Thoughts on the First Week of School
It’s quiet in the mornings Before the student rush The call to prayer […]
20 Questions in Greece – Elizabeth
Elizabeth spent two months of her summer break from college teaching English and helping out with various refugee projects in Athens. She was able to form deep friendships and make great friends. She left part of her heart in Athens with her new refugee friends and family. 20 Questions What keeps you up at night? Things I haven't [...]
Sometimes Pain is the Best Teacher
Creative Teaching Solutions, Iraq Style! One of the major challenges for my students learning English as a second language was vocabulary! When I started teaching 2nd grade Humanities my students couldn’t understand and respond to the simple commands “get a pencil” or “turn to page 5”. Every word seemed like a new word for them to learn. [...]
Taxi Stories from Iraq
Get Lost We went to the mall. We loaded the taxi full of our purchases, realizing too late we couldn’t tell him where we lived. A phone call and lots of wild gesturing occurred before we were on our way. We made it home and gave our driver a great story about crazy American women. [...]
Abundance and Scarcity
By Andy McNeely Today was filled with emotions as so much of the trip has been. Sorrow for the plight of the homeless refugees, joy with our new Syrian friends, and shock at the ability of people to survive. The most recurring emotion I have had over the duration of our trip has been that [...]
Medes Student Says “Thank You”
“Can I come over and just watch how you live? I’d like to know how you guys live.” said Lydia. At the time, we thought it was a weird request from our student, but sure, why not? So she came over and spent at least a good six hours sitting at our big kitchen table just hanging [...]
Hot Dog?
I am a teacher; it’s what I do. For the past several years I have been involved with teaching those who speak English as a learned language. Some of those teaching experiences have been frustrating, some fruitful, but always interesting and many times entertaining! Recently, in Nashville, I was working with two Middle Eastern ladies. The [...]
A 5th Grader’s Fiction from Iraq
The Hilly Adventure (We often field questions about the schools and what the students are like and how good their English is. This was written by a fifth grader at the School of the Medes. It has errors and inconsistencies, but it is a great example of the joyful imagination of our students there.) Ch. 1=The [...]
Nashville, Get Ready!
Helping Christians Prepare to Meet and Love Our Refugee Neighbors When: November 16th, 7-8:30pm Learn how to meet and make friends with a refugee Practice basic greetings and customs Discover more about their faith Learn how to talk about Jesus with people from other cultures Discover how pray and study the Bible together And much more! [...]
Making Lists in Iraq
Upon arriving in Iraq, each family member had assigned jobs. Mine included all things pertaining to the kitchen and to laundry and to cleaning. Sounds easy enough, right? I clearly remember the day we arrived and unpacked our suitcases. Naturally, I found my way to my job---the kitchen. I began to make endless lists of [...]