Thoughts on the First Week of School
It’s quiet in the mornings Before the student rush The call to prayer […]
Visiting the Tomb of Nahum the Prophet
Our team members in Iraq get to visit some really cool historical places that you might not expect. "An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh." ~Nahum 1:1 If you're like us, you probably never really noticed the name of the town Nahum was from. But all of that changes when [...]
New School Renovation
As many of you know, there are several areas that have been reclaimed from ISIS in the last year. There's a lot of renovation to do before people will be willing to return, but so many want the opportunity to go home and rebuild. One of the key factors is providing an education for the [...]
9/11 and My Journey to Iraq
The Towers Fell I was a teenager when the towers fell, the first 9/11. I remember watching it happen on TV and thinking that it all had to be a movie. It couldn’t be real. No way would humans do this to each other. I got caught up in the patriotism that [...]
Encouraged by Jalapenos
Finding Encouragement Sometimes it’s hard to find joy or feel encouraged in a given moment or a given day. Life overseas in a different culture can be hard. Physical comforts are sometimes lacking. Relational support is sometimes lacking. And sometimes it’s simply your own attitude that is lacking. But instead of making a top 10 [...]
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. [...]
How to Order a Pizza
Our work at the center is still going very well. We have had people showing up nearly every day except Friday for English lessons. But today almost no one has appeared because the metro is on strike. I have loved teaching much more than I thought I would, which is good because it is a much larger part [...]
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 [...]