Thursday, October 28, 2010

Llego Baby Dayem!

Back in September, I posted about a baby shower for some friends, Damien and Suyapa. Just wanted to update and let everyone know that on October 16, baby Dayem arrived weighing in at a whopping 9.5lbs! Everyone is adjusting nicely, but be in prayer for Suyapa not only as she heals from the C-Section but as she is missing her family and friends back in Honduras.

Here are some pictures that were taken when we went to see the new family in the hospital...

Baby Dayem just hours after being born

Proud Daddy Damien

Baby Dayem with Tia Cristina (Aunt Christine)



Friday, October 22, 2010

Thou Shalt Not Fear...

As children, many of us often have irrational fears. You know, those 'things' that made you feel all awkward and nervous on the inside... Those 'things' that made you cringe and do everything in your power to avoid... Those 'things' that you would have never confessed outloud cause you would have felt ridiculous. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

I'm going to risk the ridicule to let you all know how the Lord placed my 'irrational fear' in a new light this week. The following is a picture of my former fear:



"THE BIBLE?!?! Christine, you LOVE the Bible. It's chalk-full of words of life and freedom and redemption and grace and mercy and hope! The Bible was your irrational fear?"

No. It's not the Bible. It's that little emblem in the bottom right hand corner. That's the mark of the Gideon.

"GIDEONS! Christine, you were afraid of the Gideons?!?!"

Go ahead. Ridicule. Then listen to my story.

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, and even up until the time I was in college, I associated the Gideons with all kinds of feelings of guilt. As soon as I would spot one, WACKO thoughts began to run through my head. Here are some examples:

"Oh no. He's gonna give her that Bible. The last time she got one, I saw her make a mockery out of it and then rip it up into a bunch of pieces."

"Gasp! Don't give him one either. He threw his last one in the trashcan. He doesn't understand it's the Word of God!"

"Uh oh. I'm getting closer. What do I do, WHAT DO I DO? If I don't take it, he's gonna think I'm not a Christian. If I do take it, it means I'm gonna have yet another one to dust around. Ugh...head down, don't make eye contact."

One time, at MTSU, I even went so far as to walk all the way around the courtyard to avoid the one in front of the Keathly University Center.

I'm a nut. I know.

Now, stay with me as I tell you about how God turned my irrational fear into complete and utter thankfulness this week.

I mentioned in last week's blog that I desire for my students to grasp the greatness of Scripture and carry it in their hearts as a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path.

This week, we focused on 1 Corinthians 6:20. It reads as such, "You were bought for a price. For this reason, honor God with your body." We talked about the price that was paid being the blood of Jesus and to show that we are thankful, we should live lives that bring God honor (taking care of ourselves, being careful what goes in/comes out of our bodies, etc.) 

My 4th graders were especially pumped on Wednesday, and within the first 10 minutes of class, we'd already had our own little worship service! The rest of our time together went well, and then the bell rang to dismiss them for the day and we said our goodbyes.

Most of them left my classroom, but I noticed two girls had stayed behind. I went ahead and began erasing the board. One of the girls, Elianne, said, "Teacher, don't erase the verse. Genesis is looking for it in her Bible." When I turned aound, Genesis had out her little navy blue, tattered and worn New Testament (in espanol) and guess what was in the bottom right hand corner...




Yep, sure was.

And that Bible was PRECIOUS to Genisis. I could tell in the way she tenderly held it and then cautiously turned the thin little pages. It wasn't just another one for her to add to her collection or another one for her to dust around. This was her Bible, and she was thankful for it.

She also understood it's power. She said, "Teacher, help me find this verse. I want to know where it is so I can learn it really well."

Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus for Your Word and for the Gideons who have made it their mission to share Your Word with the world!

And thanks for ridding me of my irrational fear :o) 


Saturday, October 16, 2010

About 15% of the student population at Ciudad de Luz comes from Christian homes. Know what that means? The majority of my students are getting their spiritual grub at school. Know what that means? When it comes to grub delivery, I've been entrusted as a waitress for about 70 kids Monday-Friday from 2pm-6pm. I MUST be intentional with the time I've been given with these babies...

I started out teaching them what I call the "Jesus Song." It's a chant we sing at the beginning of every class to get them pumped up and to do a little praisin'. Here's a clip of my 3rd graders gettin' their worship on:


We started with this, and once they got the hang of it, we added a prayer time to the beginning of class routine. I ask for volunteers to pray, and before I even finish my sentence, hands are up and kids are  begging, "Me! Me! Teacher! Teaher! I want to pray! Let me say the prayer!" They are so hungry for Him.

This week we've added a memory verse of the week. The idea is to pick one that goes along with the subject of the week and recite/memorize after we sing the "Jesus Song." Our topic this week was Parts of the Head and our verse was Luke 12:7



(...God knows how many hairs you have. For this reason, don't be afraid! You all are more valuable than many birds.)

We talked about how even though we know how many eyes, noses, mouth, and ears we have, only God knows the number of hairs on our heads...and that's because He knows us! They ate it up, and by the end of the week, most of them could at least paraphrase it. It's my hope that they will understand the power of Scripture and hide it's words in their hearts.

Here are a couple of pictures of them with the art project we did to reinforce the topic:





Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Caco de Chivo

Many of you have commented on my Facebook status from yesterday, (Christine Kitts cooked a goat head today!), so I thought I'd post a few pics and give a little more explanation...


 
First, you start with the goat head. After being boiled, the meat was removed and then chopped into small pieces.

Next, it was mixed in with a sazon (seasoning) of all kinds of good things...onion, green pepper, vinegar, garlic just to name a few.



While we let this cook down, we fried up some yellow plantains.
 
 


And the finished product! They made me take so much food, and when I ate less than half because it was more than I could hold, they teased me saying, "If it's not good, it's your fault cause you're the one who made it!"



This last picture is of me with my teacher, Yohaira (Yo-hi-ra). She was born and raised in Monte Cristi and has a wealth of cooking knowledge that she's more than willing to pass along. She's gonna make me una cocinera buena (a good cook)!





Thursday, October 7, 2010

Mr. Cubo


Meet Mr. Cubo (pronounced KOO-boe). He's my washing machine, and together, we tackled my darks this morning and accomplished this:


Hand washing all these clothes was exhausting yet satisfying. There was definately a time in my life when I would have complained the whole way through, but today, I just felt so truly thankful for everything that made washing these clothes possible...money to buy Mr. Cubo, running water, laundry detergent, arms to do the work, the breeze that the Lord sent to let the clothes dry, etc., etc., etc.

Jesus has filled my heart with great joy :o)


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Dream Big...Esperanza (Hope)


This is my sister-friend, Heather. She was my roomie for the past year as we served alongside one another in the Dominican Republic. The Lord has given her a crazy dream to bring hope in Him to the women, men, and children affected by sex-trafficking/prostitution here in the D.R.

She will be leaving in January for a 4 month long mission trip where she will spend a month in Thailand, Cambodia, India, and the States. During that time, she will be learning from and ministering with individuals and organizations who share her passion.

Click where it says Heather's Blog to learn more about her dream and how you can be involved:

Heather's Blog