I HAVE STUDENTS!!!!
It’s a done deal…I’ve met the students
and I’m now “very committed” to the work ahead.
There’s no turning back. And so I
will press on to the high calling from God (smile).
What a beautiful group of young
adults. There are only sixteen students
this semester. I have eight of them in
my Worship and Music Basics class. These
are the second and third year students (in a three-year degree program at
Durban Bible College). I have the eight
first-year students for my Music Fundamentals course. And then I get all sixteen students for
choir!
I had only seven students for my first
class…but the missing student came by my office today to get the materials he
missed yesterday. The most difficult
part of this teaching assignment will be learning the names of my
students. They have names that start
with or include letter combinations that make sounds we don’t have in American
names. One of the sounds puts the tongue
behind the front teeth…sort of the sound we make to call the dog or cat. Another sound is a “click” at the back of the
mouth…a distinctive click. It’s
interesting listening to local radio and hearing the clicks. If I heard it at home I’d think something was
wrong with the station.
These students are very mature in their
knowledge of the Bible. I asked them
yesterday to write a definition of “worship” so I’d have an idea where we were
starting. They all gave me permission to
share their definitions:
v
“Worship is to
tell God who He is. To give praise to
Him.”
v
“To glorify and
praise the name of God. To bring honor
to this sovereign King of Kings. Also to
give thanks for what God has done in your life and for what He is going to
do. Basically to magnify His name."
v
“Worship – to honor
God in our lives through obeying him through songs, praise, giving. Our whole lives should be an act of worship.”
v
“Worship is
everything that we do and the lifestyle we live that brings glory to God.”
v
“Worship is
acknowledging him as God in all his greatness and attributes, just to praise
him for who he is and what he means to our lives. Worship is honoring God.”
v
“Worship is a lifestyle
where a person or thing is created to honor and respect something or someone.”
v
“Worship – is giving
God all the glory, telling Him who He is and appreciating Him as God not asking
anything from Him but telling Him how great God is.”
As you can see, we’re starting in a very
strong place. Ron Owens, in his book “Return
to Worship: A God-centered Approach” says that we do not worship God because we
do not KNOW God. To that end, tomorrow
we’ll be studying twelve names of God that reveal His character and
attributes. I learned a new name in my
studies…Jehovah-Gomlah. I let you look
for the meaning if you’re interested (smile).
The first year students were
delightfully friendly and we had a good time in our first fundamentals
class. I’d been clued in ahead of time
that “rhythm” was an issue, so we practiced some clapping/echoing and had a few
laughs with that. We also chanted the
nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” and I showed them that they were speaking in
rhythm. The rhythm actually helps us to
remember the words…just as it does in music.
They seemed to enjoy the class.
We’re keeping it sort of low-tone because it’s not a graded course…just
a pass/fail course. There only
requirements are to attend and participate…makes my job easy.
CHOIR!!!
What a delightful surprise today.
I had a sneak preview yesterday morning during devotionals when they
sang an acapella tune and I could hear beautiful harmony. There are 13 guys and 5 girls…and I have to
say the guys are wonderful singers. The
majority of the guys are South African.
They quickly picked up on rhythm and were adding drum taps on top of the
desks to the music I introduced them to today.
But personally, I have to say, the highlight came when I introduced a
simple chorus I’d written for them to try and they caught on immediately and
turned it into something really special.
I had hoped it might sound “good”…they made it sound “wonderful”! As a musician, it was sort of a personal
moment of pride – gasp. I asked God to
forgive me later. I know Who gave me the
words and Who put the music in me. I
want Him to receive the glory. I’m
hoping we can perform this chorus as part of their Missions Conference next
month…with drums…and maybe guitar. We’ll
be recording it and filming it and can hopefully share it with everyone.
So these first two days have truly been
a blessing. I’m feeling a little like
slipping from the frying pan into the fire…there was so much to do to prepare…and
there’s still so much new to do. Grading
sheets…matrixes for grading…study guides to help hone out the important
materials from all that’s being shared so that testing won’t be a work of
futility. But I feel like the students
are willing to show grace and allow me to adjust…and that’s a blessing.
I also need to say what a blessing it is
to be back with Sundrum and Marilyn Thomas.
He is the head of DBC and she works in the office. I love working with joyful people, and they
are both joyful people. South Africa is
a lot more “laid-back” than America.
Grace and mercy abound here.
There’s a lot of encouragement and a lot of smiles.
This morning one of the students shared
a devotional from John 13 referring to Christ washing the disciple’s feet. He used the verse just prior to the event to
share that Jesus knew what His purpose was…Who sent Him…and where He was
going. He challenged us to not “guess”
whether we’re doing what we’re called to do, but to KNOW that we’re called, to
know WHO called us…and to know WHO we’ll be accountable to. It was a wonderful devotion. Every day starts with devotions, led mostly
by the 3rd-year students. I
love hearing young men preaching God’s Word faithful and handling it properly,
so these morning devotions are a daily blessing for me.
Yesterday after school Marcie took us to
see Ashby and Pearl and their daughters…Abby (8) and Sneha (5). These two precious children will be coming to
speak to Marcie’s “Child Development” class tomorrow. They “practiced” for us in their home and it
was amazing to hear how clearly and decisively they are able to share the Good
News using the “wordless book”. They
quoted Scriptures…sang “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”…they are serious
about sharing God’s love with others.
They both testified that they’ve witnessed to friends…friends who are
Hindu and Muslim. What an incredible
blessing to see the work these parents have done with their daughters…future
missionaries I’m sure.
As you can see, our adventure has been a
blessing. It’s not easy rising before
dawn…it’s dark here at 6:00 a.m. We
leave for school by 7:15…but we’re home relatively early each day (3:00ish). We’re enjoying the fellowship and the Bible
study. Dan’s repaired and cleaned some
windows and put together some chairs that needed tending to…he’s finding ways
to be a blessing every day. Today the
students seemed to really appreciate when he sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
during choir. I wanted the students to
get an example of “dynamics” because I’d been told they just knew one dynamic…loud. Dan was a wonderful source for this exercise.
We appreciate your prayers…we are living
very blessed lives right now. I miss my
children and grandchildren and enjoy “Skyping” with them on the weekends, but
it’s just not the same as those hugs and kisses. I’m glad for the busy days that help with the
homesickness. Thank you all for loving
us, encouraging us and praying for us.
We truly believe God brought us here and we look forward to returning
with wonderful stories of His work in us, around us and through us!
Laurie, I am enjoying following your reports and this one is great. I love hearing about your students and knowing that there are young people so far away who are so excited about worshiping and music. I look forward to that video. You make me wish I was there to here them. I would have loved to here Dan sing, too.
ReplyDeleteI think one of my favorite things to do is study about the names and character of God. And by the way, it is spelled Jehovah-Gmolah in my books and I know what it means!
Love you. Jan