new things

Dear friends,

God is doing wonderful things. Let me tell you. :-)

Last week I started tutoring at a small school called the Potter's House in downtown Grand Rapids for one of my classes. It's a small Christian school located right in the middle of the slums of GR. It began 25 years ago or so by several Calvin College graduates who had a vision for establishing a school in the poorest part of the city that would offer a solid Christian education for economically disadvantaged families and immigrants who wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise. It is beautiful.

They meet in an old, partially run down facility in the middle of the slums, and much of their resources are outdated, but the people there are amazing. My first day there I tutored an 8th grade girl from Puerto Rico, a 6th grade boy from Bosnia, and another 6th grade boy from downtown Grand Rapids. And yesterday I helped a 12 year old boy from Tanzania take a Bible test who had grown up in 3 different refugee camps in east Africa and had only lived in the United States for one year. He knew 5 other languages. The students are SO diverse -- Koreans, Bosnians, Mexicans, Porto Ricans, Indians, Venezuelans, Tanzanians, Israelis, and locals... And those are only the few that I have met so far in 2 days...

All I know is that after helping that Tanzanian boy understand his English Bible test yesterday, I knew....I knew that that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It is so crazy how God has brought me from a place of such uncertainty about teaching English over the last few months to a place of such joy and confidence in doing that work. There are still plenty of doubts, but one by one, He is tearing down the walls. Praise the Lord!

As for the next big thing God is doing... I had a meeting today with Darla England in the Teacher Ed division about doing my student teaching overseas, and I met with Gerald Longjohn (in charge of cross cultural ministries on campus) last week to talk about my desire to eventually teach overseas, particularly in the Middle East as he served in Dubai as a missionary for many years himself. And both of them were so encouraging. I will spare you the details, but from those 2 meetings it looks as if I will be able to find a placement overseas in almost any country I wish for my student teaching next spring, and there is a very good possiblity that I could be teaching full time overseas, if that is where God takes me, as early as the beginning of next summer. I could not be more excited! :-)

Please continue to pray that God would make His will for my future ever clearer to me as time moves on, and that He would give me the faith and flexibility to follow in His easy yoke over the next year. Pray that He would make me patient and teachable...

And thank you for all of your prayers already. He is leading me to exciting new things. :-)