Monday, June 25, 2007

Thick Book

These kids are amazing, and they know that they belong to Jesus Christ. I was in the Kindergarten class and we were looking at pictures. There was a picture of a thick book. When Teacher Ruth said, “What is this a picture of?” Jesca answered, “Yes, teacher, that is a bible.” Clearly I was proved wrong, it is not just a thick book, it is the Bible.

Thought for the day comes from Isaiah 53:11. When Jesus Christ sees Himself in you and me, He is satisfied. The idea of God being satisfied paints a beautiful picture in my mind, but even more amazing is that at times Jesus is satisfied with me.

Whoa!

I help out with Kindergarten. I see the Kinders, Monday through Friday for half of the day. I was quite surprised one evening, when I was eating dinner with Sandra’s family, one of the Kindergartners, to have discovered that she had lost a tooth. She had lost it that afternoon. And it was a prime tooth too—top, front, center, left.

All school students (boys and girls) must have shaved heads. Imagine my surprise, when the students that I had been working with for 15 days, came in and three of them were bald! And I was just figuring out who was who, and they had to go change their hair on me! =) The following day, two more students were without hair. My understanding is that someone will shave all of the children’s hair, going from cottage to cottage, one cottage per night, for eight days, until all children are clean shaved.

In Lugandan (a dialect used in Uganda) to say Goodnight, you say “Sula Bulungi” (prounounced sue luh boo loon gee). The children say this to me after supper and playtime. I am very slowly learning a few words of Lugandan, which is fun.

Signs of LOVE

I have been teaching the kids “I love you” in sign language by shooting them love signs. The children, as young as two and three are excited to learn this and to tell me, “I love you,” as I also tell them that “I love you.” The young ones will put their hands out so that I can help them put their fingers in the correct order, the older ones, they just flash it back. This is quite fun for the kids, and I must say I rather enjoy it. As the children flash me love signs they yell out, “I love you.” (That is when we are outside.)

The mothers are also catching on and enjoy flashing signs of love. In the mornings when I run, I will see the kids as they go to breakfast, and they will shoot the love sign. This can be quite fun during dinner, as it is a very quiet time. I will flash a kid at my table, or even another table a love sign, and all of a sudden I receive five more love signs right back at me. The best part of this is that the children can do this while remaining quiet, yet be reminded of the love that people have for them.

I have also taught this sign to the Junior Secondary School (JSS) girls. I was running a couple minutes late on this particular day, I had ran to the guest house to grab my vitamin, and when I walked into Study Hall, each and every girl had their hand up, and was flashing me a sign of love. I flashed it right back. I cannot tell you how amazing it felt, to walk into a room, where every girl there wanted you to know that they loved you. What an incredible way to start your afternoon!