Friday, May 3, 2013

Day five - bittersweet good byes

Today dawned with blue skies, birds singing and the sun shining brightly.  The temperature actually has risen to around 65. It is lovely for sure. The Latvians are out and about enjoying the arrival of Spring.

We just finished our final sessions at the school.  We had so much fun today with the students.  As we told you last night, the plan today was to do role plays with them to see if they could put into practice the things we taught them.  I (Sherry) made up three role plays to do.  Each one of course was covering a different issue of life so they could get some variety.   We wanted to make it applicable to their lives since most will only be advice givers not counselors in the sense of having clients. Anyway, I acted the parts out dramatically and then as a group they asked the questions to gather information and also then gave advice and homework to the "person".  We laughed so hard through  most of it that tears were running down our faces because they were so concerned they would not do it correctly and they were correcting each other when they thought a bad question or advice given was not right.  I would coach them periodically to help them see deeper into the issues.  I was so proud of them.  They really had learned the lessons this week.  As I commended them they sat straighter and got huge smiles on their faces.  Then they wanted to know if we could do more role plays the next session because it had helped them so much. So we did 2 more in the next session.

We also had assigned them a written paper last night which would count for 20% of their grade so we spent time going over their answers. 

PW spoke in chapel today and talked about love one another and forgive one another. It was excellent and the students were really attentive.  After chapel one young man wanted time to talk with PW so that he could work through a problem with someone.

The last session was the test.  And then the goodbyes.  The students presented us with a gift and then gathered around us to pray for us and our ministry. Many thanked us for the teachings and said it was very useful. One girl said she would never forget the lessons she learned. 

After lunch which was blinshki's,  Mauro, the dean of the school and a precious godly young man, took us to Jelgava to site see. He took us to see a Castle that Catherine the Great had built for one of her lovers and then we walked around. 

In spite of being sick it has been a wonderful memorable week for us.  It is always hard to say good bye to those we spend time with.  We leave tomorrow at 2:25 for home. Please pray for our safety and for connections to be made and that we can sleep on the plane.

Thank you once again for holding us up in prayer this past week. We have felt the difference and are so appreciative.  We will post the pictures from home on Monday so be sure to check back to see our class and this lovely country.

Much love,
PW and Sherry

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