We're in dallas :) plane just landed

We're in minneapolis. Fly out at about 530 to dallas. Woo hoo

We're in seattle :) good flight. Only 2 more to go till we get home to dallas

Last Update

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post... our kids have been having
alot of sleep troubles and we took another teacher to the doctor
(Teacher Amanda who's still not feeling very good-sinus/upper
respiratory infection), so it's been a while since I've been able to
sit and write.

Last week went pretty smoothly. The teachers have been growing closer
to each other, their students and their TA's. A handful of TA's have
been asking really good questions about Him and several have expressed
that they're close to understanding and wanting to know Him like we
do. So He's answering many requests. Thank you for joining in with
us on behalf of those we've grown to love!

Yesterday and today classes are preforming their final class
presentaions and they're all doing an amazing job. It's really
incredible to see how much english the students have picked up in 4
short weeks... every class (all 350 students) have made huge strides
in speaking english.

Tomorrow is our last day of teaching and then we fly out really early
on Saturday morning (your Friday night). This is probably the last
time I'll post until we land state-side.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts and yarps. They have been
greatly appreciated!

Blessings,
The Gentala's

Recap of Week 2

Recap of Week 2:

Health-wise, almost everyone who was sick is better.   Pls be praying for Teacher Matt.   He's on an antibiotic and still not feeling great.  A few other teachers are starting to feel sick, but we're yarping that rest and liquids will help them kick the sore throats.  (It's hard to tell right now if the sore throats is the smog or sickness or lack of sleep)

The second week of camp ended well.  Each class performed a song or play as practice for their final performances (Where parents come and watch).  The classes were all nervous, but they did a fantastic job.  

Over the weekend, we visited the Great Wall.   We requested that they take us to a different location than last year... and the location where we went had a ski lift you can ride up about half way, then hike some.   And then you can either slide down, hike down or ride the ski lift back down.   About 2 hours after we arrived at the GW, it started pouring.  So the slide was closed and we rode the ski lift down.  It was alot of fun (the location was perfect for Amer1can tourists) but everyone was soaked.    So we cancelled the rest of the day's activities (we were supposed to go hang out by a man-made lake, outside for 3 hours), so we could all go home, get dried off and rest.  

Sunday was filled with lesson plans, shopping at the pearl or silk market and wrship/B1ble study at our place. We had a handful of TA's join us.   We learned that colleges here have started requiring a full-year course study of the B1ble.  The entire year is spent criticising the Book and what we believe.  So some of the TA's, when we've asked what they thought about our singing and study have replied with comments like, "I really like the singing.  I can see why you are a Chr1stian and why you like the B1ble, but I'm not interested", etc.   So we found many hard hearts when we arrived.  But several of those girls have come to every singing/reading time and listened really carefully.  So we trust Him to help them see the Truth and that He'll open their ears.  

Our team is doing such a great job loving on each other and loving on their TA's. We haven't had hardly any relationship issues thus far (which is very unusual for a group this size).  But the past couple of days we've noticed alot of culture shock, home sickness and exhaustion.  We're encouraging them to get extra rest, get time in the Word, pryer, etc.  But we'd appreciate all of us being covered from that end of the world.

Thank you for your encouragement and pr.yers.  Each of us greatly appreciate the support!  :)

FYI - the bl0g that we're using is currently blocked over here, so we're having to post in a round-a-bout way.   We're having issues posting pics, but we'll hopefully have a few up soon.  :)

Week One Recap

I'm sorry it's taken so long for us to post an update.  Our first week here flew by and it took awhile for our two kids to get over jet lag.

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Thank you very much for your thoughts and conversations with Dad on our account.  Our time here has been really good...   some challenging times, but overall very good.

We've finished one week and almost 2 days of teaching.  I think this is our best team that we've ever taken over here.   Each of our teachers is very focused, preparing in advance for their classes and really pouring themselves into their students and Teacher's Assistants (TA's).  Friendships are forming between teacher and TA  and already several TA's have been asking questions about why our team acts like we do and what we think about different topics.

Our teachers spent last Saturday planning for this week and then several were able to go shopping at a nearby pearl market and a nearby silk market. This weekend we'll go to the Great Wall and tomorrow we're going to be able to see an Acrobat troup that's coming thru the city.   So already we're getting to see several amazing sites. 

This morning about half of our classes had Open House where parents came and watched teachers teach for a class period.  Tomorrow the rest of the classes will have Open House.  Today's Open House ran very smoothly.  Several of our teachers received compliments from parents (which is fairly rare here) and so far all of our teachers sound pretty confident about how it went.

At the end of this week, all of the classes will perform short songs/plays in front of the other classes.  They all sound pretty nervous, but the kids sure are cute and it's alot of fun to see them up on stage.

Here are some things that we'd appreciate being lifted up:

1. Teachers experiencing traveller's sickness.  Most of us have and it was pretty minor and quick to recover.  A couple of our girls are having to adjust their diet (mostly water and oatmeal) while they wait for their stomach/intestines to heal.  Pls be lifting up Kim and Samantha, specifically that they'll be able to eat solid foods soon.  
2. One of our Kinder teachers, Cynthia, had to go and get antibiotics for an upper-respiratory infection.  She's already feeling better but needs complete healing.   Pls think about other teachers... we're yarping that none of the rest of the group catch the infection.
3. David and I  tweaked our backs (probably from odd sleeping arrangements while trying to help our kids get over jetlag).  Today we're both having some trouble walking up and down stairs.  
4. Each Wednesday/Sunday we have a time of singing, reading and listening to the Book at our place.   We had several TA's visit last Sunday and they seemed very interested. Pls be thinking of them, that He'll continue giving them questions and that He'll help them find The way.

Thank you for your love and support.  It means alot to us and our team.  Blessings!

We're here

We're all checked into our hotel rooms and apartments and will hopefully be asleep soon.  It's 3:30am right now.  Blessings and ty for your yarps.