First class

Alright, so last time I said that I had figured out what the final plan was. That is no longer the final plan. There is a new final plan, (like a bond job (for the construction guys)). I will now be teaching English two days a week at the orphanage, after school; to any students and teachers that have the desire to learn. I will also be teaching English two days a week at the local church here in Orhei, and two days a week back in the capital city of Chisinau. This is all subject to change at any moment. That all starts tomorrow. Today was a different day; I got to teach a class finally! I had a blast. I sat in on the first class this morning, as an assistant to the teacher. For the second class, the teacher was my assistant! It was amazing. I was so thankful throughout the entire class period because just a couple days ago the teacher confessed to me that the majority of students don't even like English and have no desire to learn the language! Haha, man, what a depressing sentence that could have been! I raise all this money, travel all this way, get so many people back home involved, and the kids don't even want to learn the freaking language?????? Honestly I really thank God on this one; because I truly remembered thinking to myself (and I do believe it was God telling me this), "Don't worry about that Jake. That will not be the case; the children will want to learn. Keep your head up, you are hear to serve the people of Moldova, so serve the people of Moldova." Today in class, probably about 95% of the kids were heavily involved in the lesson, and what was being taught. Afterwards, I went to each room throughout the school with the Assistant Director, telling all the kids that I would be there two days a week after school to teach English. Again, probably about 95% of the kids were stoked, and told the Director they wanted to come to my lessons. The Director told me that I might even have to split up the lessons. So much for not wanting to learn!

I have taken a couple more pictures of the city. I'll post them a little bit later on. I will also try to take some pictures of the orphanage, and of course the kids. I will keep you guys posted on how the next few days go!

Love and Be Loved.

Side note from my study time today: I have been going through the book of Matthew, in the Bible, for the past few weeks. Today I was reading from chapter 21 and came across something that I thought was pretty interesting. To give you an idea of what's going on: Jesus is walking back to the city of Jerusalem from a little suburb called Bethany when he sees a fig tree. He wants a fig, the tree has no figs. So he says to the tree, "May you never bear fruit again." Immediately the tree withered. When Jesus' disciples saw this, their response was, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" (I can see how this might be easy to scan past, as are many things in the Bible, but I couldn't believe what happened.) When I saw this, my response was, "Are you serious???" At this point in Jesus' life he has performed a large number of incredible miracles: healing many sick people, giving the blind their sight, driving out demons, feeding 4000 people with a few fish and a few loaves of bread, feeding 5000 people with even less food than before, walking on water (!), and more. Yet still, the disciples are curious as to how the little fig tree withered so quickly. Haha, please, put yourself in Jesus' shoes. How frustrating must it be for him when we continuously underestimate his abilities and power??!! Thank God Jesus is patient, merciful, and everything else that is good!  - On the contrary, how happy must he be when we acknowledge his true power, and exercise faith that knows no bounds??!! My guess... pretty happy! Haha. Just something I wanted to share with whoever cared to listen!