I realized just yesterday that the rest of my trip here will probably fly. I have only two more weeks in the school left, then Levi and I head off on our adventure. We will first go to Hyderabad to visit a pastor there. I will be speaking in church for 20 minutes or so (heavy emphasis on the "or so"). We will then be either going to Mumbai or Kolkata. We haven't quite decided yet. A seventh grade class at Northwest Christian will be hopefully planning one of our days in each location. We'll return to Auroville for a couple of days, and then Levi will leave. After he leaves, I basically have a week left, in which I plan to experience the parts of Auroville that I have yet to experience and have a few more sweet moments with the kids and teachers at New Creation. I am really excited to go home when it comes. I'm really looking forward being at home with my family, starting a teaching career, working with the Youth Group again, and becoming more and more on fire about telling people about Christ. This is becoming more and more important to me. I don't think I have ever been so in love with Jesus before. Yay!
It has been a while since I have written, so let me tell you what I have been up to. I have settled into a much more regular pattern at New Creation. Ron (from Antioch College in Vermont) has pretty much taken over working with one of the math teachers. He has been teaching some lessons that the teacher can observe so that he can get some new ideas. I have pretty much backed off of that one. Since I only have two more weeks in the school, I'd rather focus on the things I'm already invested in. Story time with the 2nd graders may be my favorite time of the day. Yesterday I read a book to them called, "My Little Sister Ate One Hare." Tomorrow I'll be reading, "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig." It's one of the most incredible children's books I have ever seen. I really liked reading Wombat Stew with the kids too ( :
Mala and I continue to co-plan for the fourth graders, and I am loving what we come up with. This week has been difficult, because I was out sick on Wednesday and she was busy Tuesday and sick today. We've basically been passing the class off to one another. I am excited to hopefully see her tomorrow and teach WITH her again. It feels much better to me when both of us are teaching. As far as the 8th graders are concerned, I'm just spending time with them. I have gone to their carpentry and tailoring classes. Man, those kids are incredible tailors! Dhinegar sewed me a little hanky which I will definitely take back home with me.
For the last couple of weeks I am at New Creation, I will be working with the 3- through 5-year-olds. I worked with the younger kindergarten today doing some theatre games, and I laughed my head off. That's probably why I'm so exhausted. It was some of the most fun I've had since I got here. Those kids are wonderful (of course!). I am also going to help organize a male teacher campout for March 6 - 8 (or maybe just the 7th, I'm not sure). I'll let you know how the plans go for that one.
After interviewing the 8th graders, one of them (Vasanth) showed so much interest in Volleyball, that I decided it would be cool if we had a teachers vs students volleyball match. I talked with Shankar (the principal) about that last Wednesday, and today was the day. We lost sorely of course. It was great fun, though. The whole school ended 45 minutes early. We went up to the sports fields just a short walk from the school, and we played a best-of-three games tournament. We had line judges and a referee and everything. Well, the line judges were 7th graders and the referee was the computer teacher, but it still felt really cool. I did nothing of note except for yell a lot. We lost in two straight games. The 8th graders all got medals and a trophy. We got a smaller trophy. It was amazing! I'm so glad we were able to do it. I'm going to hear about it for the next week from the kids, though.
This weekend I'm finally planning on going to see the Matrimandir. I've been booked for Sunday with Ron. From the pictures I have seen, it is going to probably take my breath away. I would like to bring Jesus into that space and pray that His Absolute Truth can be accepted in Auroville. I still struggle deeply with just how to bring an Absolute message to a people who have rejected that concept. I don't even know if I've tried very hard. I guess I don't really know how to witness yet. But that's okay, I'm learning. What's really important to me is that I'm excited to be a witness. I'm not so afraid anymore of telling people about what is most important in my life. More than just not being afraid, I'm excited to tell them about it. I guess the next step is to be utterly broken over the condition of this world - as the apostles were - so that I am compelled to go out and tell people the Truth that will set them free. I look forward to that day and perhaps see it fast approaching.
I have been continuing to read through the Old Testiment - specifically the history of the Jews - while I have been here in India. I have to share with you an amazing passage that is from Ezra. It is the last three verses of the 9th chapter. Here it is as translated in the New American Standard Bible, "After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this, shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this." This is so long after the glory days of David and Solomon. A few generations before this, the Jews had been cast from the sight of God and had lived in captivity for 70 years. Now, under the leadership of Ezra, and by the grace of God through the kings of Persia, they had finally rebuilt the once glorious temple where the Lord chose to place His Name. After all of the suffering that they have gone through, the Jews still chose to intermarry as they were commanded not to. When Ezra becomes aware of this, he has a fit and weeps. When the Jews hear his prayer (the end of which is quoted above), they too weep and make great sacrifices to be right again before God's eyes.
These words of Ezra have really been burned into my heart and my mind. " . . . we are before you in our guilt, for no one can stand before you because of this." God says over and over again in the Old Testiment that all He requires of us is that we humble ourselves before Him and obey His commands. What more humble attitude could I have than that of Ezra, and what more HONEST an attitude could I have? " . . . we are before you in our guilt . . ." Always I stand before God in my guilt, and always because of the sacrifice of His Son, God does not see my guilt, but He sees Jesus. This message will stick with me until I die. The only thing I can do is to stand before God in my shameful guilt and obey His Word. I wish that I could make it clear to the people of Auroville, the people of Seattle and the people of Spokane just how freeing and how perfect God's Truth is!
Finally, I have uploaded some more pictures and videos. Some of the albums already existed and I just added more pictures to them, so don't just skip over them. Enjoy!
More Extras Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/Extras#
More NBCS Organic Garden Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/NCBSOrganicGarden#
Volleyball Game Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/VolleyballGame#
Video of Infant Bat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox829P4g7oU
Video of Crazy-Headed Birds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gv5t1_Hoc0
Songs of Auroville Slideshow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM9kTA9e_q8
2 comments:
Do they have problems with rabies in bats over there? My wife tells me it's becoming a problem with bats in Idaho/WA/Montana again.
Um ... I honestly didn't think about it. I didn't touch it ( : I know they have lots of rabies dogs, or at least a significant number. I guess I have never come into physical contact with bats in Washington yet.
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