Education

Over recent years, a number of articles have appeared in the ESOL press criticising the standards and quality of many Christian ESOL providers.  Whilst there s a lot of validity in some of the criticisms, unfortunately, there is a tendency to paint the whole industry with the same brush.

I am planning a research projedt with tis as the topic, so that Christians can show that we are concerned and propose some ways forward.

It's a human problem. The problem of wanting the output of a situation and forgetting that the output comes from the inputs. We crave and desire the outputs of fame, glory, affirmation, wealth, faith even - but these things are not bestowed (well often not), but come through having focussed on the inputs.
When life is not working out how we want, when we sense we're not getting what we truly desire, its good to think about what we are inputting.

Well, we had a lovely day off because of the snow. No school! So we decided to act like kids in our back garden and have snow ball fights and make snowmen and snow angels! It was great fun! Here are a couple of piccies of our back garden untouched.... isnt it just beautiful! 

Ok, its back to school.... new year, new lessons, new table layout and do the children like it? Yes! They've reacted really well! But do the teachers who also use it sometimes like it? Um... no........

From Derek Prince-

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Psalm 84:2-4

Every human soul longs for one thing, a home. A homeless person is an unhappy person. The psalmist cries out in agony in a sense of loneliness, a sense of being cut off...

I started my day by reading the paper and various news websites.  Have you noticed just how much influence the media can have in the atmosphere of your day?  They can paint the most horrific pictures of situations.  They can make any person look foolish, any nation look wrong, and any group appear to be insane.  They pollute much of the atmosphere with such depressing news which results in the same effect in our daily life.  Though some of the news is truthful, it is reported and read in such a way that it appears that our world is spinning out of control...and it very well could be.  If you were not a believer, the only headlines you would read today would include the following statements with no explaination:

From Derek Prince:

"You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."  Psalm 51:16,17

"Love is patient; love is kind"- 1 Corinthians 13:4

I have been guilty of being inpatient and unkind. Even to those people in my life who I love very deeply. In fact, just the other day, I was driving my fiance' up from Texas to Denver to start our life together in the same state for the first time. But, even with all of the excitement, the 16 hour drive can take a toll on a person's ability to be compassionate. I can remember being very impatient with the drivers on the road, a stop light, a little animal darting across the road, and even the love of my life sitting next to me resting peacefully. I really believe that a good, long, and arduous roadtrip can bring out some frustrations in life. But, in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (everybody has heard these set of verses), love is laid out in an amazing array of facts. Some of which may scare you if you profess to be "in love."

This is the heading of an article in The London Times yesterday 28.2.06.  It is a shocking article on the eve of President Bush's visit and a part of India that he will not see.  300,000 children involed in commercial sex earning 7p (5 rupees) a time. Girls are often sold into prostitution by their parents for about £6.
On a trip to Calcutta recently I met a twelve year old girl who had followed her mother into prostitution ~ she had totally dead eyes ~ it was heart breaking to look into her eyes. I suppose the only way to survive is to shut down your emotions. At twelve how else do you cope with the pain, the abuse, the shame, the utter hopelessness, the poverty and the almost certain daily rapes and certainty of being HIV+ in the near future.