This week, the final week of camp, brings us to India! Petrea wrote most of the curriculum, so we once again had a contrasting form of course materials. She did a great job writing some interesting lesson plans, I think because she had visited India a few years ago and found it very interesting. Some of the most notable lessons included: Indian dress which included trying on a Sari, cooking Naan with Judy, playing Cricket with a Cricket paddle (quite different from baseball), and Indian music.
I had group C, the same group I had the first week. It was nice to come full circle and teach that class of very thoughtful kids again. My group really liked making Naan, especially eating it! They also like playing Cricket, especially the girls. The boys tried to swing like in baseball, but it is a completely different kind of game. The girls caught on how to swing and scored a lot of runs for their teams. They also seemed interested in the music class, where I included a few videos of snake charmers which they found very intriguing.
For Bible School, we taught the Easter story. Petrea suggested we watch a video about Easter and then review the story in the Bible verse station (the part that I taught). The video taught the Easter story with a bit of a strange spin, so I pretty much had to retell the story during our time. I'm not sure how much it stuck with the kids considering they heard the story in two very different contexts, but it is a step. We played musical chairs to help remember the verse, which was a lot of fun and really helped them remember.
On Thursday, we devoted the class time to first landing our "plane" in Taiwan, bringing our trip around the world to a close. We then taught the story of Grace (Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and its relevance in our lives) We had been preparing for this class for about a week, seeing that it would be our last chance to display to our students why faith is so important to us and how we want to share that hope with them. Cana with the help of Erin translated "The Father's Love Letter" into Chinese for the class. We also made a worksheet with the story of Grace and questions concerning it. We also had a craft that had a verse about God's unending love to make in class.
I was concerned that my class may not understand the concepts that I was trying to display to them. Cana can speak Mandarin and Petrea has worked with these kids, so I feel like they would be able to reach their groups well. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would give my group understanding and give me the words to say. I took my time teaching this lesson because I felt like it was the most important. We first read the story of Grace and worked on the worksheet. I was quite surprised by their responses. Many of them gave me very genuine and thoughtful answers. Reiterating some of the aspects of the story in questions, I received many answers that were spot on. Even with a language barrier and many foreign concepts for this culture, I feel like seeds were planted. Do I know exactly where they are faith wise? No, but I know that every journey begins with a step and I think that many kids took their first steps in that class. When will they take the next step? Maybe next week, in year, or fifty years. I don't know, but I do know that I was an instrument for that journey to begin or continue, and someday another person will continue where I left.
Friday was our last day of camp and our final field trip. We visited a rice noodle factory, which included a yummy snack of cold noodles. We then visited an oyster farm. We made a craft with oyster shells and then searched for shells in an oyster-less pool. It was fun to get muddy and explore with the kids. The final place we visited was a park adjacent to the beach. We walked to the beach, spotting a wind farm on the way. The beach was rocky, so we just walked along the coast. It was quite bittersweet to spend this last day with the kids. After a month of teaching, playing, and laughing with them, it was hard to say goodbye, especially with so many asking "You're coming back next year right?" After goodbyes with the kids, I had to say goodbyes to my coteachers at CELA. That was equally as hard. In four short weeks, we have all become very good friends. We have traveled around Chiayi county together, had countless dinners together, and had discussions about faith, life, and a variety of other things. I found that I witnessed to my coworkers as much if not more than the students, which I was not expecting but was glad that the opportunity arose.
My last night in Taiwan was spent at Friday night Bible study at the Lutheran church in Chiayi with the fellow Christians of the city. It was a nice way to end this experience, bonding with the body of Christ in this place. After the Bible study, I ran to the night market with Erin for one last walk around this very Taiwanese place. Scootering back to the Practice Hotel, it hit me how much I will miss Taiwan. It is so different from Korea, but I find it beautiful in its own way. Life moves at a much slower pace than Korea and people have a very honest way about themselves. It will be strange to return to the very plugged in, fast paced culture in Seoul after spending a month in small town Taiwan.
After packing and goodbyes at the practice hotel, it was time to head to the airport. My flight for Hong Kong was scheduled for about 8am the next morning, so Cana and I left on a bus for the airport around 2am. It was a very long journey, especially since we didn't sleep before the bus and didn't want to sleep on the bus to make sure we didn't miss anything. We arrived at the airport around 6am. I checked in and said goodbye to Cana, who would board a plane for the USA later that morning. Cana and I were partners in crime teaching at the camp from start to finish. In that time we were able to work together, discuss matters of faith and current events, and learn more about Taiwan together. She encouraged me in my faith by her genuine love for God. I will miss her very much and hope that someday we can work together on another trip.
So this journey has come to an end. There are so many things that I take away from this experience.
First, I was reminded that there are so many things that are universal, namely:
1. Regardless of the culture, kids are kids
2. The desire for a connection with the Creator and a means of salvation after death is the fundamental search for every man.
Second, it is important to open your eyes to every aspect of a culture in order to understand the big picture. The more I learned about the way of life, religion, and history of Taiwan, the more I could see why my coworkers and students thought and acted in the way they did.
Third, unexpected situations will occur, but it is those events that are really meaningful. I did not expect that our ministry to the teachers would be a prominent as it would, but because of that, the two Christians in the office will be having a Bible study with the other teachers at the request of the non-Christian teachers.
Fourth, God's timing is not what I expected, but He can see the big picture and I am merely an instrument to reveal a piece of that picture. This is something that I have been learning through LAMP and now here in Taiwan. While I can't see the seeds grow and blossom, I was a part of planting them to be nurtured by the other teachers at CELA. It is my prayer that each of the children and teachers of this camp will grow in faith in the coming years.
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