student teaching...

has begun today. It certainly was nothing earth shattering and perhaps that is because I didn't actually teach anything and won't until next week. I can't say that I exactly mind...it gives me breathing room to get used to the kids, used to the setting, etc. My first lessons will be on Nathaniel Hawthorne. I am to have the students read "The Birthmark" and "The Celestial Railroad." My first two choices would have been "The Birthmark" and "The Minister's Black Veil," but I am for this set of lessons, locked into an existing unit by the homeroom teacher, so I'll have to wait for another chance.

How do you get a group of sixteen or seventeen year-olds to grasp the significance of these stories? How do you get them excited about the fact that Hawthorne spent about a decade secluded in an attic more-or-less researching his Puritan ancestors and their witch burning, etc. before embarking on these stories of hidden guilt and suppressed sin and its effects. Any suggestions are certainly welcome.

The MAF missionaries that were evacuated from Haiti have just left for their respective U.S. homes. The infrastructure of the country is completely dissolved and so they have reduced their force from eight families to just four pilots at a time in the country. The pilots will take rotating shifts every week or two. They are going to need a lot of prayer and financial support to rotate these pilots (some who have been their twenty years or more and really know the people and the culture). If anyone reading this is interested in donating to a worthy cause (and believe me their worth it), you can go to this site here: www.maf.org and just follow the tabs to donate. I have personally known the regional director since I was about twelve years old and I having spent the last weekend with these pilots and their families, I can say with assurance that these people have Christ's heartbeat and a deep love for Haiti.

If you want a personal account from one of the missionaries, I suggest www.mafkrul.blogspot.com .

Another site for donating where I know it will do a lot of good is:

www.missionaryflights.org

I know this hasn't been the best blog entry, but I hope it will at least encourage you to give to some local efforts that have been on the ground there and mobilized from moments after the quake. Keep praying and keep giving.