If you realized that the title of today's blog is taken directly from a Bollywood movie, then congratulations- you've gotten a gold star! Yes, today's blog is sponsored by Karan Johar- if you don't know who that is, open a new internet window and do a search for him. Pick any movie off of his list, rent it from the local Indian store, put on your reading glasses and enjoy the ride. Don't take my word for it; experience it for yourself!
Anyways... today's title is important for what it means for your two faithful missionaries. We've begun to build our little community here at the school, and it promises to be incredible. All the credit, really, ought to go to Roman for this development, although I have certainly benefited from it.
Basically, we now have an informal "Monday Night Fellowship" that meets in our home every week. Yesterday was our second meeting. We have a meal- Roman cooked last week, and two students cooked this week- and we fellowship together for a few hours before having an intense study session. This is a remarkable thing first of all because not all of our students know each other and are members of other churches. Then we also have many students who are operating on different levels of understanding. To top it all off, Roman and I don't teach together, so many students don't get to hear what I teach and vice versa.
Mondays are great because they break down all of these boundaries. We fellowship together regardless of age and denomination, combine students of several different ability levels, and Roman and I both teach and participate in the instruction. I'll be honest here and say that as much as our students need this oppotunity to learn informally, WE need to opportunity to work together and determine how to best support one another. Ultimately, at the end of the evening we feel fulfilled by the cooperative nature of the class, and more importantly our students are REALLY UNDERSTANDING! They can ask either of us for help, have things explained using different approaches, or just teach each other (which is actually one of the better ways to learn.) We have high hopes for this "program," and I think we have every reason to believe that this might be the key to longevity for the program here.
Speaking of the continuity of this program, I am excited to say that I have a student teacher! My advanced student, Tansy, is really a remarkable student and is fast surpassing the theory she needs to know in order to understand music thoroughly. Because I work one-on-one with her, we are able to make incredible strides in our lesson times. I've talked her at length about slowly transitioning her theory lessons into intensive piano lessons, and then beginning the next trimester with her acting as a student teacher in the beginning theory class. It is my hope that she will be able to serve as an anchor for this program- being the ultimate resource for whomever comes in the following year. This is obviously the answer to a big prayer for us, so I thank you all for the constant remembrance. Please continue to pray for the budding school and these first signs that EMA is not only coming to life but is starting to thrive.
This is just the beginning. I've been here 4 and a half months, and this is JUST the beginning!
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1 comment:
That is so exciting! You are definitely in our prayers!
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