Sunday, 01 November 2009 21:21
I know already that this is going to turn out to be one of those blog titles that ends up having nothing to do with the actual content of the entry itself. I couldn't resist however, since we're helpless Anglophiles and--as all you lovers of Things British will already know--November 5th is just around the corner (also known as "Bonfire Night," also known as "Guy Fawkes Night." Google it and report back on what you find out.) Today is [not the fifth but the] first of November, and as I was walking in the neighborhood after dark, I saw a bonfire. Well, not a real bonfire; a small trash-burning fire actually, blazing bravely away in the pouring rain. It made me remember that famous British nursery rhyme:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
I've mentioned before that our neighborhood is mazed with gas pipelines that run aboveground like a giant feat of Tinkertoy engineering. It's common for people here to just build small, open-air fires outside their front gates to burn brush or trash whenever they happen to be doing some yard clean-up. (The number of burned-out fences in front of houses might suggest that this is not exactly a wise choice, especially on windy days, but people will continue to do it, regardless.) This particular neighbor always builds his trash-burning fire directly underneath the gas pipeline. Never a few feet in front of or behind the pipe; the placement of the fire is so exact that you have to wonder if he does it on purpose. Probably not, but we always cross the street when we pass his house on trash-burning days. Not that it'll do us any good if the gas pipe bursts suddenly, but you have to at least try.
Anyway, on to the non-sequiter part of the entry: What's Been Going On in the Gardners' Lives Lately. (This may have been a title more to the point, but far less interesting.) Did I mention that we had a mix-up with the order of our homeschool materials this year? Probably not, since at the time, I couldn't write about it without feeling slightly bitter. Now, however, everything's worked out fine and I can tell you about it without the least tinge of rancor. So:
I ordered my homeschool materials way back in May, so that I could have plenty of time to plan the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, the company sent our shipment by ground mail instead of airmail (Note: There is a lesson here for anyone contemplating shipping things to Russia:) When the order (7 boxes) reached Russian customs in Great Britain, it was turned away. What Russian customs actually said to the homeschool company was: "Our standards for what we'll accept change every day. Today, we're not accepting boxes of xxxx weight and xxxx girth." Everyone was surprised by this, except us.
After that, the homeschool company refused to re-mail anything to Russia, and after a convoluted series of communications with them (about which I shouldn't write, as this is where I still get a little bitter,) the materials were sent in a roundabout way to us and we received them just in time to start school at the beginning of October.
ALL THAT TO SAY...
I've been lying low in the month of October, just trying to devote the month to getting used to homeschooling. I want the kids and myself (and Tim-who-thank-Heaven-for-the-sake-of-my-sanity-teaches-math) to have a calm, smooth, firm foundation for the year to come, so I think it's good that I did this. And that means that life has slowed down during October, but by no means has it stopped for us. In fact, here--in headline format--is what's actually been going on with us in the last month:
Gardners Finish Language School! Final Presentations Stun Classmates and Director (and that's not just the grammatical errors, folks...)
Tim and I each crossed the finish line of language school this month, with a written final exam, an oral interview with the director, and a forty-minute presentation on the topic of our choice. Tim presented a sermon entitled "Civil Disobedience," and I presented a women's study on Nancy Leigh DeMoss's book, "Lies Women Believe (and the Truths that Set Them Free.)" All of it was in Russian of course, and though both went well, we are unspeakably relieved to have this first 2-year stretch behind us! Now, however, we're feeling the real need to keep up our language skills by regular conversations with Russians on a daily basis. In a way, that's even more challenging than language school, where at least you know what you can expect day after day.
Talking to Teachers
In my last entry, I mentioned the golden opportunity I was offered to speak to teachers in a local school. The session went beautifully: I spoke about the grace and love of God, and the teachers couldn't have been lovelier or more receptive. As a result, I've been invited to speak in a local university in December (more on this later) and have had to be rather firm in turning down more offers to be regularly involved with teachers across Russia. At heart (and by education) I'm not really a teacher, and we're finding that it's important to remember why we're here, and try to focus on that, instead of just filling up our calendars with work that's good, but in the end doesn't help us toward our goal of reaching orphans and street kids.
Meanwhile, my mother, who is coming to visit on November 11th (Three cheers!) has been invited to address this group of teachers. Mom is a former teacher and will have a lot of good things to say to them.
We Begin Teaching English and Find Our Skills Much in Demand!
Remember that I spent our time in Austria last winter getting certified to teach English as a Second Language? Well, I've begun offering English classes, and am finding that unless I learn to say "no" firmly, I'll soon be swamped with work. Learning any language from a native speaker is the ideal way to go about it, and although most modern Russians study English in school, most in this city have never met a native English speaker before. Therefore, our "skills" are a hot ticket. (Note/confession: if you've ever had the experience of being considered brilliant for something you've done naturally well since birth, you'll know that this is a very gratifying experience.)
Why do we want to teach English, if it's not really what we came here to do? Good question! For one thing, when people ask why we're here, it does give us some legitimacy to be able to say, "I teach English." It's also a great way to become involved with people who would otherwise be closed off to us. The third reason is that I just happen to love English. I've spoken the language for nearly 40 years, and it still fascinates me: the grammar of it, the nuances...just the art of it. I love language, and English is the one I love best. Teaching it to others is just fun for me.
Anyway, after turning down several [potentially high-paying] clients, here's the English teaching that we're committed to for the time being: Once a week, Tim & I both help with an English class for teenagers in a town about 2 hours away. We have 6 girls (all 16-17 yrs old) from underprivileged families, and they're an absolute blast to work with. Once a week we're teaching an English class for beginners at our church, as a community outreach to unbelievers. Actually, we start this the day after tomorrow, on November 3rd. Remember to pray for us, if you would please. Once a week I give private lessons to my neighbor Galya. She is in her last year of University studies, and really hopes to get into the Aspirantura program next year (like a Master's degree), only in order to do this, she will have to be able to speak a English fairly fluently, which...she doesn't. Yet. But she will! I'm doing this because I love her and want to see her succeed.
SHARE Educational Conference Comes to Krasnodar!
Since July, we've been working on coordinating a SHARE conference for the expatriates in our part of Russia. SHARE is the acronym (Sharing Help And Resources for Education) of an organization that exists to help expatriates figure out the educational needs of their children. Five months of work culminated this week in a 2-day conference here in Krasnodar, in which the local American children were given standardized testing (the Iowa test of basic skills and the Woodcock Johnson III test). We also hosted a teen/parent seminar on College and Career Planning, one on "Challenges and Pluses of Raising a Third-Culture Kid" and "Helping Your Child With Second Language Acquisition." Families came from as far away as the Ural Mountains to attend. It was rewarding, but a lot of work, and I don't mind telling you I spent the following Saturday lying on the couch reading, and skipped church on Sunday from sheer exhaustion.
Meanwhile, it's time to start building a ministry to at-risk kids here in Krasnodar. We've been repeatedly (and repeatedly and repeatedly) told that it will be impossible for us to get into an orphanage here. This by no means discourages us. We know we serve The God of the Impossible. In fact, we look forward to seeing how He will prove these warnings untrue. Meanwhile, while we commit this matter to prayer, we are going to begin focusing on ministry to street kids.
A Special Invitation
On Wednesday, November 4th, Tim will be going with a Russian friend, Dima, on a "street children search." The street kids in Krasnodar are well-hidden. Most people will acknowledge that they exist, (and in a city of a million people, this is almost certainly true,) however almost no one can tell you where they are. Consider what this means: if no one even knows where to find them, it means that no one is doing anything to help them.
We want to invite you on Tuesday, November 3rd, to join us in a day of prayer and fasting about this. We feel that this is a stronghold Satan does not want us penetrating. So fast for a meal, or all 3, or even all 24 hours that day with us, and ask God to give us a foothold with ministry to street kids here in Krasnodar.
If you think you'll join us, why not send us an e-mail or Facebook message about it? As ever, we appreciate your faithful support and prayers. Thank you.
