India!!! How I love thee! This was undoubtedly my most favorite month on the race so far! We stayed at a YWAM base, which stands for Youth with a Mission. I became a leader for several projects this month including working at the Abhayam Rehabilitation Center and teaching adult ESL classes. Also I got to know several of the School of Ministry Development students there and went with them on their outreaches to the slum areas.
The Abhayam Center was a place for men to go and experience recovery in God's love and peace. They were some very awesome guys who really loved the Lord. I got the opportunity to share and give devotions with them and learned how to make old newspapers into nifty gift bags. I really enjoyed the fellowship and strength found in those fellows. They were so reliant on God for the courage to make it into the next day! It was really amazing!
I also got to teach adult ESL classes, no surprise there. It was neat to see the differences between teaching kids and adults. We had conversation classes, listening exercises, and vocabulary lessons. Most of all, I worked with the students on the development of their writing, such as using transitions, writing structure, descriptive vocabulary, narrative elements, writing purposes and plans, and writing genres. We had an amazing time; each class was filled with so much laughter! As our final "lesson," we took a field trip to an amusement/water park called Wonderla. God made such a wonderful day for us!!!
Some mornings, when I wasn't busy with other ministries, I got to sit in on the School of Ministry students' classes. I learned awesome, faith-strengthening information on those mornings. I heard about famous past missionaries, pastors, and evangelists. I sat in on leadership classes with the director of YWAM, Aldrin Bogie. Then I got to see the students put what they learned into practice in our bi-weekly slum outreach. We painted and clipped nails, spoke about Jesus to the poor, and taught the children basic reading skills. I will forever remember those students! Spending time with them really felt like being part of a family!!
Other projects going on in YWAM I was involved with were working at the Jirah boys' home, teaching in schools, and working with the Esther project. Esther project was a program designed to teach women with low self-esteems skills in order to be confident in today's world, such as English, computer, and sewing. I really loved developing relationships with the women in Esther project and the boys in the Jireh orphanage!
I was so sad to be leaving that YWAM base; however I am looking forward to my last three months on the race in southeast Asia. This month I will get a new team!!! Please be praying about that!! It is woman ministry month, and I will either be stationed in Chiang Mai or Phuket, Thailand. Then we will be moving on to Cambodia and Malaysia. Also please be praying about a job situation for when I get home, and that I find a job in the place that God would have me go. God bless you all for your prayers! Love in Christ!
-Susan
