New adventures...

This morning I met with the volunteer coordinator about my new responsibilities (aka adventures) since the boy I have been working with is starting to transition out of the clinic. The meeting went well. For one I will be helping out some in the medium girls house--in the mornings and at lunch time. I've already become friends with several of them, they are really sweet (age range is typically around 8-13 years old I think, but there are many exceptions). I will still be tutoring the boy I've been working with in the mornings and taking him to the medium boys house in the afternoons/for dinner. Spending time in the medium boys house lately has been really fun. The boys can get into a lot of trouble but they can also be really sweet and are always entertaining :) 

I also asked the volunteer coordinator if there are any needs in the school right now, which led to talking with the school director. And he has assigned me to be the reading teacher in the Elementary school! A little while back they had reading groups, but the woman who was leading them had to be switched to the office so there hasn't been anyone to lead reading groups for the kids lately, so that is what I'll be doing! Starting after Easter (the kids get next week off from school for Holy Week), I will be starting reading groups for grades 4, 5 and 6. I spent some time in their library today looking at their collection of sets of books, they have about 10-12 sets of books, all of which are Spanish versions of books originally in English (e.g. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: El León, La Bruja y El Ropero and My Side of the Mountain: Mi Rincón de la Montaña). The selection is not bad but when considering different levels of reading that narrows the selection down quite a bit for each level. I am already considering using some of the money I have raised to buy more books. As far as other chapter books that kids can check out from the library there are only a couple other shelves full, which I would also love to do something about. 

Please pray for my preparation for these reading groups, there is no set curriculum or even guidelines for them so I get to create it all. I am really excited about this, I loved reading as a child, love discussing books and love the chance to be creative. I feel so blessed that God has opened this door for me, I feel like there couldn't be a more perfect job in the school for me. My hope is that the children I work with will come to love reading, that it will open up for them new ways of thinking, expand their imaginations and speak to them eternal truths in a powerful way. Stories are one of the most powerful modes of communicating truth, indeed our Heavenly Father is the greatest Author of the greatest story of all time. Please pray that God would work through these reading groups to reach these children. 

I still have a strong desire to work with the older girls in some fashion. Unfortunately volunteers are not normally assigned to the big girls house because they can be really hard to work with and there is a lot of need with the younger kids. I am hoping to talk with one of the leaders of the discipleship program here soon to see if I can get involved with that though, so please pray for that. I also would love to start a praise dance group for the older girls, which I need to talk with the volunteer coordinator about. 

Above all please pray that God would be leading and guiding me in all these things. I can be quite a dreamer and want to do everything, but most of all I want to be where God wants me to be. So I pray that He would simply not open doors that are not meant to be opened.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!