Photo from yesterday
What an incredible day it has been! At camp ABC English and Me this morning we had one new student in addition to the ones who have been coming. This group is from ages 2-4 and there’s only about 4 of them. But they are SO fun and special to watch as their faces light up. They get so excited to see a picture of a cow and answer correctly that yes! It is a “cow”! We truly have the best time with them and find ourselves speaking to them in the same accents they use when talking to us. Our “Hellos” and “Good-byes” are sounding very Czech-English these days….
We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon today helping Gloria with various projects. Mom and Meredith mainly worked in her garden while I attempted to go through her computer and get pictures organized to have some picture books made of different weekly events that Gloria leads here.
The afternoon music class is a much different experience than the morning one! These children are older, ages 4-6, and there seems to be 100 of them, while there is really just 15…But with all their parents and siblings in there as well, it can be difficult to always have control and attention. The language barrier also makes it that much harder. Gloria does such a good job of translating just as much as necessary, since the whole point of the class is for them to be hearing and learning English. We try to pray before each class time, and I think this afternoon went much smoother than the days before. In a way I love the language difference. It’s so funny for a 3 year old to look up at you trying to tell you something and you have no idea what they’re saying!
Tonight was the biggest blessing. We were especially tired after a lot of work today. After the second music camp was over, we had to quickly clean up everything and set up for English night here at the mission house. English Evening consists of an hour of English lesson, an hour of Bible study, and then the rest is somewhat of a worship/social time. They split up into 3 groups: beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Mom, Meredith, and I each participated with a different group level. The whole idea is for everyone who comes to simply practice speaking English as much as they can. I was with the intermediate group, led by Gloria’s fellow missionary friend, Beth. There were 2 girls probably a little younger than me, and a young man. I ask for prayers for him as he is in the other room right now talking with Gloria and Beth. I could tell during Bible Study that he is actually not a Christian, as he argued almost every point the rest of us made. Apparently he has been coming here, though, for years. Obviously he is attracted to something here. Pray that he will accept Jesus and for Gloria and Beth as they continue to minister to him after this week. Meredith and I talked on and on with a couple of very fluent 18 year old girls. They just wanted so badly to keep talking and practicing with us, saying they wish we’d still be here in Wednesday nights to come! I truly have always taken for granted how lucky I am to have grown up with English as my first language and not really having the need to learn another one fluently. It is unbelievably impressive and humbling how smart these people are and how hard they work to make the best lives they can after their country has historically been through so much.
We are having an incredible experience here in Brno, Czech Republic. Please continue to pray for the children, their parents, and all the Czech people we come in contact with. We want them to keep coming back and hearing Gloria tell about Jesus!
Amanda
with Meredith and Kerri
