The Party
They started begging for their books in January, even before school had started. There really wasn’t any that special about the book… just 17 pages of crisp white paper, black ink, and a row of staples down the middle fold that would become tattered, dirty, and torn over the coming months. On each page, a question and answer, and a verse or two. Answers to questions like ‘Who is God?’ How does God want me to live my life?’, and ‘What does the Bible say about Satan, angels, and the future?’ are supported by the verse which the kids must recited word-perfectly in order to pass to the next verse.
For two years, my 3rd grade students had been hearing stories about the ‘reciting parties’ Teecha Angelina (aka Me :)) would put on for anyone who finished their book. Each year I would put on an ice-cream/yogurt party for all those who recited every verse word-perfectly. Then as an additional motivation, I promised all those who would recite the whole of their book a second time through that I would take them swimming at a pool in Mbale town. Keep in mind these are kids in the village, and many of them had never experienced either ice-cream or swimming before these parties. The vast majority of my 3rd graders could only imagine the wonderful-ness that ice-cream and swimming pools could contain.
They knew they didn’t want to miss out, and they were eager to start! I was just as eager, and had the books ready for all 103 the first week of school.
I think I realized about a week in that I might have bitten off more than I could chew :) The daunting task of listening to 103 children recite over 8,000 verses in total….many of those twice over… is rather astonishing looking back on it. If each child took only 2 minutes to recite each verse and recited it perfectly the first time (though many children needed 4 or 5 tries before it was perfect), it would have taken 271 hours, or almost 34 full work days for me to listen to all those verses! That’s on top of a full-time working schedule!
Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it alone. For the three weeks that Michelle was visiting in the summer, she helped listen to a huge number of verses. Then when Laura and Elizabeth (my new housemates) joined us in July and August, they both helped TREMENDOUSLY to listen to hundreds of verses as the kids made the final push to finish their books in time for the party.
Sisye Elvis was the first to finish. I think it took him only 3 months to not only recite, but review the whole of his book. He would follow me out to my car every single day begging to recite just one more verse that day. Saturdays at AWANA would also find him with his reciting book in hand, ready for any spare moment he could catch my attention and get one more verse signed off.
He was so eager and fast, that the rest of the school gave up competing with him within the first month, and just knew that Sisye would be the first to finish! My greatest joy came not only in seeing him so eager to learn his verses, but to watch them really stick! In class, if I ever referred to one of the verses he had learned, he would be the first with his hand up ready to recite both verse and reference. I could mention just the first couple words of a verse and watch him take over till the end!
It was so amazing to remember 3 years ago when he had first come to Genesis and struggled to even read and speak all the words of the verses, much less recite a whole verse. He had been so delayed in his learning due to malnutrition and being pulled in and out of school his whole life because he could not afford school fees. When he got a sponsor and started coming to Genesis, all that changed. He’s still really small for his age, but boy, is he smart! He went from the bottom of his class 3 years ago to being near the top of his class now! It just thrills my heart to watch his confidence and pleasure every time he thrusts his book into my hands and starts rolling off a verse even before I’ve asked the beginning question!
His story is what continues to give me hope for so many of the other children (especially in 3rd grade) who come in struggling with English and reading. Reciting their verses was so hard this year, and many of them got discouraged, I’m sure. But it was such a blessing to this teacher’s heart to see them struggle without giving up. Even when some of them were far behind the rest of their friends, they still tried. And several of them did finally finish!
We had 46 kids come to the book-finishing party, and 26 of those came for our swimming party too! That party was an epic day. Each detail burns bright in my memory…the colored papers printed with verses, cut up and hidden for a scavenger hunt…the buckets of water balloons for capture the flag….the little speaker that did a stand up job of filling the whole dining hall with music, the flare of candles burning on the brightly colored cake, and the long row of tables with heaps of prizes ready for the kids to buy with their tickets. Seeing the wonder of it all through the eyes of my eager village children will forever be a cherished memory.
So many times throughout the party, I would think of the joy that I had in watching my kids enjoy the fruit of their labor. I think it gave me just a hint of how much my Father God celebrates my enjoyment of the gifts and rewards He gives me as well.
I thought about how each of my kids would not have been able to finish their books without me first providing the book, helping in their work of reciting, and finally preparing the reward of the party for those who accomplished the task I had given. But I also would not have been able to reward them without them participating in the work I gave them!
Isn’t it that way with God? He does all the work of setting us up for ministry, enabling us to do the work, and all the preparation for our reward, but our final reward is also dependent on our participation! Still somehow, I also tend to think of it as my ‘contribution’ and ‘service’ to Him, not realizing how those projects are actually for my own benefit and blessing. My kids will also talk about memorizing their verses as ‘doing Teecha Angelina’s work.’ But I hope one day they’ll look back and realize that all that Scripture hidden in their hearts was for their own benefit and blessing too. Not only the party at the end, but also the process and work was all for their good!
For two years, my 3rd grade students had been hearing stories about the ‘reciting parties’ Teecha Angelina (aka Me :)) would put on for anyone who finished their book. Each year I would put on an ice-cream/yogurt party for all those who recited every verse word-perfectly. Then as an additional motivation, I promised all those who would recite the whole of their book a second time through that I would take them swimming at a pool in Mbale town. Keep in mind these are kids in the village, and many of them had never experienced either ice-cream or swimming before these parties. The vast majority of my 3rd graders could only imagine the wonderful-ness that ice-cream and swimming pools could contain.
They knew they didn’t want to miss out, and they were eager to start! I was just as eager, and had the books ready for all 103 the first week of school.
I think I realized about a week in that I might have bitten off more than I could chew :) The daunting task of listening to 103 children recite over 8,000 verses in total….many of those twice over… is rather astonishing looking back on it. If each child took only 2 minutes to recite each verse and recited it perfectly the first time (though many children needed 4 or 5 tries before it was perfect), it would have taken 271 hours, or almost 34 full work days for me to listen to all those verses! That’s on top of a full-time working schedule!
Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it alone. For the three weeks that Michelle was visiting in the summer, she helped listen to a huge number of verses. Then when Laura and Elizabeth (my new housemates) joined us in July and August, they both helped TREMENDOUSLY to listen to hundreds of verses as the kids made the final push to finish their books in time for the party.
Sisye Elvis was the first to finish. I think it took him only 3 months to not only recite, but review the whole of his book. He would follow me out to my car every single day begging to recite just one more verse that day. Saturdays at AWANA would also find him with his reciting book in hand, ready for any spare moment he could catch my attention and get one more verse signed off.
It was so amazing to remember 3 years ago when he had first come to Genesis and struggled to even read and speak all the words of the verses, much less recite a whole verse. He had been so delayed in his learning due to malnutrition and being pulled in and out of school his whole life because he could not afford school fees. When he got a sponsor and started coming to Genesis, all that changed. He’s still really small for his age, but boy, is he smart! He went from the bottom of his class 3 years ago to being near the top of his class now! It just thrills my heart to watch his confidence and pleasure every time he thrusts his book into my hands and starts rolling off a verse even before I’ve asked the beginning question!
His story is what continues to give me hope for so many of the other children (especially in 3rd grade) who come in struggling with English and reading. Reciting their verses was so hard this year, and many of them got discouraged, I’m sure. But it was such a blessing to this teacher’s heart to see them struggle without giving up. Even when some of them were far behind the rest of their friends, they still tried. And several of them did finally finish!
We had 46 kids come to the book-finishing party, and 26 of those came for our swimming party too! That party was an epic day. Each detail burns bright in my memory…the colored papers printed with verses, cut up and hidden for a scavenger hunt…the buckets of water balloons for capture the flag….the little speaker that did a stand up job of filling the whole dining hall with music, the flare of candles burning on the brightly colored cake, and the long row of tables with heaps of prizes ready for the kids to buy with their tickets. Seeing the wonder of it all through the eyes of my eager village children will forever be a cherished memory.
So many times throughout the party, I would think of the joy that I had in watching my kids enjoy the fruit of their labor. I think it gave me just a hint of how much my Father God celebrates my enjoyment of the gifts and rewards He gives me as well.
I thought about how each of my kids would not have been able to finish their books without me first providing the book, helping in their work of reciting, and finally preparing the reward of the party for those who accomplished the task I had given. But I also would not have been able to reward them without them participating in the work I gave them!
Isn’t it that way with God? He does all the work of setting us up for ministry, enabling us to do the work, and all the preparation for our reward, but our final reward is also dependent on our participation! Still somehow, I also tend to think of it as my ‘contribution’ and ‘service’ to Him, not realizing how those projects are actually for my own benefit and blessing. My kids will also talk about memorizing their verses as ‘doing Teecha Angelina’s work.’ But I hope one day they’ll look back and realize that all that Scripture hidden in their hearts was for their own benefit and blessing too. Not only the party at the end, but also the process and work was all for their good!
Hi Melanie! I am a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and I came to first hear of you through Missions Conference. I am starting to get serious about my prayer life when it comes to others and I had your prayer card. God showed me that if I wanted to pray for people well I needed to know what was in their life! So I finally got to look at your page today to look for specific things I could pray for. I am so encouraged to hear about the work you are doing! I too have a heart for African and for children and your story encourages my own heart in serving God in similar ways as you. I helped with Awana some in Chicago. What a valuable tool you can give to children to teach them God's Word using that program. How amazing it is that those children are learning so much under your leadership! I will pray that they will understand those verses and understand how to live them out. I will pray for you to grow in your knowledge of their culture and language and in wisdom in sharing the gospel there. Keep pressing on! Know that your labor is not in vain and you will reap reward if you do not give up. Galatians 6:9 says this: Let us not lose heart in doing good for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. God bless you Melanie! And know that my prayers are with you as you work with the children there.
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