Like I've mentioned before, NAP (and, I think most other schools in Ghana) starts every Wednesday with an hour-long worship service. Normally, I just do a bit of singing with the kids during this hour, but this week, I was asked to speak and deliver the sermon. I've never preached to anyone before, so I was super nervous. Since I was so uneasy about teaching all these kids, I decided to pick a Bible verse that was very familiar to me, and probably everyone else in the U.S. that's ever been to a wedding. The passage was 1 Corinthians 13 or "Love is patient, love is kind..." Instead of talking about romantic love, though, I talked about how they should love the other students, their teachers, their friends, etc. Overall, I thought it went fairly well and, from what I could tell, the students seemed to enjoy it. Speaking this morning definitely reminded me of some of my high school friends telling me that I should pursue a job as a pastor someday. Who knows? I did have a great time speaking this morning... but I still don't think it's gonna happen.
My work at school has definitely been picking up over the past week or so because exams are right around the corner. I usually get to school at 7:30 or so and don't leave until 6:30 or 7:00 every night now because I stay with the JHS 3 students after all the other kids leave. It's been exhausting but I've had a lot of fun with it and getting to know the older students. In fact, I've invited them all to my house this Saturday to watch a movie and have some snacks and such. It's weird to think that these kids are basically high school freshmen because they seem so much older. Maybe it's because they have a lot more responsibility at home than most high school freshmen in the U.S. do, but I definitely feel like I'm interacting with people just a couple years younger than me, not 14-year olds.
The choir is still doing really well. "Joy to the World" is almost performance ready and I'll be auditioning the solos for "Hakuna Matata" tomorrow after school. The teachers are struggling a bit with "A Whole New World" but, frankly, that was kind of the idea. It should be really funny seeing the teachers perform in front of the kids. I hope they'll enjoy it as much as I'm sure I will. If all else fails, the student choir should be really good by then.
It's unbelievable that I'm leaving in a week and a half. I've started to realize how many people and things I'm going to miss. At first, eight weeks seemed like forever, but now it feels like I haven't been here nearly long enough. I wish I could stay, but at the same time, I'm really excited to be home and see friends and family again. How possible do you think it is to move everyone from NAP Academy to the U.S.? Just kidding... don't answer that, you'll just make me sad.
No comments:
Post a Comment