August 30th 2010
Monday
As campus minister, I have to help set up an adoration schedule in order for students to have time to pray during the school day in the chapel here. It is a pretty amazing concept. I have never heard of a high school that does this! Harry, who is a young candidate to the SOLT order, is in charge of adoration here. He has been a huge help for me as I am adjusting to work as a campus minister. Today was the first day of adoration and we remind the teachers of the classes scheduled to come and they bring their room full of students to adoration for 25 minutes out of their class time. This may seem like a nuisance at first because it interrupts the flow of a lesson, but in reality, it is a beautiful interruption because it helps us (staff and students) remember Who is the center of our lives! Christ is number one even over our work and school. This is definitely a tough concept because I think we are all so used to defining ourselves by our work and education and we put it in a very high place in our lives (which is a good thing). However, many of us (like myself at times) get carried away and kind of slide Jesus over to put "Career" or "Education" or whatever else it is in the center. Adoration in the middle of class is a very obvious placement: it is not squeezed in somewhere, it is smack dab at the beginning/middle/end of a class. This may make you wince at first, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Christ is more important than the Biology lesson we prepared or the poem we were going over, He is more important than our control and plan of the situation/class. (Mind you, we do have a schedule and tell the teacher ahead of time that they will have adoration).
Of course some of the students are still learning about the exposition of the Eucharist (when Jesus is in the monstrance) and may not “get it", but even if they don’t “get it” it is such an exquisite opportunity for them to sit and pray and for Harry to lead them in meditation and song. I was able to sit/kneel in the back and just pray for these young me/women the whole time. I know it is simple, but just being able to intercede for them was very moving. I have been praying for them all summer and part of the year so to be able to be there in the chapel with them was something else. Please keep all of these classes and their teachers in your prayers as we continue to bring them in for adoration Monday through Thursday every week!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Music Class Bliss
August 27th, 2010
Friday
Music class with the boys was MUCH better today. It was a smaller and younger group of guys. I think all of the rowdy ones are in the other class but I think they join me on Tuesdays. God bless my Tuesdays! Anyway. I passed out a song I want to teach them called “Receive the Power” which is a great song that was written for World Youth Day in Sydney Australia 2008. I was crazy blessed with the opportunity to attend it and I fell in love with the theme song. So in class on Friday, I gave them all copies of the song and sang them the beginning. They liked it! And they were also really interested in World Youth Day. A group of students is getting ready to go to World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Please keep them in your prayers! Some of the students in my class were interested but when I spoke to another teacher about them going to World Youth Day, he said the group was closed. I’m not sure if there is anything I can do to increase the group but regardless, I hope they can get to World Youth Day someday.
Hopefully on Tuesday with my crazy class we can try and learn this song. The older, rowdier boys will be there but I may teach them the song on recorder if they are very stubborn about singing it. The smaller group of boys actually seemed like they wanted to learn to sing it---which was surprising (because most of the boys in my "singing" class actually play the recorder and don't want to sing. The Recorder teacher can't be here on Tuesday afternoons and that is why I have a big group of recorder/flute players).
Friday
Music class with the boys was MUCH better today. It was a smaller and younger group of guys. I think all of the rowdy ones are in the other class but I think they join me on Tuesdays. God bless my Tuesdays! Anyway. I passed out a song I want to teach them called “Receive the Power” which is a great song that was written for World Youth Day in Sydney Australia 2008. I was crazy blessed with the opportunity to attend it and I fell in love with the theme song. So in class on Friday, I gave them all copies of the song and sang them the beginning. They liked it! And they were also really interested in World Youth Day. A group of students is getting ready to go to World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Please keep them in your prayers! Some of the students in my class were interested but when I spoke to another teacher about them going to World Youth Day, he said the group was closed. I’m not sure if there is anything I can do to increase the group but regardless, I hope they can get to World Youth Day someday.
Hopefully on Tuesday with my crazy class we can try and learn this song. The older, rowdier boys will be there but I may teach them the song on recorder if they are very stubborn about singing it. The smaller group of boys actually seemed like they wanted to learn to sing it---which was surprising (because most of the boys in my "singing" class actually play the recorder and don't want to sing. The Recorder teacher can't be here on Tuesday afternoons and that is why I have a big group of recorder/flute players).
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
First Day
Ah, the first day of school. I will tell you something, it is very different being on the other side! It was exciting to see all of the students pour into Mount Carmel High School today. Their uniforms were great (khaki pants and white shirt for the boys and khaki skirt and white shirts for the girls). I finally got into my Campus Ministry office (I have been trying along with some other volunteers for about three days)! It is a great office---the previous campus ministers left a great setup. There are tons of books, catechisms, posters, Bibles, pamphlets, etc. It felt pretty amazing to have my own office. I really look forward to visiting students!
I had my first music classes today. It was very interesting trying to prepare for those considering there is no actual music classroom. There is an "AV room" where music teachers will sometimes hold their classes but many music or art teachers will have classes on the basketball court outside(!). I lugged a keyboard from my second floor office over to the basketball court and attempted to plug it in with another volunteer teacher, Miss Brynne. We managed to plug it in but for some reason the keyboard wouldn't turn on. So I brought it with Mr. Mike (a volunteer from Canada) over to the AV room. The setup was perfect---a desk with a chalk board and I set up chairs. There was even a great fan in the front. Turns out there was a maramba class in there at the same time as my singing class! So I had to move the keyboard again. This time, I had students move it. Two of them helped me as I went over to the basketball courts.
The boys stamped onto the court (my first class was all boys). They sprawled out on the bleachers and as I (firmly) told them to sit only on the bottom two bleachers, one of my feet sunk very quickly into a deep grass-puddle in the ground. Soon I was ankle deep in nasty water and my new shoes covered in grass and puddle water. Of course the boys had a big kick out of that so all I could think to do was laugh and raise my hands in the air (because I obviously meant to sink into the puddle). To make matters more interesting, there were only two boys signed up for singing and about 15 boys signed up for "flute" or (really) "recorder". The rest of the boys had no intention of singing or coming with me to singing class. The recorder teacher could not come in the afternoons and though she came to chat with me, I had no idea when she said "split" classes that she meant I would have a class full of non-singers today!
After a bit of confusion (which is never ideal on the first day of class) we found an open classroom. We fit in and I set up the keyboard. I proceeded to try some warm-ups and teach them a simple a capella song but it turned out to be not-so-simple because most of the boys did not want to sing or had trouble staying on pitch. It was a struggle, but overall they did pretty well and I know they tried.
My second class was the complete opposite. I had a large group of girls signed up for singing and then a small group of girls from the recorder class. We squeezed our way into a free classroom (there were about forty of them i think!). Some girls had to stand in the back. I had them warm-up and immediately I knew that they could sing. We began learning "The Prayer" (a song Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli/Josh Groban/Charlotte Church have sung). The girls really liked it and they sounded beautiful. They even picked up the Italian lyrics very quickly! I will be able to teach them more complex songs while I think I will have to get down to basics with the boys. Pray for me!
Campus Ministry is just beginning. I am in charge of opening and closing the chapel on campus everyday. It is a beautiful chapel. I will also be working with other people to set up an adoration schedule, planning weekly masses, student retreats, and living rosary.
It is dinner time---Adios!
I had my first music classes today. It was very interesting trying to prepare for those considering there is no actual music classroom. There is an "AV room" where music teachers will sometimes hold their classes but many music or art teachers will have classes on the basketball court outside(!). I lugged a keyboard from my second floor office over to the basketball court and attempted to plug it in with another volunteer teacher, Miss Brynne. We managed to plug it in but for some reason the keyboard wouldn't turn on. So I brought it with Mr. Mike (a volunteer from Canada) over to the AV room. The setup was perfect---a desk with a chalk board and I set up chairs. There was even a great fan in the front. Turns out there was a maramba class in there at the same time as my singing class! So I had to move the keyboard again. This time, I had students move it. Two of them helped me as I went over to the basketball courts.
The boys stamped onto the court (my first class was all boys). They sprawled out on the bleachers and as I (firmly) told them to sit only on the bottom two bleachers, one of my feet sunk very quickly into a deep grass-puddle in the ground. Soon I was ankle deep in nasty water and my new shoes covered in grass and puddle water. Of course the boys had a big kick out of that so all I could think to do was laugh and raise my hands in the air (because I obviously meant to sink into the puddle). To make matters more interesting, there were only two boys signed up for singing and about 15 boys signed up for "flute" or (really) "recorder". The rest of the boys had no intention of singing or coming with me to singing class. The recorder teacher could not come in the afternoons and though she came to chat with me, I had no idea when she said "split" classes that she meant I would have a class full of non-singers today!
After a bit of confusion (which is never ideal on the first day of class) we found an open classroom. We fit in and I set up the keyboard. I proceeded to try some warm-ups and teach them a simple a capella song but it turned out to be not-so-simple because most of the boys did not want to sing or had trouble staying on pitch. It was a struggle, but overall they did pretty well and I know they tried.
My second class was the complete opposite. I had a large group of girls signed up for singing and then a small group of girls from the recorder class. We squeezed our way into a free classroom (there were about forty of them i think!). Some girls had to stand in the back. I had them warm-up and immediately I knew that they could sing. We began learning "The Prayer" (a song Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli/Josh Groban/Charlotte Church have sung). The girls really liked it and they sounded beautiful. They even picked up the Italian lyrics very quickly! I will be able to teach them more complex songs while I think I will have to get down to basics with the boys. Pray for me!
Campus Ministry is just beginning. I am in charge of opening and closing the chapel on campus everyday. It is a beautiful chapel. I will also be working with other people to set up an adoration schedule, planning weekly masses, student retreats, and living rosary.
It is dinner time---Adios!
Friday, August 20, 2010
My New Home
This outside of our house---we had to hang our clothes because we went swimming in some natural pools a few days prior.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Arrival
I have finally arrived in Belize! The anticipation was killing me. It is a truly gorgeous place. I arrived at the Belize City Airport on Saturday morning and was greeted by a staff member from Mt. Carmel High School. A bunch of us ended up cramming our luggage into a van and then lo and behold, the van got a flat tire in the parking lot! So we all waited until they were able to replace the tire before heading to our houses. The drive in was surreal. There were palm trees everywhere and beautiful, large green mountains in the distance. However, the poverty of the people was apparent in the towns we drove through. The houses were very small and some falling apart. The restaurants and stores were also very simple and one would not guess that it was a restaurant or store unless one looked at the signs.
The group of volunteers I will be working with is absolutely wonderful. I really appreciate each person already and I feel that we are all connected after the staff retreat this weekend. Every volunteer has his/her own personality and humor. It is a huge blessing to have a good group of volunteers because it will make living together much smoother!
I just received my assignment today after some teacher workshops. I will be teaching music twice a week to first form students (freshman in high school) and acting as the campus minister. It is supposed to be a great job but also very demanding. I will need much prayer! I am very excited about this job because I feel that it will give me a great outlet to reach the students and help to serve them/bring Christ to them in a special way.
I will be praying for all my donors and all those who have helped me or supported me in any way on Mondays in particular and throughout this school year while I am in Belize. Please thinks of me on "Mission Mondays' as well in your prayers.
Will hopefully write again soon. God Bless
-Bethany
The group of volunteers I will be working with is absolutely wonderful. I really appreciate each person already and I feel that we are all connected after the staff retreat this weekend. Every volunteer has his/her own personality and humor. It is a huge blessing to have a good group of volunteers because it will make living together much smoother!
I just received my assignment today after some teacher workshops. I will be teaching music twice a week to first form students (freshman in high school) and acting as the campus minister. It is supposed to be a great job but also very demanding. I will need much prayer! I am very excited about this job because I feel that it will give me a great outlet to reach the students and help to serve them/bring Christ to them in a special way.
I will be praying for all my donors and all those who have helped me or supported me in any way on Mondays in particular and throughout this school year while I am in Belize. Please thinks of me on "Mission Mondays' as well in your prayers.
Will hopefully write again soon. God Bless
-Bethany
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Almost
Less than a week to go! I can't believe it. Estoy emocionado y nervoso! (I am excited and nervous)
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