Dear Moses,
My new group of Littles at Little Linguists are an active bunch! Their attention spans are fast as they are exploring and discovering lots of new things! When wandering in the desert for 40 years, how did the kids entertain themselves? I spy something beige... sand. I spy something we eat... manna. Are we there yet? No... another 39 years and 364 days to go...
Sincerely,
How did you stay sane?
Dear Abraham,
With the sun setting sooner and the stars appearing earlier in the evenings, I thought it would be fun to engage the Littles in a lesson about the stars! (Kids and Stars... sounds familiar, right?) We loved creating solar systems and tossing our paper stars to create "falling stars." Do you also like watching falling stars? How does that calculate in the number of offspring?
Sincerely,
Star-Gazer
The Littles and I sang a song about a Big Whale who swallows all the other ocean creatures and gets a belly-ache. Any personal insight you would like to provide for future lessons?
Sincerely,
Curious
Dear Daniel,
I have been spending more time at our youth club in Boskovice these past few weeks since the school year is just getting underway, so I haven't started regular English lessons yet. It's no "lion's den," but it is a clubhouse swarming with preteens... which some may argue is relatively similar; however, I know I have the better deal! It is so fun getting to know these kids and all the laughter we can have simply playing a round of UNO. When many little girls come to club, I spend lots of time braiding their hair, so if you're looking for a fun idea with your mute feline friends, I can recommend a few new hairstyles for those unruly manes!
Sincerely,
Happy to Help
Dear King David,
With autumn weather quickly upon us, we decided to have a field day for club and spent four hours running between various sports with the kids. As we were playing, a couple older boys jumped into our game of soccer and when one player used a vulgar word in frustration, one of the smallest club kids walked straight up the player and said "that's not allowed... you need to do five push-ups." (a club rule all the kids are aware of.) As I watched this little girl confront the much taller and older guy, I wondered how the smallest of kids can often be the bravest when standing up for what they know is right. So we paused the game, he did his push-ups and then we carried on playing! I doubt a five push-up punishment would have sufficed with Goliath, but throwing rocks is something we don't allow the kids do here. However, a few kids did learn to throw an American football!
Sincerely,
The Kids' Biggest Fan
Dear Joshua,
At both of our youth clubs, battles are not uncommon... thankfully they are only Nerf battles! After watching the kids play round after round and jumping in a couple games, I have learned some battle tactics of my own, but we have yet to try marching around the opposing team's bunker; although, we definitely have shouting and making a loud noise covered with these kids!
Sincerely,
Prepared for the Seventh Day
Dear Timothy,
I love being able to share with these young learners about worship, prayer, and scripture during youth group! It is so exciting to see their friendship grow with the youth group and watch how some begin connecting with God on a personal level. Even though I am 10 years older and a head taller than this group of boys, they let me join in their fun and share with me the newest Pokemon they won or show me funny selfie applications! Sometimes I'm a little behind in the newest craze with these kids, but I enjoy learning from them. Did you ever have to explain a new fad or trend to keep Paul in the loop? Something like, "Hey man, scrolls are so last century... we are all using carrier-pigeons now. ttyl"
Sincerely,
Working with Youth
Dear Nehemiah,
We have our own renovation project going on in Elim as we were offered a building in the center of the city for our youth clubs! You may be impressed to know that I even helped cement a wall. Nothing as great as the walls of Jerusalem, but we are excited for all God is going to do within these walls of our new place! When the youth group gets together to help, it seems we have more hands than tools - so we take a similar approach to what you did in Jerusalem. While half our team is working, the other half is protecting them! Okay, so we're not protecting with spears and shields, but we are holding ladders, cleaning up paint drops, and feeding snacks to our workers. As impressed as I am with 52 days to finish the walls of Jerusalem, I think we might beat your time!
Sincerely,
Moving in!
Friend to daughter: "We're going to pick up Kendra for church today!"
3-year-old: "Why doesn't Kendra take her airplane?"
It's funny to see how some kids ask if I ride my bike to America and others believe I can take the airplane as my main mode of transportation anywhere... even if the drive is only 15 minutes!
Dear Apostle Paul,
I had the chance to go visit some good friends in another city in Czech, and it was such an encouragement to see them and to be a part of their church for the weekend. I can imagine it was the same when you went to visit churches and to receive such encouragement in your ministry as well! I have so much joy knowing that there are teams of missionaries and youth leaders throughout Czech who are also on fire for sharing His love with this nation. I'm looking forward to visiting and seeing my friends again, but I'm also so happy when I return back to Letovice. With all the traveling you did, you must have really stocked up on all those mile discounts!
Sincerely,
Fellow Missionary
Dear Mary Magdalene,
Last weekend, the girls and I read loads of picture books and sang multiple rounds of songs. We are curious what kind of songs you sang when you were a little girl?
Sincerely,
the 4-year-old and the 24-year-old
