Before Christmas Eve I had decided that I wanted to surprise the kids who were here and so had bought marsh mellows and little fruit jellies, thinking I would leave them in each room with a Christmas verse but on the 24th I saw that they had all left their socks hanging in the hall and so perfect was the opportunity to play Santa!
However I now know how hard it is to be quiet! A couple of times I heard a noise and ran away very quickly, trying not to be discovered, however I should have guessed – it was another two teachers with the same idea. They were both laughing having seen me run away twice. Later on another teacher popped along, just as I’d finished breaking into the nursery dorm and leaving tangerines next to each mosquito net!
I must also add that the students are muppets! I had to climb on top of speakers to get to some socks and others were well hidden in dark corners, in the tree and behind the white board! If anyone got left out I’m sorry. All should have had a tangerine, marshmallows, jellies, chewies and a snack bar/coffee sachet. The kids were thrilled from what I saw (thought I wasn’t exactly jumping out if bed with delight when the kids started singing at 5:30, having only been in bed 2 and a half hours!) It really was delightful though to see their faces. I’m not sure how many kids would be so happy with so little in England but here they loved it and I really felt that the true spirit of Christmas was with each of them!
New Years Eve was also fun. As each group of Christians like to celebrate Christmas on a different day so that they can invite everyone else, we celebrated on the 31st. We danced in the morning, then had breakfast of chicken, lunch of beef (kidney, liver and intestine the night before) and tea of pork and leftovers! There was a ‘marathon’ in the afternoon – about a 5km run. I said no but as the little kids ran off I ended up following (much to the amusement of everyone who watched 20 10-year olds beat me, though I still claim I gave them a good start!) and after that there was no way I was joining in the real competition for my age group!
The night was amazing. Talent show was organised, all were given presents and prizes for various tings and we celebrated until 10 minutes before midnight, when the pastor came and we had a short service.
On that note December has been great for spreading the message of Christ and I’m hoping that my one on one ministries will be starting again soon (they’ve been cancelled for various reasons).
It has been an amazing year. To go from taking the very first steps in A Christian journey to now working in ministry and teaching. I started as a student, opened a college level school and I’m working as a teacher. I started as a smoker and but stopped nearly a year ago. Most importantly in everything I’ve seen God shaping me and helping me. Yes I do still struggle, in so many ways, but I know that God is not only my saviour, he’s my father and he will continue to help me and lead me. In him I have the utmost faith and so THANK YOU to everyone who helped to lead me to where I am today!
