Hey y’all! Lyss here, this past week in the Middle East has been such an amazing time. At the library we have been helping run camp for the local community of kids. A general run down of what we do with the kiddos is we wait for them to trinkle in, play games or play an ice breaker, have a story time for the littles and fun space facts for the big kiddos, play minute to win it games, participate in a main craft activity, break for snack (of course!), and then play more games until we run out of time together! Wednesday and Thursday of space camp were so much fun. I enjoyed reading a story to the little ones where I feel the most in my element since I have teaching experience and am a teacher. Being animated for the kiddos and engaging them into a story about space was a highlight for me. Another highlight I had from camp was when I got to read aloud 10 crazy space facts for the big kiddos and had them move around by walking over a line to a true or false/yes or no side of the line when stating facts. The facts I read to them on Wednesday were SO INTERESTING! One crazy fact was “there are more trees on earth than stars in the Milky Way” (like WHAAAT?!😮 That is crazy, but cool!). One thing about teaching is that everyone is learning, both teacher and students. One last highlight of space camp for me was the many small conversations I was able to have with the little kids who range from age 6-9 (they are my favorite age group to work with ❤️). The life and excitement they bring is always a highlight of my day and the reason why I enjoy teaching kiddos! ☺️
Something that has been huge for me during this trip has been the teaching experience that I’ve gotten to practice in a different context, different setting, and totally different location with a different student demographic. One thing I have learned about myself as a teacher during space camp has been no matter where you are, classroom management is KEY! I have felt so honored when my co-teachers (Emmalee, Kit, Eliza, Sharon, Alina, Kayla, Shayna, and Sharon) stated aloud their appreciation of me being able to quiet the students in fun ways and when needed cause I saw the stress on their faces when the kids got rowdy (attention grabbers, if you know you know!). Not to pride myself in any way, but it was a cool moment where my group affirmed my skills and capability of the educator that I am and reminded me how far I have came in my journey as a teacher. I was in some ways able to be a leader and speak some teacher tips to the girls I ran camp with and it was humbling to have a reflective moment of “woah what I’ve learned from other teachers I am now passing down and teaching myself”. One thing I’ve enjoyed about this culture of students is that they are so smart and creative! It has been so fun asking questions to these kids and them knowing so much, even them teaching us some of their own language!
This country for me has been such a beautiful and unique experience. The history that this beautiful country holds literally puts me in such awe that I really do fall more in love with the experience. One of my favorite things about this place has been the people, they are SO relational and genuinely sweet and hospitable. The food is immaculate, truly chef’s kiss to every dish I have had on this trip! My most favorite thing about this country has been our visit to Petra and Jerash and that’s solely because they’ve been outside adventures that have allowed me to literally walk on history. In Jerash we got to walk the city ruins of Roman architecture and it was beautiful. It amazes me how humans back in the day were ever able to build such intricate architecture with their technology in their time and stand thankful being able to say I’ve witnessed and walked across that creation. My heart has been filled with such awe, love, excitement, and amazement and I know that as a believer it’s an encounter that I’ve been asking for! I’ve learned that our God never stops amazing me! I am going to miss this beautiful culture so much, but will forever hold this experience near and dear to my heart!
-Alyssa
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Hey everyone, Eliza here! Wow, I can’t believe how quickly our time in the Middle East has passed. Surprisingly, I have been spending most of my time with the kids at space camp. I was definitely expecting to be helping more in the library, but I have found myself loving the kids so much that I just want to be with them all the time!
Our last two days of space camp have been so crazy. On day 3 of space camp, I definitely loved just talking and getting to know the younger kids while they painted their book bags. A few of the little boys and I were just talking about little things but I’ve learned that just giving them all your attention when you talk to them is so powerful. They teach me how to be patient and the importance of being fully present. Not only does that help you build a relationship, but it allows you to really learn who they are. Another thing that really touched me on day 3 was when one of my new friends, we’ll call him T, had asked me, “Why weren’t you here yesterday?” I had only gotten to spend one day of space camp with the kids by this day so this really revealed to me how much the kids actually care that I am there with them. Even though I didn’t think that they would even remember who I was, that one question made me realize that these kids truly value each of us as their teachers. We and the older kids spent the rest of our time making galaxy slime, playing card games and just talking about anything and everything. I absolutely love just getting to talk to the kids. They love the attention and I love giving it to them.
Day 4 was our last day of space camp. Today was such a bittersweet day for me. While I wanted space camp to end because it did get very draining, I didn’t want to stop building relationships with the kids. By day 4, a lot of them have remembered my name (a personal goal of mine) and they look forward to seeing us at camp each day. I didn’t want to lose these friendships I was building. But we had a great last day. Filled with games, crafts and lots of water, I had a great time with them and I think they had a lot of fun, too. The highlight of day 4 for me was getting to take group photos with both camps. After all the ups and downs that we had throughout camp, it felt like we accomplished so much more than just finishing a week of activities. We had built new friendships, learned new skills (we all definitely had to grow in patience and kindness), and overall I feel like we each grew in some way over these past 4 days. That moment of taking the photos with the kids felt like we had done so much in so little time. I loved everything I learned from camp and from the kids this week.
Through this experience with the kids, I have learned so much about myself. As a teacher, I realized how much I actually enjoy spending time with kids. While I prefer working with older kids, I definitely have found that I can work well with all ages. Prior to this trip, I didn’t think I’d be so excited about just being with kids but they really showed me that I truly do love just building relationships with them. I also learned how to be disciplined as a teacher. It was definitely a challenge learning how to discipline kids as a teacher and not as an older sister. When they aren’t your own younger siblings, making sure you’re in control is a little bit harder… But in those moments, I learned how to speak and react differently. In addition to growing as a teacher, God also really built my faith while I worked with these kids. Even though we don’t get to really talk about Jesus or God explicitly, we get to show Him through the way we interact with them. One thing that has stood out to me the most is that I’ve had so many conversations with kids about how much they really, really like us and really, really want us to come back next summer. I kept wondering why they keep telling us that they like us so much. But then I realized that it’s because God’s love is truly prevalent in our actions. It has taught me that God moves in ways we may not always see. The way we live our lives for God is so important because He will use you in other peoples’ lives.
My time here in the Middle East has been so life changing. While I absolutely love all of the amazing food, visiting beautiful sites, and getting to learn about all of the history this country holds, my favorite thing about this place is the people. Before coming on this trip, I prayed that God would open my heart more to the people of this country and to the Middle East in general. God definitely answered that prayer. Meeting so many people and just learning more about the culture, I have found myself wanting to serve the people here more and more everyday. This country is filled with so many loving people and also people who need love. I used to have so many assumptions about the Middle East. But now that I am here, meeting the people, and getting just a taste of what life is like in Middle East, I really don’t want to leave. I am so thankful for the time I’ve had here and for all the new experiences and new friends! I definitely will be trying to come back here as soon as possible!!
-Eliza
