i can't sleep

Hmmm so updates since the last time I wrote!

Rollerskating on Saturday:
My teaching partner and I wanted to do something fun with our students during the weekend, so we voted in class, and guess what they chose?? Rollerskating! (Yes I know the title of this section gives it away) Anyway, we decided to invite the elementary class because many of the students in our class and their class hang out, so it just made sense. Plus, we knew that we would have a low percentage of turn out, so we wanted to increase our numbers hehe. Three students from each class showed up, and that happened to be a good number because the rink was pretty small. They played a bunch of American music, which made me feel like I had a little piece of home with me in Kyrgyzstan :]

Afterwards we went to get ice cream and then walked to the park. My teammate and I invited two girls to come over, and we got Begemot! For those of you who don’t know, Begemot is a gamburger place. Yes a GAMBURGER with a G. It’s pretty much the same as a hamburger but everything slightly different. We pass Begemot every morning when we walk to the boys’ place and every afternoon when we come home from school, and our students tell us that it’s the best gamburger place. And sure enough, it was pretty good! But I would still choose a burger at home over a gamburger anytime.

Church on Sunday:
Warning: This entry might make some CBS-ers a little jealous.

Tim, another teammate, and I went to the church in the morning, and guess who happened to be there?? ALEXANDER SPOCK LEE. Ok that sounds like we just coincidentally bumped into him, but I actually called him the day before and decided to meet him there since I had to give him something from Richard Yan, and Tim had to pass on something from Dave Smith. We also got to meet the VSET team which was encouraging! I met two of Faith’s disciplees and Caleb’s student from two years ago, so it felt like a super small world, but a wonderfully small world! Tim and I instantly warmed up to Spock, and I showed him a picture of the most recent camping trip that Janice had given me for my birthday. He was so excited to see how everyone changed, and I could see in his eyes how much it meant for him to see everyone grown up or different. Right then, God convicted me that he probably needed the picture more than I did, so I found myself offering him the picture. He seemed pretty excited, so I hope he enjoys it as much as I did during the first part of my trip! Yeah…that was really an act of God because I don’t think that I would’ve naturally decided to give him one of the pictures that has brought me the most comfort on this trip.

Anyway, even though that may sound super exciting to some people (and it was), the part that stood out the most for me was the trip to church that morning. I was in charge of directing my other teammates to the church since my team leader was in Tokmok with other teammates visiting old students. My senses were pretty heightened as I tried to make sure that I spotted every landmark listed on my yellow post-it note. I knew it would be a long ride, but I started to get nervous halfway through the trip thinking that we had gone the wrong way, and we wouldn’t know how to get back. Eventually we got off at the place that I figured was the right place and tried to look for a yellow building. We walked around and couldn’t find the yellow building, but at least I knew the street name. We eventually found the cross streets, but we still couldn’t find the yellow building! I started to panic a bit and then we just decided to find an internet café and try to call the lady who gave me directions. We were already late for service, and I was scared that we might not get another chance to see Spock and give him the gifts. As we were walking to the area that we thought we saw an internet café, I spotted a young boy from across the street, and I recognized him! He was the son of a missionary who came to talk to us just a few nights before (he drank A LOT of orange juice btw), and being me, I shouted his name across the street without embarrassment. I was just relieved to see a familiar face. Then I spotted his dad and also called out to him unabashedly announcing that we were lost and how thankful I was to see them. They directed us to the church, and I began to feel convicted about how little I trusted God. I didn’t even stop and think to pray and ask God to show us the way. As unfaithful as I was, God was ever faithful and provided us with a means of direction. It was such a small yet significant reminder that God is always watching out for me and providing for me, even when I fail to acknowledge Him. Apparently, I was the only person who felt panicky during this journey since the other two boys just figured that we’d eventually run into foreigners who would show us the way. I later found out they recently repainted the building pink, so there was no yellow building to be found! Sigh.

Later that evening, a few of us were able to go to the evening service. This time, we took a marshuka, and it turned before it got to our stop, so we quickly got out and tried to redirect ourselves. I didn’t panic this time since I knew that God would provide. And He did! Right after we got off, we noticed the daughter of one of the long-termers here, and she guided us to the church, and all was well! :] The sermon was pretty good too because it was given by this precious little old preacher who normally preaches at prisons. He was so honest about how nervous he was to preach to us, and it was refreshing to hear such honesty. We were also able to meet up with the Cha’s and their team. I figured it was the last time I would be able to see them, so I wanted to give them something to thank them for being so welcoming to us. I had these English workbooks and readers that I had originally bought to lesson plan for my class, but I soon realized that my class wouldn’t be able to handle these exercises quite yet. I knew that they could use it so much more than I ever did, so it was a pretty obvious choice for a gift.

Anyway that was a SUPER SUPER SUPER long entry, so maybe I won’t have to write one until I get back! Just kidding…I probably will. But yeah many things happened, so I had to update a lot. The weekdays seem too routine now for me, so I forget to update :[

van-kim