Update

It's been a very interesting week for me. First why don't I update you on the Hurricane, Hurricane Felix was heading right towards the coast of Honduras and everyone was expecting the worst. The last time there was a hurricane this big in Honduras it was Hurricane Mitch, the storm just camped over Teguicigalpa for about a week and dumped a ton of rain. There were so many landsides that 10,000 people were killed and 8,000 missing. That's what many had in their minds when preparing for this storm. The secretary of education canceled school for tuesday and wednesday and the teachers showed up at school tuesday morning before going to the grocery store and stocking up on food, which took us hours because of the insane lines. The hurricane hit the coast on tuesday morning at 150 mph, and was expected to get to Tegucigalpa by wednesday morning. So we were all prepared, all the restaurants were closing early and we were getting set for a killer storm, or at least some killer rain. By the time the storm got to us on wednesday it was just clouds. No rain at all that day, when most places were calling for 10 to 15 inches at least. So through God's mercy, many people's homes were saved. And we resumed school on thursday.

Teaching has been pretty difficult this week. My first week I think was such a shock that it was hard to tell what a normal class would be like, and what my normal job entails. But this week I got a better view of what that looks like.....discipline.....lots of discipline. I just want to focus all my energy on teaching, but I cannot do that when there are discipline problems all around me in every class. It's very hard, very challenging, and I really really have to rely God totally to be able to really teach effectively and to discipline effectively. It's so hard too, because I'll walk into a Bible class and I'll want to start out the class in prayer but I'll see that I need to get control of the class first and I forget about praying. The times I have remembered specifically helps me to remember to rely on him and my identity in Him in class, especially when I feel like going into disciplinary mode, which results from anger sometimes. Anyways, it has been such an incredible reminder to me this week, that I really am like nothing before God, (Isaiah 40), and that all the nations combined are like a drop in the bucket to Him. And the necessity of relying on Him for the smallest speck of life change is a necessity. And it is certainly encouraging to know that a God of that magnitude is with me, and will never forsake me.

It's really mind-boggling to me to think about how much I thought I could teach these kids and change them on my own. Even though I kinda knew I couldn't in my head, I was not acting like it in class at all, but to have God drive that home to me has been a blessing and I have a feeling He will continue to do that for the rest of my life, for the purpose of not boasting in anything at all, accept for Christ and what he has done, is doing, and will do. (1st Cor. 1)

Please continue to pray for the kids I'm teaching.

On a side note, I also went into downtown Tegucigalpa last week, took a taxicab in there and did a little shopping where they had a surprising amount of thrift stores with American shirts everywhere, I couldn't even find one shirt with Spanish letters on it!! But there were so many little stores there it was mind boggling, in every little crevice and window in the street. I didn't even buy anything which was kinda weird, I guess one too many thrift stores for me in the States. I'm gonna post my mailing address on the next blog so stay tuned....