(`After Church, us SM's headed out on an adventure. We had heard about a waterfall, but hadn't ever been able to visit it. This was our chance! We borrowed a vehicle and (thanks to Mauricio's Timorese license) rode through the city and out into a most beautiful place. Although there was construction along most of the road, as soon as we left the city you could see the beautiful rolling hills of Timor Leste. We drove past thick, beautiful grass, bushes, ancient towering trees, and blooming flowers. It was a sight for sore eyes. Ones that had been staring at concrete, metal and vehicles whizzing past. The city of Dili is packed with loud shouts, exhaust, and the never ending sound of honking horns. But outside of this busy city, the landscape of Timor Leste is inviting and warm. I couldn't help but wave at the locals living in huts along the hillsides. Children with bright eyes, mothers carrying heavy loads and curious grandpas. All warmed by the sun, but radiating the warmth of their love even more. We passed through many hills, hills that could almost speak their rich stories aloud, and finally came to the waterfall. It was a beautiful sight! There were a few men washing their clothes in the basin of its fall, while others stood around and waved to us. I had so much fun enjoying the cool water and seeing God's beautiful nature. Catching tadpoles, playing with squishy water moss and getting shoved into a pounding waterfall are always fun! I often struggle with feeling lonely or overwhelmed with the business surrounding me, but in moments like this; I feel a great peace. Probably that's the very reason God made nature: for us to enjoy it and feel His presence. And I sure did. It's not often that I get to go out into nature, but when I do, it always reminds me that God cares about me. He always has a way of surprising me and showing me something even more wonderful about Him. God, thanks for nature. Miss McEddy P.s. Thanks to Meghan and Mauricio for taking some of these pictures! :)
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I know it has been ages since I last updated my blog. I could give excuses about having to trek to internet, my schedule being cramped, or being too exhausted (which are all true, mind you), but I will tell you the truth: I've been completely avoiding it. I'm not sure what it is about posing a blog that scares me so much, but it just does. I figure I will want to look back on these and remember the amazing experiences I have had here in Timor Leste, so I decided it was time to give it another shot. I can't update you on everything that has happened so far, because that would just take too long. But I will share a kinda old story, that may be new to you. I started an English class that meets on Sundays. I enlisted Meghan's help and a few other friends from out church, and all our neighborhood kids ages 7-12 are welcome to come. I know it sounds strange to start another school-type thing when I already have to teach 5 days of the week, but this is something special, something close to my heart. Whenever I leave my gate I see groups of kids in torn clothing, playing with old tires, and begging for coins or candy. One day I decided to meet them, something I had been wanting to do for months but didn't have the courage for. I walked just down the street to my friend Kiky's house where they have a shop in front of their house. I bought three dollars worth of "paun", or bread rolls, which is a whole trash bag full of around 30 fist-sized rolls, and marched over to the place where the children always play. Instead of calling to them, I sat down near their tightly packed homes and messily ate a roll of bread. Nothing happened. I forced myself to relax and look normal. Still nothing happened. I ate a bit slower. I was worried I would have to eat another piece of bread before anyone would approach me, but thankfully a little girl walked up. She shyly looked at my bag full of bread and up again at me, a smile tickling the corners of her mouth. I gently called, "Mai", which means come, and she quickly ran away. Within a few minutes she came bounding back, dragging a friend behind her. They stood a few feet away and longingly looked at the paun I was eating. "Hakarak han paun ga?" I asked, wondering if they wanted to eat some bread too. Quickly they rushed towards my open bag and each grabbed a roll. My heart lept with joy, maybe finally I would make some neighborhood friends! Soon the girls were calling to all the children, and they came from every direction. I hadn't even seen this many children playing there, and they were all rushing at ME. Within second, all the bread was gone and the remaining "plastics", as they call them here, were being torn to pieces. I broke up a few fights over the bread and started using all the Tetun I knew. I found out their names, ages, and where they are from. And then I started asking them about school. I wasn't quite sure how to word it, but with the help of two older boys who knew a bit of english, I was able to piece together the picture of their stories. Most of the kids there went to a public school and some of them didn't even go to school at all. (The unfortunate reality of public education here is that each grade meets for two hours with their teacher. There is one teacher per 60 students, and because the teachers are afraid of being hurt (or worse) by angry parents, even if the students aren't able to complete the tasks in their grade level, they are passed and sent on to the next grade. Because of this, some students reach 8th grade without being able to read.) This breaks my heart. I realized the dire situation that these beautiful children were in. And I wanted to do something to help. Helpful or not, I decided starting a free english class every Sunday would be something I could do with some effort. That first day they came rushing in the gate exactly at 3:00 pm. 20 some odd children from 7-12 with absolutely no english ability, with the exception of maybe a "Hello! How are you?" showed up. I was terrified and delighted at the same time. Could I really do this thing? I immediately stopped myself and realized that this was God's thing. And He could do it - for sure. Somehow, we made it through those two long hours. And when we had closing prayer and said goodbye, they all rushed towards us teachers to touch our hands to their foreheads or lips in respect. As we pursue relationships with these children, help them learn some english, and point them to our Heavenly Father, I ask that you pray for us. I believe God can do amazing things in these beautiful children's lives. Until next time, Miss McEddy Despite the unique challenges my classroom and students have presented this year, there are some little and big things I have watched grow and change, and I want to share some of them.
First of all, one of my little students who was so shy she didn’t speak for the first two months of school has begun speaking to me (promptly after I brought a random chicken to class and let her hold it and help me name it). And this isn’t just any talking, she is speaking with such precise grammar and big words that I am daily shocked to discover the lovely language ability she possesses. Also, she doesn’t just talk to me occasionally- she talks to me throughout most of the day, about everything from how her shoe is untied to friendship problems in the class to things happening at home. I cannot believe the huge progress that I have seen her achieve! She went from being a painfully shy girl who wouldn’t smile, make eye contact, speak, or participate in class, to a bubbly little girl full of smiles and laughter and stories! I had to call her out for talking for the first time in class yesterday, and it was the most hilarious thing because the whole class was SHOCKED, and I think she was too! But she didn’t burst into tears or shyly look into her hands, she made eye contact with me and had a huge playful smile dancing across her face. What a lovely child full of surprises! The other day as she was leaving to go home, she looked up into my eyes and told me, “Teacher, I am going to miss you when you leave!” What a shock those kind words were! My darling student, you don’t understand just how much I am going to miss you too. Another huge thing that has changed is my number one troublemaker. The first few weeks of class were SO difficult with him that I found myself repeatedly crying after school. He would throw temper tantrums in class, refusing to do absolutely anything that you asked him to – no matter if you asked him kindly, gave him an incentive, threatened a punishment, or gave a punishment – it was always the same horrifying response of an angry and destructive outburst. Multiple times he hurled things at other students before I could throw myself in the way, destroyed the classroom decorations and furnishings, threw water all over his desk and those around him, trashed all the backpacks of his classmates, and even yelled mean things to God in the middle of class. At this point we realized that school may be a better place without him, so we created a plan for him and his family to follow. He had three chances, or he would be kicked out of the school. And this is when I started REALLY praying for him. I know I should have started praying like crazy earlier, but it just didn’t happen. Yes, I prayed for my students, but not with the vigor and soul that I should have. In fact, we all started praying for him. With a complete change in the classroom organization and seating arrangement, I set out to make my classroom a safe place, despite this student, but also for this student. At this point I was getting a lot of complaints from the other parents about their children’s interaction with him, and I kept trying my very best but struggled with knowing how to stop his angry outbursts when I couldn’t see them coming. Many things have happened since then- new seating arrangements, a new sensitivity to emotions, a new “I’m sorry” policy, a new punishment system, new teamwork strategies, new fun things to learn, new family-like groups and increased rewards for good behavior, and the student I have now is completely different. He is kind most of the time, he loves to help one of the little girls in the class when she is struggling with math or an untied shoe, he prays respectfully and even leads out in small group prayers, and he often wears a contagious and loving smile. Yesterday I introduced subtraction to my first graders. The look on his face when he grasped the idea and was able to use his own fingers to subtract by himself was priceless. He kept showing me that he could do it- and it gave me a deep happiness because I could tell how much joy it brought him. That’s who is he is now- a loving boy who needed a safe place, a warm hug when things were tough, and someone who was stubborn enough to get past his barriers and see the huge sweetheart that he is. He loves bringing me pictures that he draws of bees, stars, and of his family. I am thankful for him being in my class, and that I have the privilege of being his teacher. I definitely did a lot of growing, and I can see that he has too. Wow, isn’t God amazing?! I would have never thought all that was possible. Praise God! I had a fun moment today when I let the kids use scissors for the first time (we finally had enough for each student to use one!!). We made snowflakes together and it ended up looking like a snowstorm hit our classroom with all the tiny pieces of white paper covering everything! I guess that is going to be the closest thing we will have to an actual snowstorm. The best part (I’m TRULY kidding) about all of this is that my floor is made of red bricks with sand in between them. Sounds strange, I know, but I am teaching inside of a large, white tent and this is the ground that they placed it over. This makes sweeping literally the worst thing ever. As I sweep, it usually ends up mushing leftover food and pieces of pencil shavings and papers into the cracks between the bricks- making those items irretrievable. So tonight’s task will be lots of fun, especially with the layer of white over everything! But just like Edhy always says, "Life is never flat!" Your continued prayers for each of my active, challenging, adorable, learning, gorgeous children as I do my very best to teach them are greatly appreciated! Until next time... Miss McEddy I am startled that I have already been here for basically three months and that my time here is about ¼ of the way over. How can that possibly be? There is so much still to do, so much to see, so many more words to learn and people to meet! Yes, I will be beyond excited to see my family and friends again, but I just know I am going to miss this beautiful island and her beautiful people something fierce.
Strangely enough, I’ve found it hard to live in the moment here. During the daytime there is no other way BUT to live in the very moment you are in due to the craziness and stress of it all, but during the evenings, it’s different. I find myself either so in love with the culture and its people here that I am saddened by all the places, adventures, people, and foods I will be missing when I go back to America. On the flip side, some nights I lay awake, wishing I could have a hug from my Mom, a burrito from Taco Bell, or even just a lingering moment to sit under a fall tree back home. This morning I realized how tragic it is that I have not been living in the present every moment I’ve been here so far. This is something I will begin working on, but I know it will be hard. I can’t completely ditch my life back in America for a year and then come back expecting everything to be the same. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that at all. If I want the same friends I had before, I have to keep working on those friendships and it’s best to keep tabs on the other things happening over there too. If I need the support my friends are giving me, I should be willing to give that same support to them as well- even if I am thousands of miles away. Amazingly, I have felt little homesickness here. I wasn’t sure what to expect with homesickness because of my strange childhood where I gallivanted across the globe with my family, but so far that part has been pretty chill. I cannot say I have been completely without that emotion though, because every now and then something will remind me of America or my loved ones, and it will bring me a deep-seated longing to be with them again. I had a funny moment the other evening when the three of us SM’s decided to go buy greasy food at Burger King just down the road. Despite the fact that I hardly even go into Burger King in America, the AC and greasy food and foreigners made me feel rather homesick. Maybe once I head back to America I can go into Burger King when I miss Timor Leste! Even though I haven’t felt too much homesickness, other strange emotions have cropped up: like restlessness. Maybe this is a symptom of homesickness, I am not really sure, but let me tell you: it sucks! Restlessness is much worse than many other emotions because I seriously have no idea what to do with myself! I usually end up cleaning my classroom, hand washing my clothes, exercising, or even exploring the shops and streets in our town. These things definitely help, but I’ve found that the best way to combat the restless disease is to hang out with other people who feel the same way. I can’t fully speak for the other SM’s here, but I have a feeling they also experience it and can understand the way I am feeling. We spend many afternoons climbing things, singing, playing sports, or just talking about life. Those times spent with them are really meaningful to me because I feel connected, valued, and a part of a bigger purpose. God has used the other SM’s here (and many other people) to bring joy into my life, and I am thankful for that! Two events that helped me to stay present are the highlights of my time here so far. One was a trip to Hera, a farming village a few hours away, and the other was a trip to Jaco Island. In both of those trips I got to experience the beautiful culture here up close and personal, which was amazing. Many embarrassing moments occurred while trying to blend in and sticking out so badly- but it was worth it. I learned SO much more in those few days traveling around the island than I did in a month living here in the city. I came back with a head swimming with new Tetun words, tummy filled with new and delicious traditional foods, my heart filled with the joy of making new friends, and my faith strengthened by the testimonies of our brothers and sisters across Timor Leste who endure so much for our Lord. My First Grade Class Update: My kiddos are doing amazing! They have learned so much already and I am very proud to see that. There are always behavioral problems in my classroom due to the number of students, but God is slowly teaching me patience and giving me more wisdom as I ask for it. Art week was a few weeks ago, and that was so fun for me! I had them making different art projects every day: from plastic bottles colored with permanent markers and then cut into spirals to make classroom decorations, to circle art, to popsicle stick owls. One of the last projects I had them do was to draw things about themselves on a cutout picture of their profile. My kids weren’t as creative or careful as I was hoping, but nonetheless- I think they turned out looking pretty cool. It’s almost time for our very first grade printouts to be handed out, so this is going to be a stressful next few weeks trying to pull the information for 19 kids together pronto. Honestly though, the challenge is kind of exciting! I love my kids so much and I am so thankful for them, even when it gets crazy. Keep praying for my kids to grow more like Jesus and that God will continue to give me the patience and wisdom I need to be a good teacher to these wonderful children. Random Updates: I was given a bike today! I am so excited to get to use it and bike around town! Now walking to the way to the beach will probably take half an hour instead of an hour. Weee!!!! Here goes more adventures! A beautiful black chicken flew over the wall and into our yard the other day, so I enlisted Meghan’s help and went out to catch her. We were able to catch her pretty easily (because Meghan is that speedy and I’m great at scaring chickens) and I promptly named her Harold. I kept her in my classroom all day, with her foot tied to a long string and the string tied to my chair. The kids and I fell in love with her and wanted to keep her, but you know how these kind of stories end. I took her back to the neighbors who live on the side she flew over from and asked if they wanted her back… and the young man I was speaking to didn’t really understand English, grabbed the chicken, and tossed her down into their yard. I slunk back to our compound, sad that I couldn’t keep Harold. Oh well! Maybe she’ll come back for a visit someday. Thank you all for your continued prayers, love, and support while I am away! I will try to do better at keeping this updated, but no promises! Until next time... Julia On Sabbath afternoon, us Student Missionaries went to the beach to relax and spend some time in God's creation. And what a peaceful way to do that! I spent a lot of time wading in the water and looking into its depths. I began asking God what he could teach me about himself through the ocean. If anyone knows me very well, you'd know that I have a great fear of deep water, so swimming out into the farthest parts of the ocean isn't quite my idea of a happy adventure. I thought about it for awhile and realized the ocean can tell me a lot about God- He is powerful, vast, filled with beautiful and amazing things that can only be found if searched for, dangerous, and inviting. Just like the ocean, he invites us to come to Him and jump into His immense love. He wants us to begin an adventure with Him, one that requires effort and all of our strength, but in the end is so worth all the work. And yes, He is dangerous. What He calls us to isn't always easy or simple, most of the time the best things He calls us to are challenges that are meant to help us grow- and that's not easy. And I think that's why it can be so scary- it takes work, and sometimes it's hard to trust when you feel like your drowning or you can't see the land yet. But I am so thankful that He calls me anyway, even though He knows I am fearful. God provides the strength and life and courage that I need, and that is what gets me to the other side. Praise God for the beautiful ocean He created that tells me so much of Him and His character.
After a while at the beach, we began walking back through the small back roads and villages there. We saw a volleyball game going on, and I could tell that Meghan and Mauricio wanted to go play with them. I, on the other hand, do not really enjoy sports that much and do NOT feel comfortable joining a game that I can barely even play. We fetched the ball for them when it went into the gutter, and they asked if we wanted to come and play with them for the next game. Of course, they said yes- and I grudgingly decided to stay with these two crazies. Suddenly I noticed that there were a group of children nearby, and, well, although I don't enjoy sports or swimming in deep water, I DO enjoy children!! I introduced myself to the kids and asked all their names in tetum. They were giggling and laughing and saying things about the "Malay" who kept talking to them(Malay means foreigner here). I laughed and asked them how old they all were. They were so adorable and friendly! Eventually they started playing games and so I watched and then asked if they could teach me the games. The girls were very shy, but helped me try the games anyway! It was so fun! By the end of the volleyball games (which could have lasted a while, I wasn't paying attention to them!) I had a baby in my lap, a child braiding my hair, and a circle of children sitting, holding my hands and teaching me more local games in Tetum. I cannot express how soothing this was to my soul- these adorable children had officially accepted me as their friend, even though we don't speak the same language or share the same heritage, and that made my heart sing. I learned about 4 new games yesterday, and can't wait to go back and try playing them again!! Praise God for teaching me lessons about His amazing love and joy through children and the ocean! What a fulfilling and bright day. Until next time, Miss McEddy After giving my children a coloring page to do and handing out all my normal crayons and twisting crayons, I found that one of the plastic parts to my twisting crayons was missing. I thought little of it and continued arranging. I went on to the next subject and was bellowing over the crowd of miniature sweaty humans, when one of my students came up to me. "Teacher, teacher!!!", he yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling, showing me his half-mutilated notebook with a few scribbles on it. I helped him for a while when I heard a "crunch crunch" coming from his mouth. It was NOT lunch time. And that did not sound like food. I held out my hand in front of him and asked him to spit it out. Can you guess what it was? It was the half chewed, slimy, and sticky piece to my twisting crayon. Well, I found it! Several minutes of class passed and he came running back to me, grabbed my hand, and slid a few more slimy pieces of plastic into it. I wish I could say that these kind of occurrences were seldom, but that would not be true.
There are some sticky experiences that are definitely more enjoyable though, like when a random child ran up to me yelling, "Teacher, teacher!!!", and handing me something in a plastic pouch. "Teacher, it's very tasty. Try it!" Seriously the most delicious sticky sweet rice stuff wrapped inside of a banana leaf. Us SM's found some in the market and immediately bought a whole bunch, which ended up having banana inside of them as well. Even more amazing! Such delicious foods here. I can't even! I love my kids. I really do! They are the most rambunctious, talented, loving, and challenging kids I've ever met. They've given me a run for my money, and have kept me on my toes every single day. Just trying to get by is really not an option, which is a great and terrible thing all in one. I work so hard for these kids, which makes any difficult day (which most days are) hard on me. I am putting my all into this, exhausting myself and loving with all that I've got so that these young people can learn of Someone who loves them beyond anything that the can imagine! I guess it makes sense that I've lost most of my voice now, so croaking to my students to sit down and look at the board doesn't work too well anymore. I called to one of my students who was being noisy today, and it turned out sounding like some kind of bird was dying- VERY LOUDLY. The expression on my student's face was priceless though, which makes it all worth it. Do you remember the sticky situation I was talking about at the beginning? Well, later that day my missing putty for putting up posters was handed back to me, with a big smile on his face, and it was sticky. Not sure I needed that putty as much as I first had thought. I decided I could go a while with tape instead. When I lost a piece to the filtered water dispenser, now you can understand why I immediately went to him and checked his mouth for any pieces. To my surprise, there was nothing in there!! Sometimes, kids surprise you. Like every day! My favorites are sweaty, snotty, happy children hugs. They are seriously the best! I love getting mobbed when kids first arrive at school or when they realize that their teacher is at church too. God has definitely blessed me with an amazing challenge, and a fun adventure of figuring out more about myself as well as who He is. Pray for Timor Leste, the others who work here at the mission, my children, and I as we continue on this crazy-awesome-difficult journey of a year. Love to all! Till next time, Miss McEddy :) Well, I have officially survived living 11 days on the beautiful island of Timor Leste. I love it here, the people, the food, the colors, and the ocean. There's so much to love about this place! I have felt so welcomed and loved, and that is a beautiful part about the culture here. I cannot possibly tell you everything that has happened so far, because it would take forever just to write it down. But, I can tell you that this is something I am SO happy to be doing, and something I will need a LOT of prayers with as well. My classroom is in a sturdy tent-like structure and is filled with 20 tiny, loud, rambunctious, naughty, loving, crazy first graders. I love them a lot and am working on using this new challenge to grow and not be discouraged. I keep praying for each child that God will show them how much He loves them, and I also keep praying that I will have enough wisdom to actually make this school year work. I have faith that God will somehow grant my requests, even though it seems nearly impossible right now. I am being as strict as possible in the classroom, while trying to show them that I do care about them and love them. Things in the classroom so far haven't been quite what I expected, but things can only get better, right? I hope so. I guess I didn't realize how much disorder would be involved in teaching first grade. I am so thankful for everyone who has continued to lift my classroom and I up in their prayers. Please continue to pray for my classroom and my teaching so that somehow they can bring glory to God! There are two other teachers here who are student missionaries as well, Meghan and Mauricio. Meghan and I are living in the same room and are having fun experimenting with different recipes as well as experiencing a new culture together. She teacher second grade and is doing such a wonderful job at it! Although she and I are different in many ways, we are both in love with Christ and our shared experiences here have given us a unique friendship that I am very thankful for. God definitely blessed in sending Meghan to Timor Leste as well!! A few short things I have done so far: hiking up to Cristo Rey, going to the beach, experimenting with local foods, teaching the first week of class (sounds like something not worth mentioning, but believe me- it was difficult), finding a cute yet terrifying monkey, discovering epic local markets, attempting to learn how to ride a motorbike, Meghan making peanut butter cookies in our sketch toaster oven, watching the sunrise, eating coconuts, and meeting lovely people from Timor Leste that have become my friends. I love it here, challenges and all, and am SO thankful I chose to come! More updates to come as soon as I can find internet again! I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's love and support of this adventure I am on! God has blessed me with an amazing support team back home and all over the world. Until next time, Julia (Or Miss McEddy as my students know me :) The idea of saying goodbye to my family and closest friends for a year doesn't sound very enticing right now. I've known I was going to be a Student Missionary since I first heard of such a thing, but I never really thought about what it would take to dedicate one whole year to service. To be honest, it's a bit scary. I know I've moved a bunch of times before, and I've said many goodbye's before, but those experiences only serve as a reminder of how painful it can be - even if it's just for a year.
Thankfully, I know God can bless through my unprepared self, my hurt, and my anxiety. All I have to look at is Jonah's experience, or Sarah, or even Esther. They all had doubts, and they all had fears, but God worked through them anyway. I just pray that God will work through me in a similar way. On the other hand, I'm ECSTATIC to be able to learn all about a new culture, travel to new countries, meet new people, and teach a classroom for the very first time! I love meeting new people, and this will be an excellent time to do just that. Well, I better go and finish packing my bags to head out soon. Thank you so much for each of your support as I make this big step out in faith! Please continue to keep me in your prayers. |
AuthorI am an elementary education major and am in love with Jesus Christ. I want to serve Him as best as I can, which has lead me to this missions experience. I also love painting and drawing, cooking, crafting, and spending time with people I love. I grew up living in a whole bunch of different places as a child, so the airplane is a place I feel comfortable. Archives
February 2017
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