The Thiessen Times - May 2011 Newsletter

2 Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We are blessed to be able to share again of God’s faithfulness. We have truly been under protection and favor from our Savior. Health and joy continue to fill our lives as we serve in Zambia.

Mentoring - The work of mentoring teachers continues to progress fairly well. I have conducted many workshops for 10 different schools. The topic - The 7 Laws of the Learner - seeks to impact many teacher skills, approaches and attitudes. This workshop continues to be my favorite and is reaffirmed by teacher responses. Here is what some have been saying:

Some of the comments on the feed-back forms were very encouraging.

• on rating the workshop overall, 12 teachers selected excellent, 3 selected good

When asked what was best about the workshop, answers were:

• Everything was perfect because I learnt a lot on how to go about being a good teacher and to help the children physically, spiritually
• Relating teaching to God’s purposes
• I was taught that the lives of the young depend on us as teachers. We either build them or destroy them.
• The content was so direct and understood, it was really encouraging.

What are 2 things you will do because of the workshop?

• I will love and care for my pupils, give more of my time and understand their needs
• I will be dedicated to my work, integrate Christian life and academic work
• Give learners more activities for them to understand, Love my career as a call from God
• Plan more before teaching, commit more to the student learning.

The work I am doing has been a blessing to both the teachers and myself. They are eager and receptive to any help or information that I have shared. I continue to develop workshop topics and am working with other Zambian retired teachers to further the mentorship program.

Next Steps - I am hoping to focus on developing and training local Zambians who will continue the work of training, encouraging and challenging teachers in the next 2 months. There is not much time remaining for us, as our plane tickets are for July 28^th. But I continue to trust that with God all things are possible, and this is one of those things. I cling to Jesus in the hope that what has been started will be completed in the time remaining.

Last Feb. I mentioned plans to teach an ESL class in the afternoons to Gr. 8 and 9 students. This was fun, as I was missing teaching in the classroom. I read some short stories, discussed English terms and sayings, and taught them writing style. They are generally quite weak, but this is an opportunity to also touch their hearts while helping them increase proficiency of English. I also had some Gr. 12’s asking if they could join us!

The Soccer club I have been playing with has joined a division 3 league, so they play almost every weekend. I don’t play in league games, but I still enjoy the training with them most of the time. I will have many ideas for soccer drills when I get back to a PE setting! MICS, the school our kids attend, is having a team come to do soccer camp with an outreach emphasis, and I will volunteer to be a part of that as well.

Karlene’s Outreach

Karlene is doing well, and has started to get involved in training DJ’s for the radio! She continues to enjoy hosting 90 minutes of praise and worship music live on Saturday mornings. I think she learned not to give out her cell phone # for requests from another DJ woman's experience - she received a text message - “You sound nice, what is your status? I have cattle.” Hilarious!

Karlene has continued recording Joyful Praise for CIAM, though it has been difficult with our internet service being down for over 2 weeks at a time and other software problems.

The Kids

Another activity that keeps us both hopping is homeschooling our children to assist them in keeping up with Alberta learning. They still attend school, but we help them for part of the day in Math and Reading.

Josiah just had his 7^th B-day! He had 8 friends over, as well as a few that showed up when they heard there was a party. It was fun, though we found that the kids needed a lot of direction and repeating of directions. He is happy that we have new neighbors and one is a 4 year old boy. He was missing boy playmates.

Keyana is continuing to flourish. She did not think it was fair that she has to wait for her B-day longer than Josiah. She is riding a bicycle well now, though continuing to hurt herself in many different ways. I am sure she takes after both of our falling tendencies - lol.

Family Stuff

We had a time of retreat at Lake Kariba, a huge man-made lake, with our MCC fellow workers. The 2 days went by too quickly, and we were saddened that one family could not join us since illness had stricken them. We still had a great Easter service, visiting and volleyball. We saw 3 snakes there, one a python!

We have just resumed Bible Study in our home. We are starting the Truth Project. Pray for us as we reach out to others through this study and our friendship. Pray that it will be a meaningful time of fellowship and sharing. Pray that hearts will be touched with God's truth.

We appreciate your support! Please continue to pray for us; Satan continues to prowl and we must remain on guard, vigilant and strong in the Lord. Your prayers are a fortress and strength to us. As July looms ahead, we have some important decisions to make on many different fronts. We desire to do God’s will even though it can be difficult. We value your prayers as we seek and serve God! Thank you again for partnering with us in reaching children, teachers and others for Christ in Zambia!

Josiah and Keyana on the first day of term two - May 10th, 2011