(Mongolia week 4)

"The harvest here is indeed great, and the labourers are few, and imperfectly fitted without much grace for such a work. And yet grace can make the few and feeble instruments the means of accomplishing great things--things greater than we can even conceive."
--Hudson Taylor, A Retrospect

Why write a blog post, when Hudson Taylor already said everything you want to say? Imperfectly fitted and feeble--this is how I have felt a lot while adjusting to this new role as a teacher. But, "grace can make the few and feeble instruments the means of accomplishing great things..." and it's a beautiful thing to watch and experience.

Every day at Oyunii Tuv is an adventure. If I told you everything, this would be a book rather than a blog post. (Ok, Connor if you are reading this, I promise...I will start working on that book...) One of the highlights of this week was guiding the 11th grade class through a discussion on love. One of my students, Jackson (he calls himself Jackson because of Michael Jackson) asked me if "Love is everything," which then started a great debate with his classmates. From what we have discussed in class, I believe the question can be better understood when rephrased, "Can you live without love?" One side believes that love is everything, because it is a part of all we do. The other side (my little pragmatics) feels that love can't be everything, because it can't give you material things, or status.

We have now spent 1 and a half class periods examining this question, and will finish the conversation on Monday. I loved watching the pragmatics and saps have at it...and it's pretty amazing to me that we are having such a deep, theoretical discussion in a language that is not their own (Especially since we had such a rocky beginning).

I'm excited that I get watch them grow, and feel blessed to be their teacher--the hard days are worth it.

Thank you for praying, and please continue!