English Class

Here are some shining English class students as they learn about feelings.

Update!

Our time here in Jordan is racing ahead now. It seems we just welcomed Mr. Baker (regional minister for the Asian area) for a visit. Yet a month has now passed by. He gave us some great advice during his brief visit that I think is one of our challenges as the time we will be here is now shorter than the time already spent. His advice was something along the lines of "don't forget you're still here. Don't get so busy planning where to go/what to do after Jordan that you forget about the here and now and the impact being made." The timing of these words of wisdom were just right I think. They are so applicable to so many things. In our preparation for the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread we're looking ahead and excited and yet we still have to live in the here and now with our preparation and self-examination.

We had our only snow (so far and we're okay if it stays that way) when Mr. Baker was here for his visit February 4th-7th and joked with him that he must have brought it with him from the States. Although it was no more than an inch in our little neighborhood in Amman, we enjoyed an extra day added on to our weekend. Since Amman is built on 7 hills and they don't have the equipment to manage any stuff that freezes on the ground, any amount of snow can pretty much make the city stand still for the day.

The next weekend (Presidents' Day) after Mr. Baker left, we had the wonderful opportunity of being involved with the Dallas Young Adults' Weekend. We were asked to put together a presentation revolving around the theme of service and leadership and talk about lessons we've learned or are learning here in Jordan this year. We each picked a particular lesson (by no means the only lesson) in the area of service and presented what we've learned and stories from our time here. It was pretty remarkable to be able to interact with a group of God's people so far away in such a direct way. Stephanie kicked it off by talking about redefining service (being a servant not just doing service), then Jamie talked about "service outside the box" how to do a job/find a job when it's not apparent what that is, Kelley talked about the "uniform of service" how to be the servant (as Stephanie had begun in her part), then Eduardo talked about "relationships and service" and I wrapped it up by talking about "perseverance in service." We've become accustomed to delays in audio calls while living here, but for being across the world it was truly amazing the capabilities there are to interact with one another.

We've been continuing on in our respective roles and duties. Teaching lessons, cleaning classrooms, entering inventory, counting books, interviewing NGOs, making dinners for each other, learning Arabic and many many more things, but above all we are still striving to do all of these things to the best of our ability and interacting with everyone else our lives touch in a positive and loving way.

We're very much looking forward to the Spring Holy Days as many are around the world. We get the extra special treat of having quite a few visitors throughout the time. From March 25th - April 11th we will have a total of 11 visitors coming and going. Our little congregation will be more than doubled for Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread. Needless to say again, we are very excited. We wish all of you a blessed, meaningful and inspiring Spring Holy Day season!

~Audry~

YMWA Video Tour