International

Short story about God's work in Bolivia:


Just today I began to realize what it means that I taught at an international school this year.  One of my students who is half Korean and half Bolivian and his Korean mom took me out for lunch.  His mom is a missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship here in Bolivia, and our lunch was delightful.  We ate lots of meat, and a waiter in a vest came and poured sparkling water into my glass.  We chatted about the weather, our plans, and the previous school year.  


True to Bolivian custom, we didn't actually start talking until we had finished our meal and had only a Coca-Cola in front of us.  Then, my student's mom started telling me her testimony.  Raised in Korea, Borneo, and Bolivia, her story starts with a Buddhist grandfather who was highly respected for having many wives and lost his fortune supporting his many children.  Her grandmother beat her because she ate bread that a missionary once gave her.  She went to VBS in Borneo, but didn't begin to trust God until a Bolivian Catholic priest shared the gospel with her.  


Cross-cultural, common thread.  God's word followed her through three countries and all kinds of religions and cultures.  I have been filled with joy in the way God works.  I am seeing how teaching this year has prepared me more to continue to do God's work of sharing His good news with the nations.

Coming Back

School got out a week ago last Wednesday, and I have pretty much taken a break since then. Sure, I’ve applied for jobs, cleaned out my classroom, and spent time with the girls I discipled this year, but mainly I:

 

- read Mansfield Park

- spent time with Heather

- hung out with other teachers

- hung out with some teachers

- visited some orphanages

I have not written in my blog since the night school got out.  Maybe it was a mental block, maybe it was laziness, I don’t know.

 

However, after finding out that my grandma passed away on Saturday, I decided that writing helps me process, and I need to get back to blogging. I’m still finding it hard to write, so I thought I’d just start with some pictures.

This is the final social studies project my students did—Highlights of the Western Hemisphere

 

Graduation!  I met for discipleship with the two girls on the top.  Bottom left is my student with his graduating sister.  Bottom right has David who went to Arrowhead last year and Steven who goes to my church.

 

Bolivian Mother’s Day celebration at my church.  Special performances, a MARIACHI band, two good friends, and the cakes that Heather and I were in charge of making.

 

Well, I hope that posts will be coming much more frequently from now on.  Later this week teams will be coming from the US, and I’ll be with them until the middle of July.  Expect twice-weekly updates!

Praying for the Last Three Days

Three days.  That’s all I have left.  Then I’m done being “Mees” forever.  I’m pretty nervous about the last few days because 1) I am going as crazy as my kids are 2) I have so much to do 3) I’m nervous to face parents and administration at the end of the year saying, “Well, I didn’t know a thing.  I gave it a try.  Hope I haven’t ruined them.” 

We, my students and I, need your prayers in these last three days. 

-Pray for me, that I’ll be able to tie up loose ends with my students and with the crazy amount of paperwork that comes with being a teacher.

- Pray that we would all leave this year knowing God better and growing in grace.  Pray that my students would put into effect the Bible study methods we’ve learned this year.

- Pray for sanity as we all want to be outside playing.

- Pray that I wouldn’t make this time about me but about God and His work in my students this year.

 

Thanks.  God works powerfully when His people come before Him.

Thankful for- Heather!

Who has the best big sister?  I do!

For keeping me sane, for doing devos in my classroom almost EVERY SINGLE WEEK, for loving me in spite of my often-bad attitude towards teaching.  For the thousands of papers graded!  Thank you!

I couldn’t have made it through this year without her.

Thankful for- Other Teachers

Pictures of thankfulness!

From left to right:
To Emilee, who corrects my Spelling books every Wednesday and is always popping in to make sure I’m making it through the day.  I have appreciated your help and kindness this semester more than you.  If God sent you to Bolivia just to help me make it through, I think it was worth it (although He has sent you for so much more).

To DPo, my lunch buddy and person I can always vent to.  Thank you for being there to talk, thank you for being so tranquila.  Thanks for letting me make fun of your Spanish.  Thanks for letting me invite myself over to hang out.  Gracias por buen tiempos!

To Ally, literacy specialist and good friend.  I love looking at your painting that is in my room, remembering that God has me right where He called me and that He will take me to right where He wants me.  Thank you for sitting with me and figuring out how I can help my kids.  Thank  you for listening to me and giving me suggestions about helping myself.  I have loved seeing your passion this year and look forward to serving with you this summer.

And finally, to Laura, the world’s best principal.  Thank you for Peanut Butter M&Ms when life is hard.  Thank you for always listening.  Thank you for being for me.  You made teaching so enjoyable for me.  Your wisdom kept me from losing my mind.  Your peace in my storms has kept me going.  Your godly example with my kids has made me smile so many times.  I respect you so very much, and I hope God makes me more like you, His servant.  Thank you especially for holding my hand in my first weeks and months of teaching.  I needed it so much.  You shine as a principal.  You should be one next year! 

Last one:  Thank you Ellen.  Thank you for listening to my fears, thank you for the work that you put into my classroom before we even knew who my students were.  Thank you for giving me advice, for understanding what I was going through.  Thank you for Skyping with me weekly, encouraging me with your words and your stories.  I can’t wait to see you face-to-face soon!

So, this is not my typical thank you post, but I wanted to recognize these wonderful people. 

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

- Philippians 1:3-4

Thankful for- Random Hours of Service

When I started typing this post, I realized that it truly has taken an army (or at least that number of people) to get me through this year.  Here are some of the people who have spent time in my classroom or outside of it helping with teaching things.

- Heather has come in once a week to do devotion and spent many hours correcting.  She gets her own post later.

- Adreana (my roommate) came in for two days last semester to help control my kids and subbed for me this semester while I was at camp.  She taught me how to be firm but fun!

- Amy came and taught my class a writing lesson, and taught me how to be a better teacher.

- Danielle and her mom Lisa came and offered their services in October.

- Emily has been faithfully correcting my Spelling workbooks each week.

- Hannah corrected some papers and gave me good teaching advice.

- Beth covered my class the week I was in the United States doing visa stuff.

- Sarah and Naomi came in just this week to take some of my kids out for special testing.

- Samantha comes in sometimes to do whatever I ask her to- correcting, hanging posters, organizing).

I’m sure that I’ve forgotten some of the wonderful people who kept me from total burnout this year, so if you didn’t make the list and you helped- THANK YOU! 

Love one another with brotherly affection… Contribute to the needs of the saints.

-Romans 12:10,13

Thankful for- TA’s

Welcome to what I plan to make a seven part series of blog posts about those people have made this year possible.  Some African proverb says something like “It takes a village to teach a child,” and I say, “It takes an army to keep a fifth grade teacher alive.”

 

Last semester I was up to my elbows in grading every weekend.  There was a never-ending pile of papers by my computers, and I was S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D.  My sister volunteered hours of grading every week to help me stay sane, but I was still felt like my work load was growing weekly.  I could not get ahead.  So I asked my principal for help.

 

And man! did she provide.  I now have two TA’s.  Two wonderful junior students who give a few hours of each week to be bossed around by me.  Between their help and my finally becoming wise to the fact that my students can correct their own math papers and help with other correcting I left a reasonably small pile of papers next to the computer when I left school tonight.  Thanks to them, life is livable.

They make my room look wonderful.

They have done devotions with my students.

 

They are gracious to me when I am stressed or unprepared for them.

 

And most of all, they heard of my need and were willing to help.

 

Thanks, Rachel and Nick.  God shows his faithfulness through you.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

-Gal 6:2

Growing

It could have been that it was Friday afternoon.  It could have been that they are almost sixth graders now.  Or it could have been that we spent fifteen minutes last week encouraging Rafael to use his leadership skills.

God has been so faithful to my fifth grade class this year, and I experienced proof of that again on Friday.  My students were in a state of near-chaos at the beginning of library class because the person who was supposed to read to them had not showed up yet. 

But then, Rafael’s suggestion to read to the class, a warning to be good listeners, and this happened:

I even had time to run to my classroom, grab a camera, and capture the moment.  I was so proud of my students and so grateful to God for the way He creates moments like this to show me that regardless of my abilities He is in control of all things.

Penpals

My class has teamed up with the sixth grade classroom (of a woman I really respect) in the U.S. this year.  They are email penpals.  It turns out that half my students know more about computers than I do and half of them don't know how use Google.  


I love the things they are sharing about culture, their faith, and life in general.  Let me share with you some of the things my students find important to share with their peers (Please enjoy their ESL English):


"We have six computers. We don’t live in huts."


 "I’m bilingual, that means I know two languages. I know Yura and Spanish. Do you know any other languages besides English? Have you ever heard about yura? Do you have any indian
blood in you?"


" I am in a Christian school, we believe that GOD came to earth to
save us from are sins. Which belief do you believe? I think that GOD is
very good."

"I get [along] better with my mom, than with my father. I have a little sister. O

she is such a taller tiller [tattletale]."


"My fathers are still married (In Spanish padres means mother and father)."


"I have a question for  you, how is you teacher? Is she Crazy like
mine? HaHaHa (You wouldn't believe how many of these comments there were)"

"My grand father was at world war two in the german side. His name is
Manfred he is already dead he died because his heart stopped beating."

"I am an American but I am a missionary here. I preach with my parents Christianity (I love that he calls himself a missionary.  It's so true!)."

Just wanted you to get to know my students a little better.

I Teach Bible

In my small-town public school, the closest I ever got to learning about the Bible in school was reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Now, I teach it every day to fifth graders.  I am so grateful for my Bible college education, where I finally learned that there were kingdoms in the Old Testament.


The fifth grade Bible curriculum that I use teaches Old Testament history using life applications with different character sketches.  I love teaching about Joseph, Isaac, and David.  However, I began realizing once we got through the Pentateuch that my students didn't really know the books of the Bible.


So we got to sing this cool song in class for a week!

I don't even get confused in the minor prophets anymore!


God's word is sweeter to me each day, and I am grateful to Him that I get to share it with my students.

Building Up a 5th Grader

This week we are starting something new in my classroom.  With just over eleven weeks left until summer break, I've been getting to know my students for over six months now.  I have seen their strengths and weaknesses, and I'm sure that they've seen mine.


Back in the very beginning of October, when I had known them for under two months, I chose a phrase to pray for each of my students over the year.  During Christmas break (just over the four month mark), I chose a Bible passage to go with the phrase I had chosen.  You can see those here if you're interested.

So today I brought my students into it.  Each day during morning devotions, one student comes up to the front where their classmates can tell him or her how they see God at work in his or her life.  Then, I share the phrase and verse I've been praying all year and we pray for that student as a class.  Building one another up is my goal (Eph. 4:29).


Natalia went today (Gospel Understanding, 1 Cor 15:1-6).  Our class came together (if only for 10 min.), and I think God was glorified.  I am excited about this new way He is at work in my classroom.


ENCOURAGE is my word for this year, and I'm trying to apply it the classroom as well as other areas of my life.

Respect

Funny that at this point in the week I would rather write a blog post than sleep, but I think blogging for me is restful emotionally.  My mind is more tired than my body tonight.


Mr. Russell was my high school English teacher and cross country coach.  I respected him immensely for the time and effort he put into his students.  He coached three sports and always was telling us how late he had stayed up the night before to correct essays.  My respect for him (and every other one of my teachers) has tripled in the last six months. Teaching is hard.  But I'm wandering.  I also respected Mr. Russell because he commanded respect in the classroom and because he respected us as his students.


Once, he told me that something that I needed to watch out for was people walking on me.  "You're so sweet, so kind, that you let people take advantage of you," he said during cross country practice one day.


I kept that advice tucked somewhere in my brain, and today it came out again.  Six months into my classroom, I see how my tendency to be kind, for lack of a better word, makes my students walk all over me unless I put on my mean teacher face.  The sad truth:  I am a pushover.


How does commanding respect fit into who I am, who God has made me?  Since He put me in a room with twenty 5th graders for nine months, I know He must have put that capability for that somewhere in my genetic makeup, as a survival mechanism if nothing else.  But oh, it is hard to pull out the respect muscles when I have let them atrophy for most of my life.


Paul was a man who commanded respect.  You can read it in the way he talks to the churches.  He defends himself.  And he does it in a way that makes God great.


Teach me, Lord.

Fifth Grade

I couldn't wait for the story to post this picture of my class.  Too cute.

Prayer Works

Heather and I have the privilege of having our cousin, Anton, visit us from Texas.  He's here for about two weeks shooting a documentary about Heather's work here, and it has been amazingly encouraging to have a visit from "home."  

Taking Anton and our friend Sammy to the zoo!

Today, he reminded me of a verse that I try to live in light of, although the exact words are not always in my mind.  James 4:2 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask." It is true, true, true that God answers prayer.  He doesn't tell us to pray to Him only because He wants to hear from us or only so that He receives our praise (although those things are both important).  He also tell us to go to Him and make our requests known (Phil 4:6-7).


Thank you for making your requests know to God for my class!  God has been answering your prayers!  Are my students perfect?  Not quite.  But I see ways that God has answered directly some of the specific things that I asked prayer for about my individual students.  I also have felt prayers in that I am more peaceful and joyful about the upcoming four months. Please keep those prayers coming!  These cute kids thank you!

Faithful for the Long Haul

One week in.


The difference between going into my first week of teaching second semester versus first semester is unbelievable.  I actually know what a teacher is supposed to do.  I know what's expected of me.  I know what my kids are like.


I still have things that I'm facing this semester that sometimes make me want to go hide my head in the sand.  But this I know.  The God who was faithful to me last semester is going to be faithful to me this semester.  His compassions never fail.


Working hard.  Glad to be Miss M.

Pray With Me?

There they are, the beautiful class that I go back to next Tuesday.  As I get ready to stand in front of these students as a teacher who has only slightly more of an idea how to teach than she did last August, I admit to you that I am overwhelmed by the idea of being held responsible for these students' learning over the next four and a half months.  I'm asking for your help.


Would you pray for my students, my classroom, and me as a teacher on Monday from 7-8pm CST?  I'm spending the day prepping and praying, and I'm taking that hour to really "dig in" for my students.


I'm asking that those who will commit to praying during some or all of that time (or at least sometime on Monday if that time doesn't work for you) would:
1. Leave a comment on here
2. Respond to the email message I will send out
3.  Email me at kayleenmickelson[at]gmail.com
4. "Attend" my Facebook event.


Here is what you can pray for each of my students.  It's a title, phrase, or idea that I wrote for each of them in October and have been praying for them since.


Jasmine- Conscious Devotion: Matthew 22:47
Noelia- Unconditional Love: Isaiah 43:4
Matthias- Forsaking This World: Philippians 3:8
Graciela- Clarity of Mind and Purpose: Psalm 27:4
Natalia- Gospel Understanding: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Jeremie- Grasping Grace: Ephesians 2:8-9
Jose Daniel- Accurate Reflector: Matthew 5:16
Nathan- Humble Follower/Leader: Mark 1:17
Jadon- Devoted Laborer: Colossians 3:17
Rafael- Unshakable Faith: Mark 9:24
Aram- Serious Commitment: Luke 9:23-24
Gracie- Spirit-filled Power: Acts 1:8
Andres- Act on Truth: Matthew 7:24
Hye Sun- Bible Craver: Psalm 63:1-6
Erynn- Lover of Truth: Psalm 119:105
Benji- Humble Helper/Leader: Philippians 2:3-8
Jorge- Faithful Follower: 1 Peter 1:13-15
Bruno- Follower of Jesus: Matthew 16:16
Hernan- Faithful Disciple: Romans 12:1-2
Lucas- Persistent Speaker of Truth: Hebrews 10:24


Miss M- Joy in Christ: Philippians 4:4-7


I have also been praying Ephesians 3:14-21 over my class this year.


Thanks for thinking about joining me in this!  Prayer is the most powerful weapon that we have, and my class needs people to fight for us.

Keeping Busy

Christmas without family will be hard, no doubt about it.  My strategy for not getting homesick, though, is to fully experience the Bolivian Christmas season and fully be present here so that I'm not missing things back home so much.


December has started, and suddenly there are plenty of things to keep me busy.  On Thursday my kids earned a party in art with my good friend, DPo (or Miss Potter), who teaches them.  Check out their excellent fruit sculpture creations that they made!

Miss Potter with my great artists!

Another highlight was getting to go to a high school graduation for one of the boys at our church with Heather last night.  Here we are at the big event.

I'm already sporting a new shirt from Abby!

Today Heather and I are off to a ladies' church event and then I have practice for the Christmas drama.  God is good to keep me busy, and I pray that in my busyness I will have time to reflect on why we make this season something to celebrate.


Verse I've been dwelling on (pun intended):

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Joy

As you may have guessed from my last post, I have been praying for and fighting for joy in my teaching lately.  Really,I've been fighting for joy in my life lately, which is something that I, the eternal optimist, rarely find a problem.  It's frustrating for me to struggle with homesickness and even to enjoy what I'm doing.


Today, teaching started out as a struggle.  I had to discipline more than usual and was praying that God would make me content wherever He put me.  He began to answer my prayer before lunch, when I started finding joy in teaching again!  When my students came back from lunch and gym, we had just enough time to get our grammar and science lessons in before the end of the day.  I can only think of a handful of better times I have had in class.  I finally paid attention to God's presence in my heart, and it was great!


And if you thought my day couldn't get any better, it did.  My very good friend Abby, who faithfully reads my blog (hi Abby!), knew that I had been feeling down, mysteriously found some people who were coming down here, and sent a care package for Heather and I with them!  WE WERE SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The letter that she wrote me via snail mail also came today.  Double blessing!

My fav granola bars, teaching clothes (thank you, needed!), post-it notes, pens!, trail mix, and snail mail.  and stickers.  and notes.  We feel so loved!

Close up!

The package also came with Abby's senior pictures, some of which I have on an old frame I found where I hung up my other friend Storm's (and Michael's) senior pics.  I lovingly refer to it as "The Storm Center."  :)

Thank you, Abby, for a wonderful package, and thank You, Lord, for bringing so much joy to my heart today!  Hebrews 10:24!


Edit:  I just looked at the date she sent the package, and it was August 17th.  If the package had been flown down in late August, I would have been moderately happy, but God knew I would need it at the beginning of December.  I got chills when I thought about how He timed it all.  Praise God!

Little Lessons

One of my student's dad owns a Chinese restaurant here.  I LOVE all foods Asian, and other than a questionable Styrofoam box of orange chicken in the Miami airport in October, I haven't had Chinese food since I came here in July.  Heather and I spent yesterday morning together at an orphanage, and we decided that, as our day-after-Thanksgiving, no-school-for-me treat, we would go out to Jorge's restaurant for lunch.

It was a beautiful restaurant, and I was so excited to be able to tell Jorge that I ate at his restaurant.  It's the time of year when Bolivian missionaries pinch pennies because of extra costs that come in December (Bolivia has a cultural tradition of paying all employees a double salary in December), so Heather and I gulped a little at the prices, but we ordered anyway and the food was delicious!  

It was also great to spend time with Heather and chat with her, since when I'm teaching we really only see each other in the early morning and late at night.

When it came time to pay for the bill, the waiter asked us to go to the cash register instead of bringing us the bill, and when we got to the front of the line, the woman working turned out to be Jorge's aunt.  She refused to let us pay for our meal!  I was so blessed.  We also got to chat about my student, and I was encouraged to see his family's concern for his wellbeing and education.


Sometimes I doubt that God will provide for my needs, or I think that He will only do it in traditional ways.  By now, I should know better.  I love God's little lessons, especially those that involve peanut chicken!

Bearing Burdens

I made it through another week of teaching!  The weekend has arrived and I am alive and in a much better place emotionally than I was last week at this time (when I was still at school working).


Part of the reason that my week was better is that people were praying for me.  I have felt prayers every day.  Thank you! if you were a part of that.


Another reason is that people here have been helping me.  Heather has been grading papers almost every night, my housemate Adreana came in to help control my kids Monday and Tuesday for the big production, and today, my friend Amy came to teach a language lesson for me!


Amy is a wonderful woman who writes a great blog that you can find here.  Her main ministry is homeschooling her three kids, and her husband works at the hangar of our mission as an airplane mechanic. Her secret weapon that she doesn't like to remind the administration at the school about is that SHE HAS HER MASTERS IN EDUCATION!!!

And she loves teaching language and grammar.  As a linguist, you'd think that'd be my specialty, but I actually often have a hard time passing my enthusiasm for language on to my students.


Amy had my students listening to and interpreting poems, then creating their own poems about themselves and even about me, all in less than 30 minutes.  I was grateful, inspired, impressed, and most of all, encouraged.

Check out that interaction!

So, overall, from dread in the pit of my stomach Monday morning at the thought of going back to school to big smiles all day today, my week has gone straight uphill, thanks to the help of the body of Christ.

Look at how attentive they are!

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

- Galatians 6:2