Missionary stories filled with the heart of God. Please keep them in your prayers.
Honestly, I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. Driving that far north in December and January, navigating unfamiliar streets in downtown Saint Louis, piloting my way through a massive crowd of college students . . . just seemed like a lot to undertake at my advanced age and lack of adaptability. Okay, so I’m not that old nor, hopefully, that inflexible, but my fears were real.
In the city of Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, it is estimated that there were as many as 4 million Native inhabitants before European contact in 1496. By 1570 that number had been reduced to 125. In Central Mexico one third of the Native people died of smallpox within ten years of exposure by the Spanish conquerors.
“I hope I can keep ahead of her,” I thought as Sarah’s lesson time approached. Although I only have five music students this semester, they are all practicing and progressing, unlike sometimes. One student is fighting tooth and nail to learn piano, and though it has not come easy for her, she has kept at it and consistently practiced. What a joy to work with her!
Term one is now over and I still was enjoying teaching Introduction to Christian Education when it ended! Now I have an easier term ahead of me but major preparations to be made for the History of North America. I am also in charge of the arrangements and preparations for our annual fall conference October 15-18. I will need to get busy writing/editing the fall newsletter as well, so it will be a very busy term even though I’m not teaching a three-credit course until the third term.