Daily Life

I realized yesterday as I was preparing another post for this blog that it has been some time since I’ve updated you on what my day to day work looks like. At the beginning of my time I was involved in Bible Studies, conferences, and workshops, but since January I’ve been focused more on working here at home or in the nearby office. I’ve been busy with three main things.

First, I had the chance to become more involved in office work. For three weeks in February I spent every morning with the WINN office staff, particularly Brejan, covering topics such as workplace communication, e-mail etiquette, filing and general organizational tips, weekly planning, and excel training. It was a blessing to be able to tangibly help in the office and an even greater blessing to see how the things I’d learned during my time at ECCU were being put into practice. It was a challenge to try to first understand what Brejan (and the office’s) needs were, what was culturally different and what their requirements were, and then finally adapt and express my ideas in a helpful way. We’ve ended the day-to-day class in favor of a twice a month staff seminar. I’ll have my first one next week and will be focusing on how to organize, prioritize, and complete projects.

Second, I’ve had the unexpected blessing of becoming a teacher – a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants teacher, but a teacher none-the-less. One day two weeks ago Aunty brought home a little girl named Poonam. Poonam is 7 years old and the daughter of the maid who cleans our office. Poonam, like many girls in her social class, is not being educated. The main reason is that because she works odd jobs with her mother she brings the family some much needed extra income; the second reason is that she’s a girl -- the little money the family has for education is going to their sons. But when Aunty offered me as a teacher for Poonam, the mother jumped at the chance! (Yay!)

The challenge in this has been that besides “Goodmorning, ma’am”, she speaks only Hindi and I, obviously, speak only English. My Hindi has been rapidly improving, though, as every night before class I ask Sibu to help me with phrases I’ll need for my lesson the next day. Poonam and I have been working on making an Alphabet book, learning colors (in both Hindi and English), shapes, basic English conversation and vocabulary, addition, telling time, and patterns. Poonam’s favorite “subject” is coloring, though to be more specific I think her favorite thing is cutting to little bits the papers she’s colored.

If any of you amazing teachers have tips on how to teach English or on how to teach the basics in such a way that reading comes more easily and naturally later on, please let me know!

The third thing I’m currently working on is gathering the material for Aunty’s book. At this point that means spending afternoons with Aunty jotting down the stories that come to her mind. I’ve also begun the process of taking testimonies that she’s gathered over the years and transferring them to the computer. The challenge of beginning this process has been that, at times, I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of stories and information that needs to be sorted out and pieced together. At the same time it’s been a great blessing; I’ve grown in the depth of my love for Aunty as I’ve gotten to hear first hand her stories of God’s guidance and her obedience, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. I’ve been struck anew with the beauty of a life dedicated to following Christ, and the fact that such sacrifice is clearly worth it. I’ve also been blessed by the daily reminder of God’s sovereignty. I’m confronted with example after example in Aunty’s testimonies of God orchestrating events and working in people’s hearts to bring about His purposes and bringing glory to His name. I’m excited for the time when I’ll be able to share with you these “memorial stones” reminding us of God’s faithfulness.

Pray for me to continue to be obedient and faithful, even in the small things.

Karisa