Heading to Uganda

It has been way too long since I've blogged on here so I wanted to take a minute to ask for your prayers as I head on a missions trip to Uganda with a team from Brainerd Baptist Church.

Here is the update for prayer:

Dear Friends and Family -
I just wanted to say thanks for all the support I've gotten for the Uganda trip.  The funds are all in and I have felt your prayers as well.  Please continue to pray that I will completely recover from the bronchitis I've had which has really affected my breathing (asthma). 

I thought I'd give you a copy of the tentative schedule while I'm in Uganda so you can keep the team in prayers as we work and travel.  There are 18 of us going the first week.

• Thursday, January 13 - Leave BX at noon for Atlanta; Leave Atlanta at 5:30 p.m.
• Friday, January 14 - Arrive Amsterdam at 8:15 a.m. and leave for Uganda at 10:15 a.m; Arrive Entebbe/Kampala 8:15 p.m.; Stay at Fields of Life Guest House overnight
  
• Saturday, January 15 - Long drive to Mbarara; possible street ministry in the afternoon
• Sunday, January 16 - Worship in the morning; ministry in afternoon (VBS, hospital, or evangelism)
• Monday, January 17 - Refugee camp, church, ministry projects (eyeglass clinic, mosquito nets, vegetable gardens)
• Tuesday, January 18 - Game park; church and medical clinic, ministry projects
• Wednesday, January 19 - Pastor's conference (oral Bible storytelling training with women); ministry projects
• Thursday, January 20 - Pastor's conference (same as above); VBS with youth or orphans
• Friday, January 21 - Travel back to Kampala; leave Uganda at 1:45 a.m.
• Saturday, January 22 - Arrive in Amsterdam at 8:15 a.m.; leave Amsterdam at 10:20 a.m.; Arrive Atlanta 2:10 p.m.; Arrive BX 7:00 p.m.

The team for the second week will be there until January 29th so please keep them in prayer as well!

Thank you for your support and prayers! 

Temple Grandin Movie

I just finished watching the Temple Grandin movie on DVD.  I can't tell you how amazing it was but....I'm going to try.  First of all, this amazing woman's mother was told to institutionalize her because she was autistic.  She wasn't talking at age four, wouldn't let anyone touch her, and often had fits and panic attacks. 

While this was in the early days of the diagnosis of autism, it was still sad to see how people treated both her and her mother.  No one thought she would amount to anything and, for a while, it seemed her fear would overcome her and negate the gifts she had.  But her mother, and several other key teachers and mentors, pushed her, kept her going, forced her to keep trying new and uncomfortable things and, lo and behold, they became more comfortable for her and she tried more and more things until she had a doctorate and was able to clearly articulate what it means to be autistic.  Parents of kids on the autism spectrum, this clearly calls us to not give up and to push our children to be what they are capable of being, even if it is uncomfortable for them (or for us).  Teachers, we need to look behind the challenging behaviors of some students to who they are inside and help them develop the gifts God has given them.  This movie truly challenged me as both a parent and a teacher to not give up, to keep loving and praying and pushing my child (and those I teach) to become what they were made to be.

The truly amazing part of this movie was the insightful way which Claire Danes (and the director) portrayed Temple Grandin.  It gave me a previously unknown insight into how my son Daniel (who has Aspergers) and other people on the autism spectrum view life.  I know that the spectrum varies widely as do the experiences of people with this diagnosis but it helped me to see how the chaos and noise of life physically hurt those with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and how the mind of someone with this diagnosis can view things in a beautifully different way.  She could do things that no one else could do and see things the way no one else saw them.  I know that Daniel does this too - he can take something that my "normal" brain cannot do (like see Lego instructions in 2D and convert them into a 3D model) and do it with ease.  He can laugh, smile, and have fun but he is also sensitive to noises, chaos, temperature, change, etc.  Just like Temple's mother, I am proud of him and excited to see what he will become and the plans that God has in store for him (Jeremiah 29:11).

One of my favorite quotes was that Temple is different but not LESS.  God did not put my son (or any other person given the label of autism or asperger's) on earth by accident. Each person is made with gifts and talents and a reason for existing.  Temple views her autism as a gift that enables her to do things and see things that other people cannot see.  The more articulate she became, the more she was able to express that she still wanted her life to have meaning even if there were things she would never understand (like people and their non-verbal cues, emotions, reactions).  Don't we all want our lives to count for something regardless of our challenges, failings, gifts, or emotions?

Take some time to view this film whether or not you have people with autism or asperger's in your life but especially if you do.  It will be well worth your time.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

What a rare week!  Two "can't put them down" books in one week. As enjoyable as The Host was, The Help (whoa, two "The H" books in one week too...weird) was like reading a riveting, insighful classic.  This novel was a first novel by the author, Kathryn Stockett and it is hard to believe that it is her maiden voyage into novel writing.

The novel weaves the stories of three main characters, Miss Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny, together into a narrative about Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s.  Miss Skeeter is a sensitive, thoughtful recent college graduate who wants to do more with her life than marry well and attend bridge club.  She was raised by a black maid who influenced her life just like the many other black maids all over town.  These maids were not allowed to use the white bathroom or trusted to put all the silver back after polishing it but they were allowed to raise white children and cook white food and clean white bathrooms.  Two of these maids, thoughtful, prayerful Aibileen, and sassy, outspoken Minny agree to help Miss Skeeter write the truth about the lives of black maids and their employers.  This quest links the three women together in friendship and a desire to tell the truth to the world, regardless of the very real risks to all three.

Their lives and stories drew me in to the extent that I couldn't wait to see what happened but at the same time, I didn't want the book to end.  It was a satisfying and enlightening read that is sure to become an instant classic.  All I can say is - you gotta read it!

UPDATE - August 22, 2011 - I saw the movie this summer and LOVED it.  The movie stayed very close to the book and the actresses were amazing!  See it if you can.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I finally got around to reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer and I really liked it! I think I liked it more than the Twilight series (I know, I know, don't shoot me).  It was a compelling read - I didn't want to put it down.  I really enjoyed it!

The book is about a race of aliens called Souls who invade planets by taking over host bodies.   Now they have invaded earth and, most of the time, when the Souls bond with a human host, the human mind/personality fades away.  However, in this case, the Soul (called Wanderer) in put into a "wild" human, one of the few remaining free humans. This human, Melanie, is stronger than most and refuses to fade away.  She and Wanderer end up inhabiting the same body and end up changing each other in surprising ways.

This book drew me in with the characters, the emotions, and the issues.  It is a fascinating new look at prejudice, acceptance, change, and the ever popular sci-fi topic of the survival of the human race in the face of alien invasion. The refreshing part is the way the invasion takes place and the relationships involved between human and alien. 

I recommend it to Stephanie Meyer fans and to sci-fi fans too!

iPod and iPad Apps at BBS

Do you want to see which apps we are using at Brainerd Baptist School?  Check out this link to see our apps for the iPod touch and the iPad.

http://myap.ps/brainerdbaptistschool

The last two iPad apps I have used with our K4 students are Fish School and Monkey Preschool Lunchbox.

Both apps really kept our four year olds' attention very well. Both also covered numbers, colors, matching, size, shape, and letters.  Both were fast paced and easy to interact with for small, uncoordinated fingers.  The kids' favorite of the two was Monkey Preschool Lunchbox.  I had more students ask to do that game again next week than the previous week when we did Fish School.  However, I'd recommend them both!

Top 10 Fun Websites

Family Fun magazine posted their top 10 fun websites in their September 2010 issue.  I have listed them below:

1. The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks Virtual World - This website is for ages 7 and up and is a history based quest where kids help historical figures
2. Funbrain - This website is for ages 6 and up.  It has fun arcade games along with educational games.
3. Kideos - This is for ages 3 and up.  It has kid friendly videos (much safer than YouTube).
4. NGAkids Art Zone - This website, for ages 7 and up, offers interactive activities from the National Gallery of Art.
5. The Toymaker - For ages 5 and up, this website lets kids print and assemble fun paper toys.
6. iTwixie - This website is for ages 8 and up and is a tween girl's social networking site.
7. Exploratorium - For ages 8 and up, this is the website of the San Francisco science museum.
8. Shidonni - Ages 3 and up.  This website allows kids to draw a creature on screen and animate it.  It is great for pre-readers too.
9. Activity TV - This website is for ages 6 and up and offers kid friendly how-to videos.
10. Fizzy's Lunch Lab - Ages 4 and up.  This PBS site promotes health through fun games, videos, and recipes.

Other good ones they list:

1. Starfall.com
2. National Geographic Kids
3. Free Rice
4. PBS Kids Island
5. The Great Word Quest
6. Togetherville
7. World of Cars Online

Happy Surfing!

Musical Chairs Creation Game by Heather

This guest post is by Heather and is a result of an assignment for Ancient Civilizations/Bible.  She was asked to design a game that would help children learn the days of Creation.  Here is her guest post:

First, prepare for the game by getting the number of chairs needed for the classical game of musical chairs.  Put a piece of paper underneath each chair with three questions on it (see suggestions for the questions below).  Put numbers on each chair.  Make smaller numbers and put them in a bucket. When the music stops and a person is left not having a chair, draw a number from the bucket that will match the number on one of the chiars.  That person has to get the piece of paper from under their seat and give it to the teacher (who will know the answers).  The teacher will ask these two children (the one who is left without a seat and the person whose number was drawn) the questions on the paper about one of the days of Creation. You can use each day of Creation more than once but you can not use questions a second time.  The two children will race against each other to give the answer first.  Whoever gets more answers correct gets to stay in the game and the other child is out.  At the end of the game, the last two people left will be asked several questions about all the days of Creation (not just one) and the one who gets the most right is the winner of the game. 

This idea can be used for other stories in the Bible. 

Ideas for Questions:

1. On what day did God make _____________ (stars, swordfish, cats, etc)?
2. Which came first in creation: ___________ or __________________ (fish or man)?
3. Name one thing God made on Day ______.

by Heather