Dipuo looking into my flat while other kids play outside.
The Purdue team with the church family at Bo Plaas Baptist Church.
Greetings
from Bethesda!
When I reflect upon my time, it
feels as though I am constantly thinking “What a week!” And this one was no certainly
exception. As I mentioned last week, several members of the Purdue women’s
basketball team and several coaches and team staff as a part of FCA (Fellowship
of Christian Athletes) under Marty Dittmar arrived on Friday the 17th.
It has been a great week with them here from many perspectives. They have done
an excellent job working on their projects, bonded with kids of Bethesda, and
been a spiritual encouragement to all and especially to myself and it was difficult
to say goodbye this afternoon. My time at the school has been going well, while
still a challenge but nothing overwhelming. In addition to my school and
tutoring responsibilities, I was also blessed to go along with the team on a
game drive, to a boma braai (a South African cookout), and to one of the most glorious
restaurants in the world, Carnivores. To wrap up the week, there was a Sports
Day at the school, a pizza night on Friday, and we went to Warmbaths, which was
basically a resort along with some other fun things to do. This is only my
third full week here, but the days are starting to fly by as the halfway point
of my trip nears. Nonetheless, I am really grateful that God brought me here
this summer and all how I am able to serve Him through my work here at Bethesda
and in the school, while gaining invaluable teaching experience that will pay
dividends in the broad spectrum of things.
To begin, this Purdue team was
very special to say the least. While I did not join them during the day due to
my school responsibilities, they were able to accomplish so much in a
surprisingly small amount of time. They painted many of the light posts and
other outdoor equipment here along with the basketball court. Marty said after
the first day that this group accomplish just as much, if not more than any
group he had brought to Bethesda before. But their impact was not limited to
their service. They bonded with the kids and were so fun and friendly to
everyone, including myself. I was unsure on how much I should try to be around
them, but I was able to join them on many of their fun activities and for their
group devotional time almost every evening. While the fun times were great, I
know that I will miss the group devotions more than anything. They were all so welcoming
and inviting to me and I am so grateful for them all. Even though we all came
from the same university in the small town of West Lafayette, I only knew two
people on the team before the trip: Marty and Kirstin Ross, a manager for the
team who I went to high school with. While I was able to get to know both of
them better, I was able to build relationships with everyone else as well. I am
also very thankful that I was able to get to know Marty on a much deeper level
than I had previously and see him in action during the times that he spoke and
taught. He truly is a great man of God and I was blessed to spend time with him
(and get fake tattoos with him as well:)
At the school, this week was
more relaxed for the most part and I didn’t feel like a chicken running around
with its head chopped off as much. The week started a little rough as I made
some mistakes in my social studies lesson for the 6th grade. Apparently
some of the students had missed their lunch due to clean up for an art project on
the previous Friday and they asked if they could have their lunch during class.
Thinking of this as an opportunity to become well-liked and not realizing the
potential distractions, I allowed them to eat their lunch quietly in class. While
these students were not particularly noisy, several times I would get going and
a hand would go up and I would call on them only to be asked “Can I throw this
away?” This then led other students to be disruptive or asked random and
completely irrelevant questions. I know that I was definitely frustrated and I did
not handle the situation properly as I was very harsh with several students. I
recognized my blunder afterwards and before the next lesson, I acknowledged my
mistake to the class and asked for their forgiveness while still asking them to
be more respectful to me. They definitely responded and the next class went
much smoother. I have been teaching all of the social studies for grades 4-7 as
well as the nature science for the 5th grade and have been helping
with math in grades 1 & 3. Currently, I think the students think of me as
the “cool” teacher. Whenever I walk into the first grade classroom, almost all
of the students go “Yes!” and I noticed that the third graders did this as
well. I have to say that I am enjoying working with the younger students a lot
more than I anticipated. The teachers for these grades have not asked me to
prepare lesson plans (which may or may not be a big reason I have enjoyed
working with these gradesJ),
but have asked me to teach on several occasions. I have definitely enjoyed my
time in the school and in tutoring the students after school. It may seem odd,
but I have also enjoyed helping the other teachers mark (their word for
grading) assignments and make copies. As with teachers in the States, they
almost always feel guilty asking me, but I am happy to do it as it is simple
work and it gives me the opportunity to serve them.
On Friday, the school had a
Sports Day since the Purdue team was here and it was a blast for students and
staff alike. I was in charge of the throwing station. For grades R-3, I had the
students work on the softball toss and Frisbee throwing and the older grades
tried out shot put, discus, and javelin. It was a lot of fun, but challenging
trying to teach students everything I learned in three years of throwing into
twenty minutes. Regardless, it was a fun day and throwing the softball to
demonstrate for the younger students was great as their jaws dropped when they
saw how far I would throw it (I was a bit surprised too, but it was nothing worth
writing home about). The current players, Courtney Moses, Torrie Thornton, and April Wilson, all shared some Scripture and a challenge to the students, all of which were very good and refreshing to hear. We then led the kids in singing "Hail Purdue." Purdue now has a solid fan base in South Africa:) The day ended by a
team and teachers versus the students game of kickball. One thing that I can
never get over about South African kids is that their feet coordination is
superb due to the constant presence of soccer, but their hand-eye coordination
is lacking because of this. So in kickball, they could kick it, but they could
not catch or pass the ball very effectively. It was pretty funny to watch, but
a good time was had by all.
As mentioned, I accompanied the
Purdue on several of the more fun events. On the game drive on Wednesday, we
saw giraffes (some were running which were really cool to watch), impala, kudu,
warthog, wildebeest, ostrich, rhino, and zebra. During the drive, I learned
several things about the giraffes that I couldn’t help but think of how wise of
a Creator that God is. First off, they only sleep about 25 minutes a day since
they are almost always on the lookout for predators, but they are perfectly
rested with that small amount of sleep. Secondly, when giraffes are born, the
mother is still standing and the baby giraffe simply falls to the ground. But
the impact from the fall helps start the baby giraffe’s heart start beating
independently. How cool is that! Following the games drive, we had a boma
braai, which featured some delicious steak, sausage, and chicken. The next day,
we went to Carnivores, the greatest restaurant on earth (second only to my personal
favorite, Penn Station). While we were there, I tried the standard pork, chicken,
and lamb and several game meats, such as zebra, kudu, hartebeest, impala, and
crocodile. And honestly, I liked them all! Friday night, the team had a pizza
night with the older kids of Bethesda, which I oversaw since Lois and John Mixon
were off taking care of some things. We actually made a “Harlem Shake” video
with the kids. It was a great night for everyone and the video turned out
fantastically! Saturday was the day we went to Warmbaths, one of the nicest
resorts I have ever been to. I honestly felt guilty at how nice it was, but it
really was not expensive. It was very relaxing and enjoyable and I think I was
actually tanned a bit. Most of the group went on a horseback ride, which was
quite an experience. I had never ridden a horse before despite working with
them for years. It was very cool riding through the bush like we did. I can say
that I definitely have a much greater respect for my cousins and aunt who ride their
horses very often. To end the day, we watched rugby while we ate dinner at a
restaurant. It was definitely the most touristy week I had or will have here,
but it was very enjoyable and I still spent a lot of time working at the school
and in tutoring.
To conclude, I have several requests
that need prayer. First and foremost, on the way back from Carnivores, an
animal (everyone who saw it swore it was a small lion) darted out in front of
Lois, who was driving her and John’s SUV. Everyone was ok and while the damage
to the car was not catastrophic, it did cause antifreeze to leak. They are
currently without a car and will be without one from quite a while most likely.
Car repairs tend to take a while here as they have to ship all the parts here. The
sooner their car can be repaired, the better, but the Lord should definitely be
praised as no one was hurt in the accident. The same request can actually be
made for Tonya Small and her car as well due the accident she was in several
weeks ago. Secondly, please pray for safety for the Purdue team as they head
back home tonight and tomorrow. Lastly, I would ask for wisdom for myself in
dealing with the students in God-honoring manner and for wisdom in my future
decisions regarding post-graduation plans, which have been on my mind a lot of
late. Thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers! Take care and have
a great day!
In Christ,
Dan Lehe
PS: Happy
Birthday to the best brother-in-law in the world, Blake Taylor!
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