December 7, 2012~First Presentation

I want to thank you all for your thoughts for me on December 7th. The most important aspects of last Friday went well. From the government official stand point we must have really done a fantastic job. The review he heard must have been good because he has big plans for us. But I want to tell you about the drama and comedy of the day. 

My team's appointment at the number twelve middle school was at 4pm. We arrived at 3:30 and the government official was supposed to meet us there.  Instead Mr. Lee told us around 1pm that he would be late and gave me the phone number of a Teacher Wang to call when we arrived at 3:30. So, we called Teacher Wang and told her that the foreigners had arrived. She wanted to know when we were arriving and I told her that we were already there. 

A woman approached our team and asked us if we were the Singaporeans. We told her that we were not the Singaporeans and then she wanted to know who we were and why we were at the school. We came to understand that she was not Teacher Wang and didn't have any idea of who or why we were there. So we had her talk to Mrs. Wang and she then took us to a giant conference room. Where we waited for the headmaster and Mrs. Wang. Once Mrs. Wang came it turned out that she also didn't really know why we were there. The headmaster finally came and told us that Mr. Lee would not be able to be there and that Mr. Lee really hadn't told him very much about why we were there either. 

The headmaster knew that we were there to teach something but didn't know what. So when Angela, my teammate and translator, told him that there was a portion of the program about trafficking prevention and moral sex education the headmaster told us that their students were good kids who didn't need to have that information.  He also told us that the 2 hours he had been told we would need had been reduced. He said that we could only have an hour and twenty minutes. Mr. Lee, the government official, was not there to protect the program so we felt we had no choice but to cut the last two points off the program. 

The actual delivery of the School Program was incredibly awesome. The youth soaked up the knowledge that they were valuable, had power to make good choices, and had limitless potential. When I asked them if they thought that one person could change the world the entire class room answered with a resounding NO. It was amazing. By the time that I was finished speaking I think that even if I didn't change their minds I at least gave them something to think about. I challenged them that I believed that each one of them could change the world. They were sooooooo adorable. 

Eden's boss received a phone call from Mr. Lee who called her to tell her that the headmaster had called to tell Mr. Lee that he was glad we had come and we were a great success. 

Thank you for your thoughts. I know that it is your thoughts that gave me continual peace throughout the craziness.  The peace that passes all understanding that comes from above is a great gift that I have not taken for granted. May these small victories open more doors for the greater glory of the Father and the ultimate good of His people.