This last week has been a lot of the same, but with a few interesting things to tell you about. First, out of the blue, the teachers at School 42 asked me to give a presentation on...terrorism. Yes, that is correct, terrorism. I guess that being an American makes me an expert, though there is a false ring to that connection. Anyhow I put something together the best I could, but it worked very well that instead of talking for the entire hour, I instead took 15 minutes out at the end to just talk with the students about terrorism related world affairs. The presentation also gave me the opportunity to refer to an old Pastor Wells sermon that I still remember well about Jesus' words, "Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you." These words apply to no other current subject more than terrorism, since as we've seen from the Israeli conflict, hating people just makes you hate people more, and only love as God gives it truly heals wounds. Thus I was able to refer back to this principle many times, whilst giving my opinions on Hillary Clinton :( Barack Obama <=` John McCain (:I) and Mitt Romney >:($), explaining my take on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict (LOVE YOUR ENEMIES), and telling them about the shoe bomber that made us all take our shoes off at airports (what a dumb guy). Oh yes, and in the spirit of my theme, note how much I love Mitt Romney (I have been paying attention folks. And Santana was traded - Boo for greed.)
As for my other activities, I have had some good discussions with some English teachers recently - pray that these conversations would continue and be fruitful. I continue to wait for some sort of opening at the University, so that's another prayer concern. Also, pray for my Russian - I am starting to get conversational though I need a lot of work, since the grammar is really difficult and there aren't very many cognates - I went to buy a clock battery the other day and I apparently cannot tell the difference between "eighty" and "eight" (vosyemdesyat and vosyem), so yeah, I need to practice my listening skills.
I thank so many of you for your heartfelt prayers - a special thanks to all of you for sending your cards all the way over here in Russia. Since mailing things is so complicated, you'll have to settle for me thanking you here and in person when I return this summer, but know that you have been thanked.
Sincerely,
Peter.
P.S. No new pictures, so here's a fun one. This is Vladik, Eric and Liza's son who I look after on occasion. I just taught him how to say 'chair' and 'big ball.' He's awful smart, but I make sure to let him know when he's getting uppity that I still speak English AND Russian better than he does. That's right, Vladik.
1 comment:
Dear Peter,
Just another note to let you know that we are praying for you here in cold St. Paul. One thing we are learning is that it's not so much as what you DO as much as what you ARE that makes the difference.
Sincerely,
Ken and Sharon
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