Hana Sensei to Miss Hannah

"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes!"
"Father Abraham had many sons... many sons had Father Abraham!"
"Old McDonald had a farm... and on that farm he had a DUCK!"

I feel 15 years younger as I've sung old songs, done finger paints, and played heads-up-7-up. I chuckle when I realized 3 weeks ago I was in Brazil being called "Hana Sensei," the Japanese way, and now I'm actually in Japan being called "Miss Hannah." I just began my second group of students today in the English in Action summer program here at Okinawa Christian School International (OCSI), and let's just say, I can't thank God enough for the weekend! OCSI has been doing this program for many many years now, but when it was struggling last year, an ESL company, DUO, asked if they could help out in advertising. So thanks to DUO, the program was promoted very well, flying in most of our students from Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto. But that required us to scramble around for harder lesson plans and academics over just crafts and songs! We had everything from kids who couldn't say "hello" to kids who went to American school! And why were they here? I don't know... but as I've learned in my TESOL classes... flexibility is key!!

You know how your always hear that Asian students are behaved respect their teacher? Well, I learned this week that I was very very wrong! This kids were insane! We had the ADHD kid, the group of four rascal boys who got time outs every hour, the smarty-pants girl, the angry chubby boy... you name it! Katie and I learned a lot of lessons last week about teaching, so today we started the week on a much more serious note with straight up English and rules. I think they're scared of us this week. Now, I miss the craziness!

Anyway, all said and done, I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the Gospel being shared. It's been so cool having the opportunity to directly share the Gospel with these children and see a genuine interest in their faces. My favorite moments are after the Daniel video when the four rascal boys couldn't stop saying "Wow! God is awesome!!" or when the kids didn't want to stop reading the illustrated Bibles we gave them. 11 children gave their lives to Christ, so pray that that decision develop over their years. I know that they don't completely understand the concept, but Katie and I pray everyday that they would bring that interest into their homes and somehow begin the process of salvation in that house.

I'm reminded of Hiroko in Brasilia. She told me that when she as a little girl growing up in Ehime prefecture, she attended a Christin kindergarten held in an old Shinto temple. She said that she vividly remembers all the Christian principles that were taught by her teachers and she is confident that those are strong seeds that developed into her current self. Please pray that Katie and I would take every opportunity to mention Christ and the power of God, and that those small comments would stay vivid in these childrens' minds as they grow older. These 3 weeks could make a greater impact than I know!

Thanks to Ellysa, our great helper, here's a stack of shots of the 800 she took for me...

I'd like to give some awards to my students..


The princess award to Rena - so beautiful! Like a Japanese doll!

Mizuki gets the Smiley Award. She was the girl sobbing and hiding behind legs as she walked in for her first day, but was laughing and smiling an hour later.

"I'm a HE" award to Mitea: Considering "her" long flowy hair, girly name, and cute face, no one figured out that HE was a boy until Thursday. I didn't know what to do when I went to their beach party on Friday and watched all the kids point a Mitea in his swim trunks saying "You ARE a boy!!!"

The Cute-as-a-Button award to Taiga. Flowers from little boys are the best!

The ADHD award goes to Takumi. This is the kid that spins in circles while everyone else is singing Old McDonald. The crazy thing is he was one our best students. He was, surprisingly, my favorite!



Making salvation bracelets

Paint prints

The helpers judging the speech contests for the advanced students

Let's pray. Repeat after me.. "Dear God..." "Dia gud..."

Animal flash cards

Miss Katie doin' her thing

Miss Hannah doin' her thing

We attempted sugar cookies!

Family portraits

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Week one!

OCSI - this is taken from the 4th floor of my apartment building! I know...

Please continue to keep Okinawa in your prayers. Compared to the main island, Okinawa is a completely different culture. In fact, the people don't like to be called "Japanese" but rather, specifically "Okinawan." If you know your American history, Okinawa was American property for a long time during the war, so today, there's military bases ALL OVER the island. Before that, China owned it. Therefore, Okinawa is rich in mixed culture. The generation speaks a completely different language and this goes for the religion also. The people here are much more aware of the spiritual realm as opposed to the main islands that are very materialistic. The picture above is good example: Those statues are Shi Shi dogs placed at the entrance of almost every household. They are supposed to be a protection from evil spirits and a welcome to good. Well.. I don't know if any of those spirits are good.. But the good thing is of all the prefectures in Japan, Okinawa is the most evangelized (20%), probably because of the great American influence. The people here are very very laid back, I think I would be too if the beach was right around the corner!



Miss you all! Have a great week!