Nick Strong

Moments before speaking in Secondary Chapel

So we are now two weeks in and going strong.  Things seem to be going well at school and everyone seems to be getting in a rhythm.  The nature of an international school seems to be that during holiday everyone goes home, which means that we have students traveling all around the world.  Many of our students are traveling all over the world.  It has been incredible to meet these students and get to know their culture while at the same time the school is creating its own culture, made up of all the different cultures.  It is not uncommon to walk through our campus and to hear many different languages spoken such as, English, Swahili, Luganda, French, Dutch, Spanish, Korean, and many other languages.  What a amazing opportunity to be able to see and hear the vastness of God’s amazing creation.  I feel very blessed to able to be here at this time. 

My classroom is very diverse.  I have students from, Australia, Korea, India, Sudan, United States, England, Canada, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Italy, and Holland.  It has been great at the same time created some challenges as we try to take everyone from all of their different cultures and try to create classroom rules and put into practice different classroom management tools.  Some come from a culture that if you ask the teacher a question, then that means that you are questioning their authority and knowledge of the subject, so regardless of whether they understand you or not they will not raise their hand if they have a question.  Others come from schools that demand great dedication to the work and demand great amounts of time spend doing homework, while others come from backgrounds where they have not been pushed at all.  Some for example the Sudanese boys, have learned to have great respect and not to disrespect the teacher at all whether they like them or not while others have no respect for their teachers or themselves for that matter.

All my students from 7-12 along with fellow teachers

It has been interesting trying to figure out how I will go about teaching the different Bible classes.  I have had and have experienced many different types of teachers with many different teaching styles.  Some I have liked and some I haven’t.  With some teaching styles I have learned many things while with others I have not learned so much.  I have decided that for me the most effective way that I can teach my students is by using the “Discovery Learning” style.  Teaching in this way creates and puts more of the responsibility on the student.  The studnet does more of the work and carries more of the load, while the teacher is there guiding and instructing the student on how to do things.  In most classrooms, the teacher takes the notes and does the learning for the student and all the student has to do is copy down the notes and make sure that they memorize them for the test.  I am convinced that this is not the most effective way to make a student learn.  I believe that they learn this way but they do not learn for themselves.  Well what does that look like then in the classroom?  Great question, let me explain.

Speaking During the Elementary Chapel

In my Bible classes I have three goals.  My goals are that: the student would work hard, the student would use and expand his mind, and that the student would learn.  I try to accomplish this through daily journals.  We write on different jounal topics and sometimes the topics are controversial topics.  I give the students an opportunity to express their own opinion on paper and not just fade into the background.  Many times one or two students will have strong opinions and share them outloud which is great but I believe that many students probably have opinions but are drowned out by the those who are vocal.  Also, if a student does not have much of an opinion, these journals force them to think about the subject and forces them to try and come up with an opinion.  Therefore, expanding their mind.  Also each class has different Bible readings each week and they are quizzed in class on what they read.  Therefore they have to study it for themselves and then after the quiz we will talk about it during class.  Those are some of the small ways that the “Discovery Learning” method is implemented in my class.

Tumi is doing pushups in Chapel for an illustration

Chapel this week went pretty well.  I felt like I was prepared and was able to effectively communicate what I thought that God had for the students that day.  In the secondary I spoke on the most basic concepts of Christianity.  We are sinners, God has sent His Son to die for us, and it is a free gift for us.  In one of my journals in Bible class I posed the question.  What are the most important attributes of God and why?  One young man said, I do not know because I do not know any attributes of God.  Please pray for me as I teach Bible to some who know nothing, as well as we try to witness and minister to these kids through chapel.  In the Elementary chapel, I gave an object lesson comparing our purpose with the purpose of a basketball.  I compared a flat basketball to a pumped up one and talked about which one of these could effectively fulfill its purpose.  I then talked about how our main purpose is to bring glory to God throug our life.  I talked about the things that we need to be doing so that we can fulfill our purpose like, praying, reading the Bible, praising Him, obeying Him, and listening to him.  The kids listened well in both chapels and I was pleased with how God led and encouraged me in the chapels through His Holy Spirit.

At Drum practice - I am taking lessons from the Music teacher at Heritage

Thank you for your prayers and support during these days.  I am excited about what God has during these days ahead.  I would love to hear from you and it is as simple as making a comment on this blog when you read it.  It would be great to know who is reading the blog and to hear a short summary of what you are up too.  I can’t wait to read your comments on here soon.

To the right is my new hobby.  I have been taking drum lessons for some time now.  I can do alright when i can touch the drums with my hands but when you put sticks in my hands it seems to be much more difficult for me.  Well I guess they say that practice makes perfect right.  I guess I will keep trying then.

So when I wake up Monday morning, I will wake up to the sound of chit chat outside my room, little kids giggling on the playground, and teachers talking over a cup of tea. Monday starts the fall semester at Heritage International School. (HIS)

I have been traveling to future future sights of WGM Uganda ministries, I have been on retreat, I have attended a 7 Habits of Highly Effective People conference, and have spent time with dear friends of mine both African and American.

In the last post on here I gave you the tentative schedule of events for me. God truly blessed me with the opportunity to see and experience many things. I spent a week on retreat with all of the missionaries here in Uganda. We went to Mbale which is a city over near the border of Kenya. Eldred and Luanne Kelly came over from Florida to speak at our retreat.

From there we I went up to Arua for a week to spend some time in northern Uganda with our missionaries that are posted there. We traveled around Northern Uganda and I also got to go on safari for a couple of days. I flew back to Kampala on Saturday and jumped on a bus on Sunday. 10 hours later I arrived in Kenya. I had a great time in Kenya at the conference but more than that just spending time with friends. I traveled to Tenwek hospital and was able to spend some time with Community Health workers that I worked with before. I was also able to spend time with many of the missionaries. We had Thanksgiving dinner in July and we also played Christmans music. What a party.

My time in Kenya was such a blessing. I was able to relax. I was able to spend time with my friends Tiana and Teresa Duncan. It was a blessing to spend time with someone that you have history with. Time with friends that you can relax with and just spend time together. I don’t know that we did anything real special or spectacular except just being together.

Heritage Kids Doing Their Stuff

And now I sit here, with lesson plans completed, just waiting for the students to come. Many of the same questions, feelings, and anxieties are rushing through my head like when I was just minutes from touching down to Uganda for the first time. If I let myself I will start to doubt that God is in control but I know that he is faithful. I start to doubt my abilities to teach 5 Bible classes and a sports elective, but I also know that when I am weak my God is strong. Also, at the end of my resources is where God takes over because God is able.

Please pray for the school as we start this week. Pray for the students, families, faculty, and staff. We are actually still in need of a chief administrator for the school. We are asking that God would provide that person. Please pray for the hearts and spirits of the students of our school. Some of them desperately need a relationship with Jesus. You can pray for patience and endurance for all parties involved as everyone gets tired sooner or later.

Thank You,

P.S. I am wanting to start sending e-mail updates a couple of times a month but do not have many of your e-mail addresses. If you could please e-mail me at nick.strong@wgmuganda.org or leave a comment on this blog so that I can add you to my address list, I can start compiling a list.  These e-mails will be more involved with the day-to-day life and ministry of life here in Kampala.