Power of Prayer

Happy Waterween! Mr. Crosby and I relaxing on the front porch.

Here are the two watermelon lit up. Ghi Nyame means except for God which is next to Mr. Crosby. So much fun!

So we just got our screen fixed from two little boys who went through it and then I totally walked right through the screen even though I was the one who shut the door. Oops! However, it was really funny!

It is the 2nd annual Carving Watermelon Party since we don't have pumpkins. The three of us who live downstairs did Mr. Crosby. Well Faith and I scooped out the middle and Diann the art teacher did the face.

This is the symbol Ghi Nyame whick means "except for Christ. Shari and Kim did this one and it was fabulous!

The beginning stages of cleaning out the watermelon. The best part is that we get to eat it!

We took the high schoolers out to eat as part of Sharpeners. The two on the end are my girls. We were an embarrassment and I am sure the whole restaurant was glad we left but the girls had a good time so I guess it was justifiable.

Faith and I on a trotro ride to the market. This was one pretty nice but you never know what adventures await you on a trotro. Don't worry, I didn't have to hold any doors closed on this one!

This is a random picture of Medina market at the trotro station. We went to get fabric and are now on our way home as way we wait in the queu. This is life, everything just as it is.

We stopped to buy pineapple from this lady who cut them for us. I loved her outfit and she was so enthusiastic to cut pineapple for us.

Character dress up not Halloween. Since witchcraft is real here we can't really celebrate halloween but the kids were able to dress up as book characters. Aren't they cute?

Here is the rest of my kids in their outfits. They look thrilled to be there.

This is the 9th grade dress up. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, and 12th kids in the line are all soccer kids. This lineup is even complete with James Bond and Michael Jackson at the end. It is never a dull moment with this group.

After kids club, some of the kids stayed behind to read books that I finally got from the container. Thank you to those who donated books during the summer to make this possible. The kids were so good and quiet! Unfortunately, a lot of them cannot read well as they don't know their sounds and phonics. I am hoping to work on this with them so they can be better readers. It was truly a blessing to see themlove reading or looking at the books.

I do not have some new revelation to share with you but just a hodge podge of memories from the week. First of all, last Tuesday we had Kid's Club followed by the first Reading Frenzy as I think I might call it. The kids have been asking for weeks to stay and read books but I haven't had enough. Now with the container arriving, I finally have enough! The kids were so good and quiet as they set there absorbing in the books. Unfortunately, too many of them can't actually read well as they are only taught sight words and not how you actually sound out each sound. I hate these realizations because it makes me want to go in the public schools and show them the right way of doing things. This is my ultimate passion but it is hard right now as I see the struggle but feel as if I can't devote my entire time to this problem as I have my own classroom to run. I know my time will eventually come but I don't want more kids to fall through the cracks. Thank you to all those who donated books! I will start the alphabet with them shortly so they have a foundation to build from.

Friday was character dress up day at school, as the kids could dress as their favorite book character. We cannot celebrate Halloween here as it is seen as a pagan holiday and very dark since witchcraft and all that is a very real thing here. The entire school spent the morning outside presenting their costumes on the stage. I never got a picture of myself but I was Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus. I think these books were more of my time as most of the kids were not familiar with these books. I taped pictures of animals all over my dress as Ms. Frizzle always wore dresses that depicted where they were going on their field trip. I tied a little bus around my neck as the bus transforms into different objects to get them to their destinations. All of my pictures had falled off in minutes but I did put some thought and creativity into it!

Quote of the week so drum roll please............... "Miss Sopcisak, I love Wednesdaybecause it is chapel day and I get to dance with Jesus." This is coming from one of my Muslim girls who is really close to understanding Christ and his saving grace towards all sinners

All of the soccer kids were in a big buzz last week as students from British International School approached me for a soccer match. The plan right now is to play next Thursday. My kids don't feel ready but they never will be until we start playing matches and they realize the necessity to work hard in order to get results. I don't want to be too hard on these kids as I want them to enjoy soccer but at the same time they need to learn discipline and how to work hard which will cary out for their entire life. I do love these kids as I am able to be more of a friend than a teacher to them. Also, I get to be sarcastic which I love! Please pray for my sanity this week as I prepare for the match.

Also on Friday, we took some of the high school kids out for pizza at a nice place with lots of Obruneis as part of the mentoring program. That sentence had too many prepositions, please forgive me. Anyways, we had a great although we were a little loud and obnoxious. Good thing we were sitting in the corner. Lets just say we definitely all had the Joy of the Lord. These girls all come from different cultures and backgrounds but they all have a sweet spirit which yells to feel connected with others and to feel like it belongs somewhere. It is a privilege to be friends with these girls and share some of my struggles or experiences to better benefit them and the problems they are faced with each day. Keep them all in your prayers.

Today in church we talked about the church being honest and sharing with one another. We also talked about the power of prayer. I forget sometimes how powerful prayer can be and how we need to share with one another so we can really see prayer working. Pretty soon I need to make a decision about next year and I have to make sure I am making a decision that will honor God and not just myself. Please pray that I will listen to the Lord talking to me and not my own thoughts. God has a mighty plan for all of us and the only way to stay true to Him is to be open to His calling. Please know that I am praying for all of you and would love to talk sometime if you ever have the chance.

I was glad to have met friends on the way home who were excited enough about the books that they carried them for me. They are so strong. I admit that I tried to carry the box on my head for awhile but couldn't do it for long.

This is when the boys got the uniforms. They were so excited that they all tried them on right away. They look sharp.