Thanksgiving Pictures. . .A Little Late

We've had a rough couple of weeks since Thanksgiving due to a stomach virus going around. Then, it's been busy as I've tried to catch up. At any rate, here are a couple of pictures from our student Thanksgiving dinner.

My friend Holly and I pooled our resources (I don't have much in the way of Thanksgiving decoration) and we worked together to fix a traditional meal. All of the students were very hesitant to eat the canned cranberry sauce until they made the happy discovery that the red chunk on their plates was not beets!

We had a total of eight students show up. Several of these are very secular, a couple are believers and one shows some signs of interest. Whenever Randy has talked with Andy about spiritual things, this young man always seems to appear.

Please continue to pray for opportunities and openings.

Student Party Pictures

This is the picture of Conviction that I promised some time ago. We're sitting at one of the highest points in the city overlooking the sea.

Kevin made some new friends also. At almost 15 years old, he is very close in age to the first year university students, who are usually 16 or 17.

Pray for Conviction

Yesterday we enjoyed another student party. Since we have a volunteer team in from the US, the party was followed by a walking tour in the city. This is a great opportunity for the students to show off important sites, tell our guests about their history, and practice their English. For us, it is a great opportunity to build relationships. I was able to meet several new students on our three-hour walk. One, however, caught my interest. First of all, she walked with me the entire time, which means we spent quite a lot of time talking with each other. The other reason is her name. It literally means, "conviction". My silent prayer began immediately: "Lord, please bring conviction to Conviction." Please join me in that prayer, and ask that there will be other opportunities to spend time with her.

We forgot to pick up our camera, but my friend Donna has promised to send me a picture she took of me and Conviction. Hopefully I can get that posted soon so you can see who you're praying for.

There were a couple of unpleasant incidents also. One was unrelated to the party. Randy was approached by a drunk beggar man. Although we often give to beggars, we don't typically give to drunk men. As he persisted, another man came up to "help" us out by grabbing the man and hitting him across the head repeatedly. Our children saw the whole thing but, although it was upsetting, don't seem to be dwelling on it.

The other incident happened at the party. The students were to have prepared skits related to local wedding customs--arranging marriages and the actual wedding. Three of the girls took it upon themselves to perform a rap song about jihad to commemorate the victims of a massacre that took place here during their most recent war. The student program director took them aside privately and explained that they needed to find a more appropriate way to honor the memory of their slain countrymen. Sadly, the girls got angry and left.

Otherwise, it was a good party. We have been to several weddings, and we know some of the customs related to arranging a marriage, but I did learn more. When the young man's parents went to ask the young woman's parents about arranging a marriage, the student playing the part of the groom's father said, "You have the gold, we have the goldsmith. You have the garden, we have the gardener. Our families are deserving of each other." Very different from our traditions!

Student Party

Our biggest outreach during any holiday season is the student party. University students who study in our courses are invited for a morning of food, fun and games.

Most of the student parties allow us to share our holiday traditions with students. This party, however, is different. The students get the opportunity to share their holiday traditions with us. They prepared skits to show how the four elements--water, fire, wind, and earth--overcome winter and establish spring. We also cracked boiled eggs, which is what Sean and the young man pictured above are doing. The person whose egg survives intact is the winner and is supposed to have good luck, similar to our custom of breaking a wishbone.

It wouldn't be outreach if we didn't include some spiritual content. Since eastern cultures love proverbs and sayings, one of our favorite "games" is handing out slips of paper with the best Proverbs in history. The students are divided into groups and compete to see which team can read, understand, and explain to one of our team members the most Proverbs before time runs out. Some of the Scripture vocabulary is difficult for them, so they frequently wave down one of us for a little help. Even Julie was kept busy explaining the meaning of words like "haughty".

Please pray for our University Team as we look for opportunities to follow up on any seeds that were planted.