Week 6: Grade 1 Sub & Pizza Night

Bridget, one of the Grade 1 students and Bethesda kids.

The Grade 1 class holding up on their get well soon card, which had butterflies on them.

Greetings from Bethesda!

In terms of my involvement at the school, this was probably my busiest week as I substituted for the first grade all week as their teacher was out with a respiratory illness. It was a lot of work and pretty tiring, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. I am very grateful for the hard work that the Grade 2 teacher, Miss de Clerq, who had to scramble and organize the materials for me when I was going to be teaching since I had no knowledge of the curriculum. I also had some fun times putting on a pizza party for the families on Friday, but I’ll elaborate on that more later. Additionally, I was able to do a lot of shopping for souvenirs for friends and family on Saturday. But first things first: Happy Father’s Day to my dad, Jim Lehe! For the second consecutive year, I’ve managed to be away from home on Father’s Day, but hopefully I can make up for my lack of presence with an abundance of presents :) But in all seriousness, I am grateful for his influence in my life and hope to one day have his work ethic. I know how hard he works because when I work with him, frankly I can’t keep up. I owe a lot to him in how I have turned out. In addition to this, I have been blessed to observe some great fathers here at Bethesda in Fritz, George, Peter, Jack, and Jones. Not only do these men work full time jobs, but many of them are pastors of their churches and they take a very active role in instructing their children in the Lord. They have all followed God here and adopted several children into their families and are giving them a loving home and showing them God’s love constantly. However, I was reminded in church this morning that we have the greatest father we could ever imagine or hope for in God the Father. Even though all of the men I have mentioned are great men, they cannot promise to always be there for their children, but God can. As it says in Deuteronomy 31:6 “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” So today, I thank God for my earthly father, the great examples of fathers here at Bethesda, and my Heavenly Father.

            Looking back on this week in the school, it certainly wasn’t quite what I expected, but it went very well and no, I didn’t make the first graders cry…. too much. Their classroom is adjacent to the grade 4 room and since the upper grades of the school were taking exams, I was pretty vigilant about talking out of turn and the students responded very well to these demands. It also helps that I have gotten to know the students much better now and know how to respond to them more effectively. For example, one girl tends to be a bit dramatic at times and I have learned to recognize her fake crying for attention and her real crying, which are few and far between. I am also blessed that there are only ten students and they are all very well behaved. Nonetheless, I still find myself losing my patience from time to time, which is something I clearly need help in and need to work on. Some of the highlights of the week included making “Get well soon” cards on Thursday for their teacher and Father’s Day cards on Friday. Both of them implemented a limited amount of writing for the students. I would take some ideas from the students and write them on the board so they could get the spelling and everything correct. I thought it was cool how one of the most popular choices was “May the Good Lord bless you.” This was also popular on Friday for the Father’s Day choices. The Father’s Day cards were basically a handwriting worksheet with “Thank you for” as a writing prompt and the things that the kids were thankful for were pretty hilarious. One girl’s paper read “Thank you for buying me toys. Thank you for buying me shoes. Thank you for buying me clothes.” Of course, my personal favorite was by one of the boys. He wrote “Thank you for everything you do for me. Thank you for buying me pizza. Thank you for buying me KFC & McDonalds.” To add the hilarity, he actually spelled KFC “KeFeSe” before I corrected him. Another highlight for me is when I get to read to the class. One of the books I read this week was Who is the Beast? by Keith Baker, which had a repeated line “The beast, the beast” at the start of every other page. I would add a little bit of a suspenseful and scary voice and the kids loved it even though they jumped each time I read it. They are a lot of fun and I know that I will miss them all immensely.

            So I had this idea a little while back that I would try to get pizza for all of the families at Bethesda as a way of saying thank you for welcoming me and everything that they all have done for me. I set up everything to do this on Friday night and we made the order. It was all looking good until we went to pick up the order. The pizza place here puts two normal sized pizzas in a large box so when we order 14 large pizzas, we were meaning 28 pizzas. But the pizza place thought we only wanted 14 pizzas all together, which meant only about two pieces per person. I was really bummed out by this and I unfortunately let it ruin my evening and time of fellowship. Looking back, I think I had good original intentions, but I was definitely looking at it as a way to glorify myself and this definitely reminded me of how fragile and pathetic my glory is. After the pizza time, the guys and I watched The Dark Knight Rises and once again, I fell asleep for most of the movie.

            On Saturday, I went shopping with Tonya and Heather for souvenirs and gifts for friends and family back home. It was a lot of fun and I got some really cool things, but I am always so indecisive since the only person I can effectively buy things for (other than myself) is my mom. Thank goodness that Tonya has a lot of patience! I just hope everything I bought can fit in my suitcase.

            In conclusion, it was a pretty good last full week at Bethesda. It’s weird to think as each day passes that “This is my last [insert day of the week] here.” While I am starting to look forward to going home, I know that I will miss Bethesda and everyone here so much and will probably kick myself for not doing more things with the kids here. Either way, one of my concerns is that I may fall into the mentality of “This is my last week, so that doesn’t really matter.” One of my prayer requests is that I would avoid this temptation and just finish strong. Another one would be for Tonya’s car to be fixed soon and that if it is repaired while she’s in the States, that it would be repaired properly. Lastly, I would ask for prayer for safe travels as Tonya, Heather, and I leave this Friday. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone, but I am thankful for how good has worked in me and given me the opportunity to grow and serve. As always, thanks for reading and have a great day!

In Christ,

Dan Lehe

Week Five and Still Alive:)

I didn't take a lot of pictures this week, but here's some pictures of me with the Sithole children. Here, I am sitting with Junia & Nthando.

Thabiso, who is in Grade 2

Thembi, who is in Grade 4

Greetings from Bethesda!

            Another week has passed here, seemingly faster than the one before it. Before I know it, it will be June 21^st and I’ll be flying home, but there’s still a lot to happen between now and then. This past week saw the Faith BBC & BBC team leave on Thursday afternoon. Although I only joined them on the tail end of their journey across South Africa, I am really glad they came and that I was able to make friends with my brothers and sisters in Christ who reside across America and praise the Lord that they me it home safely. This goodbye was perhaps the hardest of any of the teams that have come here during my stay. However, I am sure that it not be as difficult compared to the goodbye I’ll have to make on the 21^st, but I’m not even going to think about that for now. Things at the school have been going well with some fun times and funny happenings. I also went to an enormous shopping mall in Pretoria on Saturday and just got back from a braai this afternoon. All in all, it was a good week.

            At school, I finished up my remaining lessons in the social studies and natural science. Friday afternoon was a bit of a mad rush to hand back homework assignments and trying to hunt down students who had not turned in their homework. With their exams next week, I wanted to be sure to return their assignments so they could use them to study. It was a little frustrating at the number of students who did not turn in assignments and how I could see that it simply decimated their total grade, but there was nothing I could do about that. As I told last week, I had quite the experience substituting for the Grade 1 class. This past Tuesday, I subbed for their teacher from about 9:30 until the end of the day and I had a much smoother time and I am happy to report that there were many fewer tears. I was much more laid back this time around and used the school’s peg system much more effectively. While more of the kids “moved their peg,” I avoided the tears this time and it was a lot more enjoyable as well. Some of the other highlights of my week included a brief but funny conversation I had with Rebaone, a boy in the 6^th grade who is one of the biggest characters in the school. He asked if I was going to be coming back for their third term. When I informed him that I would be going home after this term finished, he said “No, sir. You must stay.” When I said that I’d want to see my family, his response was “Oh, sir, you can Skype them. You do already, right?” When I told him that I had not Skyped them since I’ve been here, he said “Oh, sir! You must Skype them!” I’m sure that my mom would agree with him:) Some of the other highlights include the review games we have played, Zoink and another game that was a combination of jeopardy and dodge ball with a soft foam ball. Both of these games were a lot of fun and very popular with the students. I hope I can bring these games into my future classroom. Another funny moment was one that was actually relayed to me by Tonya about Rudy, one of the sixth grade boys who lives at Bethesda and whom I truly regard as a friend. He asked Tonya about my Monster Rehab, an energy drink that I enjoy and it is my caffeine source. When Tonya told him that it was like a sports drink with caffeine, his next question was “So, does it have alcohol in it?” Tonya told him that it did not and I guess he was very relieved to hear that.

            On Wednesday night, I had dinner with my next door neighbors, the Sitholes and several team members. George and Florah are a remarkable couple and they have always been so kind to me as their neighbor. It was a lot of fun and I hope we didn’t get their kids too crazy before their bedtime. Friday night was a continuation of the Batman movies from the previous Friday. Since the camp was not going on this time, all of the teenage guys (and those close to that age, with parental permission of course) joined in and we watched The Dark Knight in the team center. Counting myself, there were ten guys total and they really enjoyed the movie. I however followed in the footsteps of my dad and fell asleep for a good deal of the movie. I guess I was the old man of the group so it was fitting that I got a 45 minute nap in during that time. But it was a great time nonetheless.

            Saturday was quite the day for me. I had asked Tonya if it were possible for me to get a haircut because it was getting pretty long and I was starting to resemble my dad (inside joke:) Sorry, Dad!). She, Heather, and Melissa were planning to go to Pretoria to a market on Saturday and they could just drop me off at the mall for several hours. This mall was absolutely huge! Other than the Mall of America in Minneapolis, I have never been to a larger shopping mall. I got my hair cut at this place that I think only black people went to because I was the only white person in there. But they gave me tea & biscuits and my hair was shampooed and everything, which I am certainly not used to. The guy who cut my hair was named Felix and he was from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One thing I noticed about him was that he had a small swastika tattooed on his forearm, which was really perplexing, but I wasn’t about to ask about it. I know the swastika was not exclusively used by the Nazis, but I still found it odd nonetheless. For lunch, I saw that they had a KFC, which I couldn’t pass up. But they had a South African chicken restaurant, Licken Chicken, nearby. So I got popcorn chicken from both places, pulled out my iPod, played one of my favorite songs, “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band, and enjoyed my meal. And quite frankly, it was no contest – KFC was much better. While the mall was quite impressive, at the end of the day, I only spent money on my haircut and food and drinks. But I couldn’t help think of the enormous gap between the luxuries of this mall and some of tin shacks I have seen all over the countryside. I know these differences exist in the US, but I was just struck by the contrast.

            In closing, I would to ask for prayer on several matters. First, the students in grades 4-7 are taking exams this week. Historically, they haven’t always done well, so I would ask for prayer that they would prepare as well as they can and trust in the Lord and have no anxiety while taking the tests. Secondly, the Mixons are heading back to the states on Tuesday so prayer for their safety would be very much appreciated. Additionally, both of the vehicle repairs (Tonya’s & the Mixons’) are still ongoing and it certainly appears that neither will be done before everyone leaves for the states. Finally, I would ask for prayer wisdom in determining what God has in mind for me after graduation. It’s been on my mind a lot of late, but I just want to trust God wherever he takes me and that I would have the faith and strength to follow Him. I would also ask for strength to finish strong here at Bethesda. As it says in Acts 20:24 “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” While my course and ministry should not end as I leave Bethesda, I do not want to slack off and become complacent in my remaining days here. As always, thanks for reading and thank you for your prayers! Have a good one!

In Christ,

Dan Lehe

PS: I hope my awesome sister, Jessica Taylor, had a great birthday yesterday! Miss you, Jess!

Week 4: Making First Graders Cry Like None Other

One of the more fun jobs for the visiting team this week: getting to burn the tall, dry grass. This controlled burning prevents the risk of accidental and much more dangerous fires during the dry winter.

On the way to Tonya & Heather's house, we spotted 11 giraffes! There's only six in this shot, but it was incredible!

Greetings from Bethesda!

I apologize for my delay in posting, although I highly doubt that anyone was chomping at the bit to read my update. My time here is starting to fly by and it is hard to fathom that I have been here over a month now. Nonetheless, I am having a great time here. As I last reported, the Purdue team departed last Sunday, but already another team has arrived. This team is composed of students from Faith Baptist Bible College in Iowa and Baptist Bible College in Pennsylvania and there are 21 people total. These people have been so fun and welcoming to me. Their impact at Bethesda has been nothing short of amazing thus far, but I will tell more about that later. My time in the classroom has been an adventure once again as the title suggests and I am so grateful that I am getting this experience now before my student teaching otherwise I am afraid that I might not do so well. Regardless, I am glad to be serving in the school and in the other various ways that I am employed. I hope and pray that God will continue to stretch me while I am here and that I will not be comfortable with a “good enough” mentality when I serve.

                As I have mentioned before, I am on a rotation where I spend time in almost every grade and am teaching lessons for the older grades. This week, I substitute taught for the Grade 1 teacher on Thursday. I was initially really excited about this opportunity as these students have always enjoyed my presence in the classroom. From the start, I did my best to emphasize that I would be the teacher for the day and that they were to give me the same respect that they give Mrs. Matjeni. Unfortunately, they still thought of me as the fun teacher, which was a gift and a curse simultaneously. Now as a whole and on an individual basis, they are a great class and I look forward to going back into their classroom. But they were very hyper and hard to keep on track in the morning. When we were working on spelling, one of the girls that has always been excited to see me would not stop interrupting me. In hindsight, I probably should have made her “move a peg,” the school’s behavior management/discipline system. Instead, I gave a bit more grace than I should have before I addressed her rather sternly in front of the class. She then more or less shut down until after the lunch time. Consoling her seemed to only make things worse, but I am happy to report that she has warmed up to me once again. Before the first break, we went to line up and all of a sudden, I had another crier. This girl had been shoved by another girl. I actually handled this situation correctly: I asked the other girl if she had shoved her on purpose and indeed, she had. I had her apologize and ask for forgiveness per the school’s procedure. After all of this, I then told her that she had to move” down a peg.” And that’s when she starting bawling. I consoled a little bit, but reminded her that she indeed had deserved to have her peg moved. I had two other criers before the day was out. One girl who said her stomach was bothering her (but was miraculously healed after lunch) and then a boy who forgot his library book at home so he was not going to be able to check out a new one. Interestingly with him, when I informed him that he could not check out a new book, he took the bad news like a champ. But when we returned to class and resumed the math lesson, he had his head down and I saw some tears whenever he raised his head. He’s such a soft spoken little guy that I had to ask another student to come over and interpret what he was saying. When the day was done, five students or half the class had been in tears at some point during the day. While I am sure that part of my troubles are typical of any substitute teacher, I know that I could have handled many things differently and with more wisdom. It was certainly a learning experience for me and while it was not at all enjoyable at the time, I know that it will help me in the long run as a teacher.

               

                Part of the reason I was delayed in getting my blog was the arrival of the team from Faith & BBC on Thursday night. However, I have really enjoyed spending time with them and serving them over the weekend. Since Thursday night, they have been a lot of fun and very friendly to me as I was introduced to them all in a very funny way. John Mixon was introducing the Bethesda staff that was present on Thursday night and when he introduced me, he asked what I had done that day, knowing that I had substituted for the 1^st grade. After I recounted my exploits of the day and the “awwwe”s had subsided, Tonya goes “And tell them how many cried.” I reluctantly answered “5… out of the 10.” Everyone had a good laugh and so now it’s a bit of a recurring joke “Did you make the kids cry today?” Starting Saturday morning, they put on a camp for the teens of Bethesda on leadership and I sat in on a couple of their messages. I must say that they did an incredible job and there are a lot of incredible young men and women on this team. I have also joined them for their evening worship and reflection time. The worship has been particularly great for me as I am reminded with truths such as “All I Have is Christ” amongst many other fantastic worship songs. Their reflecting time was also awesome to hear as they shared some of the things the teens had shared with them. After hearing these, I was convicted in that I often overlook the faith of these students in the course of a school day in favor for the pressing academic agendas and have in some cases failed to recognize it. While I certainly have to accomplish things in class, I know that if I look for it, it will not take much effort to see the students’ love for God which puts my desire for Him to shame. The teens definitely appreciated and were actively participating in their camp activities as Moeletsi and Tumelo both thanked the team at the bonfire on Sunday night. The impact of this camp will be felt in the coming weeks, months, and years at Bethesda and the surrounding areas.

                In addition to my duties at school and my time spent with the team, I have also had a lot of fun with the kids at Bethesda. As usual, I have been tutoring afterschool and that has been going well. It has turned into a social hour at times, but the students who need some extra help are certainly getting it. But other kids who have not come before are now coming to simply hang out, such as Thandiwe (grade 7) and Lethabo (grade 3). I have not worked with either of these girls in the school much, but within the past week, they both apparently warmed up to me. I also started a fun thing with some of the boys that were just under the age limit to attend the camp. With parental permission, I invited Peter, GMS, Gift, and Steve over to my flat on Friday evening to watch Batman Begins, one of my favorite movies. Needless to say, they all loved it and it was a déjà vu feeling for me as I introduced my younger cousins to this movie and its sequels within the past couple of years. Without any teams coming for the remainder of my stay, I foresee more Batman nights with these boys as well as some of the teens who were at the camp, which is fine by me.

                In conclusion, I would like to ask for prayer on several issues. First, the car repairs which await the Mixons and Tonya are still in the works, but we know that God will work it all out in His time. Secondly, there were some changes made at the school during the past week. I do not want to divulge anything that I shouldn’t before they are officially announced, so I simply ask that the teaching staff would continue do their best to teach the students not only the core subjects, but also instruct them to love and follow the Lord. Lastly, I would ask that I would be more intentional with the kids on spiritual things. While it is easy to simply discuss the events of the day or cultural differences or whatever flavor of the week topic, I know that my faith will be bolstered by them and hopefully it can be the iron sharpening iron that Proverbs talks about. As always, thanks for reading and thank you for your prayers! Take care and have a great day!

In Christ,

Dan Lehe