end of wk 12

So I got back Thursday night and the group from the Presbytery of Western NC was already installed in the Guesthouse and working at a clinic and the hostpital and the school…so that evening I went up to say hello—see the familiar faces and meet the new members of the team. (I also got the things my mom sent for me—pens, taco seasoning, music (from my sister), my diploma (important for immigration), chocolate chips and more)…
Then it was time for immigration again…and here we go…I went to the synod office to ask for a letter and they told me that the permit I needed to apply for was a temporary employment permit…um, ok, but I’m a volunteer…but whatever they say. So try to get that paperwork but don’t get it until the day I got dropped at malingunde for language training…turns out most of it is to be filled out by the employer so I sent it home with james but by the time I came back (9 days later) nothing had been done so Friday morning was in the synod office to get the signatures and stamps needed…then to a training for the morning and then into town where traffic was so bad that we would have made it to immigration just in time for lunch—not helpful for getting the paperwork in…so we picked the kids up from school and stopped back by but it was so busy and we had 8 kids waiting that we asked if I could come back on Monday (but my current permit expires Sunday)…ok but I’ll have problems (nothing new there).
Saturday was back at the training (Friday for teachers, Saturday for kids)…similar timetable…everyone together for a message and then breaking into discussion groups or smaller groups for more teaching—this one on leading through meekness. Having power but keeping it in control, being patient—it is not laidback or lazy but an active holding back. God showed this through David who deserved to be punished…think about how you use the power and influence that you have…is it with love and understanding? After that I went with the primary school kids (other classes were secondary and out of school)…there were 70 in our room! I didn’t really do anything but we talked (again but a different crowd) about drug and alcohol abuse and how it leads to bad behavior and hard consequences. The kids ranged in age from what looked like 6/7 to 16…after what felt like ages of me not understanding anything it was time for lunch…it is a great group of people who come together to help teach the young people…full of enthusiasm and very friendly and I see them at lots of these so it is nice to get to know them. Then it was time to give out sports balls to each of the schools that were represented as in august or September there will be a sports tournament…it was decided that I was to hand over the equipment and had to photographed each time…got to be a little much but what else could I do?