, that ye should go and bring fruit and that your fruit should remain.” John 15: 16