The Creator loves pizzazz!

The creator goes off on one wild, specific tangent after
another, or millions simultaneously, with an exuberance that
would seem to be unwarranted, and with an abandoned energy
sprung from an unfathomable font. What is going on here? The
point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water bug,
birdson, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted
minnows, is not that it all fits together like clockwork - for
it doesn't, particularly, not even inside the goldfish bowl -
but that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it
all surges in such a free fringed tangle. Freedom is the world's
water and weather, the world's nourishment freely given, its
soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.

--Annie Dillard

How to give help!

If you would like to help the children of India you can do so by going to the following website:

http://www.wcs-us.org/

Then click on your own country to discover how to give. Currently, the best way to give funds if you live in Australia is to do so online at this website.

The unrest in the northern part of India is still very much of a problem. We were warned to avoid going to the region of Behar and to avoid visiting schools in Delhi.

If you have any difficulty, please email me.

Who must we love?

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

- Matthew 5:46-47

School names

Just to be clear, the school in Beggar's Valley is St. Mark's Grammar School. That is the school that is in such dire need. I am pasting the website for a YouTube video of the children at this school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFUPvwNmjUs

The video shows 23 children who have been assigned the title of "Sunday School Children." In St. Mark's school there are Hindu parents who really object to having their children "enticed" away from the Hindu faith by teachers. So the Sunday School Children have the assignment to pray with other children and to tell them about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

In my next blog I will tell you how you can help St. Mark's Grammar School. The need is so huge.

If you have questions, please do email me directly. My email addresses are:.or

gstronks@wwcs.org

stro@calvin.edu

A Christian school resulting from a dream!

There is in the slum area of Hyderabad a school that stands out like a beacon. It is called Morningstar School. The huge blue building stands by itself in an open area close by the slums.

Mr. Joseph told us this story. Many years ago he and his eight sisters were left without parents. In the Indian culture that meant that he must provide for the welfare of the family. He did so by joining the army and sending his earnings home to his sister.

It was always Mr. Joseph’s dream that there would be a Christian school for the poorest people. When he retired from the army he used all of his pension to build the school that has become known as Morningstar. It is a huge school for pre-kindergarten through grade 10. The extended Joseph family lives in part of the school and they all work to provide the best quality of education that they can.

The teachers at Morningstar School are very dedicated. Even though they know that they could earn more money teaching in a state school they are happy to be in this school. The teaching day is very long for them. After the normal day is over children who need extra help come for tutoring in the evening. The tutoring is done by the teachers.

Morningstar School is completely self-sustaining. 50% of the children pay a small amount of tuition. The other 50% of the children are not able to do so. Yet, Mr. Joseph is so good at managing money that he can keep the school going just from the tuition the children bring!

Miss Sazeena Joseph, the niece of the Joseph’s, is the principal of the school. The children come to school knowing only their local language. In school they must learn to read and write Hindi. All of the instruction is in English and the children must learn to read and write English, also. It is amazing to learn that almost 100% of the students who leave the school score high enough marks on their exams that they can go to the school of their choice at the next level.

This is an amazing story!

A school near Begger's Valley

In Hyderabad, India we visited a Christian school that was so much in need I felt like weeping. It is a school that provides education for slum children. Very near to the school is "Begger's Valley" a valley where the very poorest people live.

The people of Begger's Valley often have jobs that bring in a very small amount of money each day. Sometimes their job is begging. Some of the women begin their job of sweeping the streets late at night after the traffic has lessened.

The children in this school were impressively neat in their school uniforms. The girls had heavy, shiny black braids tied with black ribbons. The classrooms were very crowded and very tiny, about the size of an office in the U.S. The children sat so close together on metal benches that they could hardly move freely.

Most of the teaching was done with workbook-type books. The instruction was rote with the teacher saying a line and all of the children repeating it. When the teacher asked a question the children answered in unison. Many of the teachers have a limited amount of education because there aren't funds to pay the salaries of certified teachers. Because there were no desks, the children held their notebooks on their laps and wrote that way. In spite of the conditions their writing was almost perfect.

In spite of the teaching and learning circumstances, the children score well on the exams given by the government. The exams measure the content of what the students have memorized rather than expecting the children to use that content to think in a new way.

What does this school need?

1. They need money for desks.

2. They need money for teachers' salaries.

3. They need money so that they will be able to educate more children who cannot pay any tuition.

5,000 children in India die each day!

In India 5,000 children under the age of 5 die every day from malnutrition related causes. Can you imagine? That means that 35,000 children die in India each week. It doesn’t have to be that way. We know the kind of care they need and there is money enough in India as well as in the rest of the world.

Do we not believe that each of those malnourished children is made in the image of God, whether or not they know their maker?

Teach well!

The Templeton Foundation studied small private schools in the villages of India and found that they provide a much better education than do the government schools. The teachers we have met who teach in those schools are dedicated and hard working. It is difficult for them to find the financial resources necessary to keep their schools going. This is especially true in the many situations where the teachers have orphanages for abandoned children in addition to the schools.

Sometimes life is strange!

Gypsy and I had agreed to meet in Mumbai, India to being our visits to the schools and teachers we have come to know. We had both looked forward to the visit but knew we would have a bit of difficulty finding each other because we arrived on different airlines.

Mumbai International Airport seems to us like a fairly good place to meet. However, we hadn't realized that we would be coming in at two different terminals. After an hour of waiting in my terminal a guard suggested that I go to terminal C. I pushed my luggage through the masses of people along the very rugged streets. A man said, "Just go ahead into the terminal even though it is illegal. You might find her that way." I did as he suggested and there was Gypsy, just arriving.

We found a driver and headed for our hotel. It was midnight and we were eager to get settled. However, a mile from the airport the car broke down. One man hopped out and started to push. It was impossible for them to get the car started. So we moved into a rickshaw and took the rest of the trip that way. We were very happy to arrive at the hotel at 1:20 a.m.

More about this soon!

Zurich and Singapore

We transferred in Zurich and it was a pleasure to be in the Zurich airport. I treasure the freedom we have in my own country. However, when I am in countries like Singapore or Switzerland I must admit that it is more pleasant to be where the laws and mores do not allow for such freedom. It is sonice to be where there are no gum wrappers or junk around.

Why do we dare to ask for your help?

I have told you only just a bit about the different ways Worldwide Christian Schools helps children throughout the world. We try our best not to waste any money. We try our best to ask the people what they need and to help in that way.

Why do we dare to ask for your help? It is because of what Jesus said.

Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of Godl" Surely the abandoned children of the world are included in his promise.

Jesus said, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it for me." Surely the children who have parents too poor to care for them properly are among the "least of these."

When he was asked which of the commandments are the most important, Jesus said that there are two and they are of equal importance..

1. We must love the Lord our God with our whole heart and strength and mind.

2. We must love our neighbor as ourselves.

Surely the needy children of the the world are our your neighbors as well as they are mine.

Caring for others is what matters most!

If the teachings of Jesus Christ are to be taken seriously, then caring for others is what matters most. If we truly do love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves, our entire lives will be directed toward justice. If we truly do live with gratitude to God for our salvation we will be deeply concerned and unceasingly active about such issues as economic inequality, unequal schooling, and limited or no health care for some. We will work for a just American policy toward other nations and civil rights in a time when the nation is fearful about terror strikes. These are the things our children must learn from us.

But, how do we do this? Is it possible to make children care about the world? Raising children isn’t easy. Sometimes we have no idea what they are thinking. Sometimes we have all we can do to make sure they are romsafe, fed, and don’t hurt each other too much when they fight.

Parent: I bungled along and things went pretty smoothly until Sarah, the oldest, reached junior high. At that point she was mature enough to rebel in a way that caused me to call my parenting practices into question. I think I tended to follow a modified version of the parenting practices of my own upbringing: parents have complete authority; children are to be obedient without question. Thankfully, Sarah rebelled and I realized that I could not, and should not control my children. I learned to listen, to recognize my children as individuals, to respect their ideas and concerns. My greatest regret in life is that I didn’t learn this sooner. I don’t mean to imply that this was an easy transition, nor that I executed it flawlessly. It is, however, the single greatest contribution that shaped my ideas concerning parenting.

From the forthcoming book, Families Living in the Fabric of God's Faithfulness by Julia Stronks and Gloria Stronks.

An effective life

Too often I looked at being relevant, popular, and powerful as ingredients of an effective ministry. The truth, however, is that these are not vocations but temptations. Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" Jesus sends us out to be shephers, and Jesus promises a life in which we increasingly have to stretch out our hands and be led to places where we would rather not go. He asks us to move from a concern for relevance to a life of prayer, from worries about popularity to communal and mutual ministry, and from a leadership built on power to a leadership in which we critically discern where God is leading us and our people.

- Henri Nouwen
In the Name of Jesus

Can I change the world?

In huge letters the sign said, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD! I wonder about that. Actually, while not one of us can claim to do that each of us must make a difference in whatever way we can if we are to be obedient to the fabric of God's faithfulness.

Thinking about that keeps me going!

Stop Junk Mail!

I just signed up with www.greendimes.com to stop junk mail that comes to our house. I paid $20 to do so.

Now if someone could tell me how to stop spam in my email I would be very happy.