8.31.2007

For Lunch.

Here's what I have for lunch, since my Ma wants to know!

We go to the store once a week, and we usually buy three Lunchables apiece. (At the Walmart here, they're 3 for $4, a total bargain if you ask me!) I usually get the crackers and lunch meat and cheese kind. They're cheap and easy to deal with.

So I have that three times a week. The other times I have what I like to call The Plain Ole Sandwich - two pieces of turkey between two slices of wheat bread. It's plain, but the bread gets all weird and soggy if you put mustard on it and it sits for a while. That's pretty much a well-known fact! And I put two slices of turkey on it because it just adds a little more "umph" to it, if you know what I mean. It's pretty darn good if I do say so myself. You should try it, especially on Wednesdays for lunch. It'll be like we're having lunch together!

Also, I usually back some of those orange cheese crackers or some Wheat Thins or Cheez-Its. And I pack a dessert like a few Oreos or one of those oatmeal pie things. And a bottle of water to drink. It's all pretty simple, and fast, and cheap. Such is the life of a poor missionary student. :)

Brownbag-ing it.

Here's something else about our days -

Lunch on Wednesdays are really special. We have what's called Brownbags. We all bring our lunch and AIMers who are on the field write emails to us and tell us what they're up to, and give "shout-outs" to people they know in the class - this past Wednesday I got one from my friend Lydia, who is is Scotland. She's in the AIM class of 2005, so she'll be coming back sometime after January and she'll be graduating while we're here. It's so awesome to hear from people you know who are on the field. I know a lot of people from the class of 2005, because that's when I came to Camp Adventure, and it's neat to hear all of their stories about talking to people out on the field.

So during Brownbags, we read their letters and eat our lunches and we pray for them. It's really wonderful, because they know that they're being prayed for, and they pray for us at the same time. It's like we're sending up prayers at the exact same moment, even though there's a time change thing going on. But it's still really encouraging for everybody involved.

And that's what we do instead of Share the Word class on Wednesday. :)

My Classes!

Okay, it's time to talk about my classes. Here's how the general schedule goes for the day -

8:35-9:15ish - Chapel
9:15ish-Noon - Morning Class (we get a 10-minute break at 10:30)
Noon-1:00 PM - Lunch
1:00-1:50 - Share the Word Class
1:50-4:00 - Afternoon Class (we get a break at 3)


Let's tackle these one by one.



First, New Testament Message. We have this class on Monday and Wednesday mornings and it's taught by Gibby Gilbert. We're doing a personal study on James, and I think we start later on in September. We learned the New Testament books, in order and how to spell them correctly, their abbreviations, and their themes. And now we're learning the Greek alphabet - I can already write their English names (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc) and the upper and lower case. So awesome! And we're working on using an interlinear Greek/English Bible to look up the original words in Greek and then find their meanings. It's really interesting, and it's cool to know that what we're studying is the language the Bible was first written in so long ago.



Then we have Old Testament Message, taught by Ray Young, on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Ray is very lively and he asks very thought-provoking questions. We have to do a lot of outside reading for that class, obviously from the Old Testament. We've already read through Genesis outside of class, but we're just now covering the story of Abraham in class. It's slow-going, but a lot of fun and really interesting. He encourages us to read the Bible as if we've never read it before, as if we've never heard the stories. He wants us to really dig for the details and picture the stories in our heads.



And on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, we have Historical Christian Evidences with Ed Wharton. This is the hardest class! Ed is somewhere in his late 70's, but he is so intelligent and he really, really knows his Bible. I like the information that we're learning, but the way he presents it is very - difficult. It's a hard class, and we have to do a lot of homework and a LOT of studying. But it's worth it, because we are learning a lot. We had our first big test the other day, and I made a 92. There was only one person who made a 100, and just a little over half of the class passed. I'm telling you, it's REALLY HARD. (By the way, anything that's under a 70 is a failing grade, and there's no retakes or late work.) I'm not even really shooting for an A anymore - I just want to do my best, pass all the tests, get in all my work, pass the class, and absorb the material well enough to where I can put it to use. We have a test in there again sometime soon, but this time we won't get a study guide, so I definitely won't do as well. It'll be interesting. I'm pretty nervous about it, but it'll be okay. I've already made an agreement with God that I'll just put it in His hands and He'll take care of it. :)



Then after that class, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, we have Life of Christ with Pat Sheaffer (he's one of the co directors of AIM). This is my favorite class. I mean, I like them all, but I look forward to this one the most. It's based out of Luke - we have Chapter Review Questions on each chapter. They aren't hard, just time-consuming. But it's completely worth it, because I'm learning more about the Bible than I ever thought possible! And classes started less than three weeks ago! Pat puts so much emotion into his class, and we really get to take a deep, deep look into who Jesus really was as a man, and what He did for us. It's amazing, and it's done a lot for me spiritually.



So those are the four main classes. And then on top of those, we have two more - Missionary Mindset and Share the Word.



Missionary Mindset, with the director Kris Smith, is on Friday mornings. We only have half-days on Fridays, so once this class is over we get to leave. That's kind of nice. This book is based in Philippians, and we're just really looking at the life of Paul and his characteristics, his life, and his mind as a missionary. Because that's what we want to be like, you know? That's what I want to be like. It's nice that we can just get together and really focus and what we're here for and what we are striving to be like - great missionaries.



Share the Word, which we have on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 1:00-1:45ish, is just a practical application of what we're learning in our regular classes. It's kind of like Missionary Mindset in that way. We're getting to learn how to write newsletters (you can look forward to getting some of those!), how to talk to teens, how to speak to large groups of people, how to have personal, one-on-one Bible studies, how to work with kids...lots of stuff! We're splitting into separate groups sometime next week I think, guys and girls, so it should be pretty exciting. I'm kind of nervous about it, but the more we do it the easier it'll get and the more I'll improve. At least, I hope that's how it goes!
I'm sorry this is so extremely long, but I wanted to tell you about all of them in one fell swoop. Kinda like killing six birds with one stone, right? (Okay, so that's not a GREAT comparison. Heehee!) If you have any questions or if something has been confusing, just post a comment and let me know. If everything is perfectly clear and you understand it all, post a comment anyway! I love getting them and hearing input from you guys!
Miss you and love you.