Work Works and Hope Changes Us (LGH)

The end of the year is most definitely in sight. Most of me wishes it was already passed just like all of you back home in Chambersburg. In any case, one week from today I will be sleeping in and recovering from the final push of the semester.

The final push of the semester however, has been a memorable one, definitely worth all the effort. Our trip to Rancho de Popy last month was great. The kids enjoyed the activities and are looking forward to a return next year. My favorite part of the camp was the day we got to do the high ropes course. My role as cheerleader to the students who were scared to keep going, reminded me of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, cheering us on and encouraging us to just take the next step and focus on the task at hand.

One day, about 3 weeks ago, our morning devotions took an interesting turn. We were reading from "Jesus Calling for Kids" and the passage had to do with blessing. God blesses us in order that we bless others, that we let the blessing spill out into the lives of others. It talked about how we have so much, but that there are parts of the world where there is not enough food or water. One of my students at that point raised her hand and commented, "But Ms. Shadle, water never runs out." This is when the conversation took its turn. I was able to share with them about how in parts of the world there is not enough food or water. How in parts of Africa kids have to walk for hours each day to get water for their families and the ramifications of that. I told them about the book "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park (a great book by the way). We talked about building wells and helping people create jobs for themselves. This lead to talking about Light Gives Heat and their documentary, Moving On, that shows how creating jobs is better than charity (Work Works) and that hope changes us. Naturally, my students instantly wanted to see the documentary. Living in Argentina however, made it difficult to come by the DVD. I was able to contact the people at LGH and they made it possible for me to show the documentary to my students.

It was a blessing to us and it was great to watch the eyes of my students be opened to other realities around the world. They were so impacted by what they saw that they took action by participating in our own school's outreach program (in which all year we had ashamedly become apathetic). The month of May was collecting clothes to give to 2 children's homes that we support as a student body. While this is still on the charity side of things, it is the first step in taking action and stepping outside of oneself. I was so proud of my students when we challenged each other to go home for the weekend and clean out our closets. Each student returned with at least 1 bag full of clothes, one even needed help bringing in 2 garbage bags stuffed with clothes to give away. On Monday, we will have a jeans day as a reward for bringing in the most amount of clothes during the month. The kids know that the prize is not the reason to bring in the clothes, but it was definitely an encouragement to them when they won the contest for the month. I now pray that the things we saw and talked about stick with them for the rest of their lives and that the seeds take root and grow as they grow into teenagers and young adults.

Finally, on a completely different note, I am pleased to announce that the BAICA 2012-13 Yearbook has been finished and was successfully distributed this past week. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved and I am looking forward to an even better yearbook next year now that we have one under our belts.

And now, to finish the semester well. This will be the hardest week of the entire year because with the end comes several difficult goodbyes. But as I have learned since living abroad, the difficult goodbyes also come with many wonderful hellos. So for now, goodbye/hello.

-Kait