Our first view of what will be Erik's classroom.

Lisa outside the school at which we will teach, at which she also teaches English.

Our group with our host, Mr. Li and his three assistants, (from left) Ri, Lisa, and Nancy.

Ya'an - First Day Teaching!

As you surely surmised from the title of this post, today was our first day of teaching in Ya'an. Yesterday we interviewed all of the students and placed them in groups. They were very nervous, but so were we, but we made it through the interview process without much trauma. This morning started out with a few short speeches by the headmaster of the school; our host, Mr. Li; and our team leader, Dick Cayton. Like all first days of anything ever, we started out a bit rusty and awkward, but were able to successfully oil the gears and get things running close to smooth by midday.

I am so grateful to be having this experience with my wonderful wife, Kim. I can't imagine doing this without her, especially since it was her idea in the first place. We have settled into a comfortable routine in a short amount of time: devotion, breakfast, teaching, lunch, teaching, debriefing, dinner, laundry in the sink, and lesson planning. Our days are full and blessed. We were able to attend church on Sunday and were warmly greeted by the Christians we met. A few were excited to see us and practice their English. We have been trying to pick up as much Chinese as we can, but it proves difficult as people here are understandably more interested in practicing English with us. It is the reason we came, after all. We thank you all for your continued prayers and will continue to update you on our experience. I will post some pictures of the past couple days as well.

Blessings,

Erik

Choir Practice at the Amity Foundation building during our service before we left Nanjing

Walking around in Nanjing the night before we left to Ya'an

Our group at our hotel in Ya'an