Feels Like the First Time

     And by that I mean it was. Monday of last week was the first night back at Big City English club. It was actually a good evening. We didn't have a big group. I think most people were still in the vacation mode. We had about thirty total.

     It was also the first night in a while where I had the Bible English group. Since we have a few more teachers on Monday than Sunday, I can offer something different for those who want to try it. While David, Nathan, and Andrew or Jesse are off doing the prepared lesson, I'll peel off with whomever is interested into the Blue Room to work through the Bible lesson. There were two people from Big City Church there as well as another Christian. She goes to a different church but has been a regular at the English clubs. We did also have three of unknown faith-background join us.
     The Bible English group is a lot like Bible study. I'm using another Invervarsity Press book to go through Nehemiah. Since this is more of an advanced group, we read the passage first before diving into the vocabulary. Even in the NIV translation, there are a lot of words that the students don't know. So we spend about thirty minutes going over vocabulary. I like this way because they can pick out words they don't understand. It makes them pay closer attention to the words they read.
     After the vocabulary, we usually only have about ten or fifteen minutes for the study questions. I'll try to pick out a few of the best. This week we went through chapter 2 of Nehemiah. The main theme was planning and that seemed to resonate with the students. I'm still learning the process of asking followup or clarification questions. But I'm definitely getting better at it.
     If you're interested in seeing more of the minute-by-minute operations of Big City English, check out Nathan Crane Vlogs on Youtube. He's a missionary kid here who helps out with English on Monday nights but is also doing a vlog series about his life. If you're interested in the life of a missionary family outside the US, it's worth checking out. Below, I linked to his video from last Monday. Skip to 6:50 if you want to see me. I'm in it several times. Nathan got to handle cajon duties for the evening. He plays much better than I do. But I did get to show off one of my tricks during Jenga.

     Sunday saw the return of Liberty English. I was really late (due to a birthday party, totally worth it though) but I was there in time for discussion of the article. Since it was the first time back for Liberty, we were low on attendance. Less than twenty total. I only had four in my group. But that also makes for a better evening on my part. It helps with more personalized help for each of the students. Plus they get to practice more of their speaking skills.
     It was good to see them again after the Christmas break. It finally feels like I'm back into the swing of things. In the groove. Back on the chain gang. Well, maybe not the last one. People I know are back at English club. Language lessons are at the normal times again. And Liberty meetings are happening again.
     Monday night of this week, we met early to pray and prepare for the evening. We haven't had any sushi dinners yet this year but David is keen on doing it again. He asked me yesterday who in the Liberty group I thought would be good to invite. He's talked about doing the sushi dinners with Liberty in the past but we just haven't been able to implement it yet. I think we'll do that soon.
     The Bible English group has become hit-or-miss again. Last year, we had a few good meetings then it became a Christian-only group. Not due to exclusionary policies but more lack of interest. That happened again this week. If that happens again next week, I might split up the group and send them to the other groups. David likes to sprinkle the Big City people in among the discussion groups to give the "Christian" answer to the discussion questions. I'll have to play it by ear to see what the situation is like.
     That brings me up to today. It's cold out there again. We had snow again last night and a little this morning too. I've been using the scarf my dad brought with him to good effect. It helps on days, like today, when I wish I had started to grow a beard. By the way, I don't think I will. Too much maintenance. Alright, I release you to go back to whatever it was that you were going. Thanks for reading and following allow with this adventure.

All the necessary components for studying and writing.