Whew, today has been really busy:-)!
This morning I got up kind of late and had to rush to get to the church where we met on time. Once there we prepared for our day and then headed to a local elementary school which has a great relationship with my friends here. We put on a skit teaching about peer pressure and then went by twos to individual classrooms to tell about America. It was good but a little stressful since neither my partner or I have much experience in an elementary school classroom.
After the classes we went to lunch and recess with the kids. I had a following of year 5 girls, who were quite a bit cooler than me, talking about their favorite designers, celebrities, and cars. They were super-sweet. I have pictures but am not sure if I should post them, so I’ll check and maybe put them up tomorrow. We’ll be going back to the school then.
After being at the school we met with a local Muslim woman and had a wonderful conversation about holy books, true faith, and issues of modesty and women’s dress. We Christians have quite a bit to learn from Muslims as we seek to honor God. Let me know if you’d like to talk more about what I mean by that.
Then we went to a local Madrasa, or Muslim school which children attend after school. It was great to meet some of the teachers.
Our dinner tonight kept the inter-faith dialog going. Bob and Kathryn invited some local Muslim men and women to join us at a nice restaurant for an “evening of sharing.” It was great to get to talk about some serious Muslim/Christian issues today with Muslims who take their faith seriously.
When I got home I got to spend some quality time with my host family. They are really wonderful.
There is the update! I wanted to note on here that I’m sorry my updates tend to be sterile. There is much more going on in my activities and what I am learning, thinking, and feeling, but because of the time constraints I’m under and out of concern for the privacy of those I’m traveling with and to, I would rather not post too much detailed information in this public forum. I hope that, if anyone wants to follow my trip, this at least gives a good basic understanding of what is going on. But if you would like to know more just ask… I’d be happy to fill you in on the other stuff!
