As a middle school teacher, I hear excuses all day long. Some of them make sense, and some of them are just ludicrous. "I didn't do my homework because my computer wasn't working." "I'm jumping over the desk because he touched me." "I'm spraying water at her because she laughed." "I'm late to class because I haven't been able to get my locker open for three months."
I could give many excuses for why the Nomadic Duos has not been updating their blog in the past month, but I'll spare you and just leave it at: "It's been awhile."
The past month has brought many changes to our lives.
First of all, Lew is extremely thankful to God and to a very generous parent that she now has air conditioning in her classroom. This change has made the school day so much more bearable. And you may ask how much she's needed it since it's now October and almost winter, right? It's October, yes, but it sure doesn't feel like winter to us. The students have started to complain about the cold weather and are wearing winter coats to school. I wonder how they will ever survive once it gets below 80 degrees.
Second, we are now the proud owner of a Suzuki Swift, which we have christened with the name Kenjo. The independence and mobility that this new vehicle offers is awesome. Island exploration, here we come!
Next, we got in the Guinness Book of World Records...well, kind of. We participated in the world's largest tug-of-war contest in downtown Naha (the capital of Okinawa). The event was very interesting and showed us a good glimpse of Okinawan culture. However, although we had fun, we decided that we didn't feel the need to do it again next year since getting trampled by 300,000 sweaty people just to move a giant rope a couple of meters was not really worth it.
One Sunday after church, we went to the northern part of the island to explore a castle ruin from the 1400s and to visit Ocean Expo park. Words cannot describe the incredible tropical fish, sharks, mantarays, and other exotic creatures that we got to see at this aquarium. We will definitely be going back there when guests come to visit us.
Finally, cool ministry opportunities have presented themselves in class and also at Middle School Camp which took place at the beginning of October. Relationships with the students have been deepened, and the gospel has been shared in many different ways. Let me share an example from my Bible class yesterday. Our memory verse this week was John 14:6. After explaining to the students what the verse means when it says that Jesus is the only way to the Father, I asked them to tell me what they would tell someone who considers himself a good person and thinks that he can get to heaven based on his works. One student was almost falling out of his chair in anticipation of answering this question. He very clearly reiterated the gospel to the rest of the students and showed that he understood that Jesus is the way! Continue to pray with us for the students who have heard the gospel but who have not accepted God's grace.
And that's all for now folks.
