la verdad absoluta

Yesterday marked the first day of English class in Los Andes since we took our break at the beginning of September.

I was very excited to return, yet I was hesitant in thinking how many would show up. Everyone was called about the class starting again but once you get out of a routine it can be difficult to start it back up again as we all know.

So I went on my planning, which I often struggle with, as the class contains many different levels of English and I don’t want to lose in anyone amongst the work.  Well I recently found videos done by onetimeblind which are mini dramas that deal with struggles that Christians have or faith issues that leave the topic very open for discussion and all levels of English. Well I stumbled upon this video:

The Red Balloon. I love this. I think illustrates a very clear picture of the Truth we believe in as Christians and the struggles we face in this world when we do declare that Truth.

I was very happy and very blessed to have Anthony DiLiberto (Volunteer Coordinator in Peru) helping me with this lesson as he is here visiting and planning for what is going to be happening in Peru in the next few months. He will be starting to teach ESL classes in Peru soon and asked if he could help me. We talked about how we would walk through this video as a class and how we could lead the discussion after. Well we ended up watching the video four times. As Anthony says, “Repetition is key in learning a foreign language.” We also had a list of questions that each student needed to answer in order for further comprehension. We started with four students watching the video and ended with eight students. Anthony then led a discussion about what it means to believe in Absolute Truth. Many of the students talked about their thoughts and their concern for their friends who don’t know the Truth.  It was great.

We (Milton, Anthony, and myself) were then able to connect back up with the students after class since it had been a month. A few of the students have really gone through a lot of hard things in their lives over this last month but there was no better place for those students to be last night than in the church praying with other fellow believers. That’s what we as a church are all about and last night was another fuerte (strong) reminder of what we are called to be as Christians.