Our first two weeks of teaching English are done! Our team has split up into two groups where one goes in the morning from 9-12 and teaches three classes. The other group goes in the afternoon from 1:20-5:30. I am in the afternoon group, so my mornings are a little slow, but the afternoons are busy.
The first week of teaching, wow. My mom is a teacher and my sister is studying Special Education, so I figured teaching was somewhat “in my blood.”
Walking into school the first day blind and not knowing any details about what we would be doing surprisingly didn’t stress me out. The following day when we were supposed to know what we were doing with a plan, the stress instantly built to the point where I almost broke down in tears. Not because I hated being there, I just didn’t feel like I was ever going to get through to the kids because the language barrier is SO strong. In better words, I felt unqualified.
Feeling unqualified to teach gave Satan the perfect opportunity to jump in and attack. I now felt like a terrible teacher and then I started questioning my entire trip and if I was qualified to be here. Once he entered in, I knew it was going to take something strong to kick him out. He’s a strong little sucker.
One of my teammates said it perfectly: “I feel like us teaching relates back to the Lord and how He tried to teach us how to surrender to Him. The process was long, but we eventually surrendered, right? This brings me back to teaching. It takes the kids a little while to fully grasp what we are saying in English, but once the material sticks they run with it, just like we run with God.”
By only speaking English, really getting the kids to understand what I am saying has been difficult. Many pictures are drawn and I have learned that repetition is KEY. The kids give you grace through it all, but after saying the same thing so many times you start to wonder if their blank faces mean they understand the material or not.
Then, this past week happened. It was as if all of our prayers were answered. My kids started to interact during the lesson. They were slow to do it, but they were participating.
Next, the question was asked of the class to take out their homework. Now, back in the States I feel like so many people surpass their homework because they don’t think that it is important. Every single one of my third graders took out their completed homework. I can’t explain why, but my heart melted. It melted to the point that I literally had to take a step back in awe of my class and just look at them.
That was the moment I knew I belonged here. It didn’t matter that I was a Christian and that most to none of my students are, or that the week before none of them seemed like they understood a word I was saying. It was proof of God saying, “Han, you are doing something, I am right here, have no fear.”
“God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”
God takes the hardest of situations and paints them into the most beautiful portraits. I am learning to fully put my trust in Him and sit back and watch Him do His work. He has some awesome things He wants to teach us. It’s the, “are you willing to sit back in the chair and be taught” part that gets us. He is such a good Father. I am trying to keep that realization in my head.
Short update about everything else:
: I got lice/ still have lice. It is not as bad as I thought it would be, but my head itches constantly, which isn’t my favorite thing in the whole world.
: The pigs names are: Martha, John, Phoebe, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Lady, Buck, Penny, Monica, Beans, and Ross.
: Random fact- I sneeze maybe 30- 40 times a day.
: We have started teaching our host mom English in the bible. One of us reads a chapter in the bible with her everyday and teaches her new words.
: I am sharing my testimony in church on Sunday!
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
I can’t say it enough, thank you all for the prayers. God has been answering them in the sweetest of ways. I thank God for each and every one of you.
Lots of love,
Han
file://localhost/Users/hannah/Desktop/Thailand%20beginnings.m4v
