In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost

It's 12:00pm. The morning services have just sung their last songs and people begin mingling from all of the services: the 2nd hour English service, the 2nd hour Cantonese service, probably the Mandarin service, and the Sunday school classes. I locate my parents and move towards them, stopping to chat with a former student from my first year of teaching who has spent the last couple years navigating the treacherous waters of college classes and lived to tell about it--she still has her quick laugh and wry sense of humor at herself. When she leaves I look around the auditorium, loving the feel of this particular celebration.

The number of Cantonese in this service is greater than normal. I don't know very many of them. The number of people I know, however, is pretty large. The son of someone I know is part of the celebration, too. The excitement is high. People are milling about and chatting as Jay sits at the piano, playing background music of hymns and choruses. Some people have cameras out, some carry bouquets of flowers for those who are part of today's baptismal service. On the stage in front of the closed curtain, three people stand with various types of cameras at the ready. They're the official photographers, I think. The pictures will make it onto a power point presentation at some point, I'm sure. Maybe they'll be posted on the web.

The curtain opens and Pastor Johnny Yue, the Cantonese senior pastor stands in the water ready and waiting. He reminds us of why we are here: we are here to watch as 6 seniors--one a recent high school graduate (laughter ripples through the crowd) and 5 senior citizens ages 76-83--obey Christ by being baptized.

It's not easy for the Chinese believers to do this, I realize. When most of your family members are Buddhist or worship their ancestors (or both), you think far longer and harder about baptism before you "take the plunge". While their families may allow their Christian testimony to go unchallenged at home as long as they still participate in family activities, while their parents may allow them to go to church, the public act of baptism can cause a great stir in the unbelieving family circles. Anything public is seen as a reflection of the family, and public baptism could be construed as public humiliation by many family members. Therefore, the Chinese believers will often wait for years before making such a public profession of their choice to follow Christ.

On the other hand, the senior citizens being baptized have probably been prayed for by their believing relatives for many many years. Their families are present, full of joy and wonder at the transforming power of Christ that extends even to those who are too old to be taught new tricks.

Each time the curtain opens, all talk stops as we watch, almost breathless with the wonder of the scene, another believer being baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The elderly have a harder time figuring out what to do--Pastor Johnny has to tell them step by step what he is going to do and what he needs them to do. They're so cute! Their baptisms are not exactly smooth: they end up nearly sitting down first and then being lowered back into the water, they come up clinging to Pastor Johnny, and each waves at the crowd with a big cheery smile as the curtain closes. Everyone claps! Applause fills the room, sometimes cheers and cat-calls. And flash-bulbs go off all over the room.

I don't understand half of what is being said because Pastor Johnny is speaking primarily Cantonese. But I do understand that they are following Christ in something very serious and very exciting, something I did many years ago myself. And I cheer and clap and feel a sensation akin to what the angels in heaven must have felt when those souls first accepted the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. There's something comforting about those words: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, I baptize you now." We all belong to the same family, even though we have come from different parts of the world and speak different languages. We belong and we are loved. There's always room for more.

Whew!

The first week of summer school is over. It FLEW past! But each day was so full that it hardly seems possible we have only been in school for 3 days! To make things a little more mushed in my brain, my other years of summer school keep running into one another and I keep forgetting which year things happened.

It's good to see kids I have gotten to know over the years, especially these last 3 years--kids I have had come to the early morning care each year and smile and remember at least my face if not my name. They crave so much attention and are ready to have lots of fun! On day one we made and flew paper airplanes (well, some of the kids learned how to make a plane that does tricks from one of the TA's) and paper airplanes have made their appearance each morning since. On the second morning, I missed my alarm and barely made it to school on time to open the gate for the first parents, but make it I did. My morning assistant Peter was waiting for me. "I slept through my alarm!" I told him. His reply surprised me: "I did, too."

I am feeling more excited about summer school this year than I remember being last year. Mom says that it is because I am back in the classroom after a year of not being in front of a class. I wonder if it's the product of not being worn out from being in front of a classroom this year--not that this year has not been hard work, but that it has been a different kind of hard work. Maybe it's a better understanding of the curriculum and expectations. Maybe it's a feeling of being more organized. I don't know, but I'm enjoying it =)

No kids were singing in the bathroom on the first day this year. But my two classes of 2nd graders are polar opposites of each other: my first class is quiet, my second is quite chatty; my first class is content to sit and read or write or do other "school" things; my second class is more active (the art teacher commented on that class characteristic the first day, and I found her comment quite insightful and helpful); the first class listens to instructions (usually) and then tries to do them; the second class tries to listen and follow instructions at the exact same time . . . while talking to their neighbors about the instructions . . . while sharpening pencils that should already have been sharpened. But they're quite insightful and eager to learn and love stories--what more could a teacher ask for? A quiet class. Well, if I can figure out the best way to harness their energy, we'll be in business!

I have the best TA's (well, I have had others just as good, some more experienced, even, but these girls are great!)! Pray for them--they are with the kids all day while I only have the kids till lunch. I'm sure they sleep very well at night =)

So, as I get ready to sleep in tomorrow without worrying about the alarm, I feel quite pleased with the week overall and grateful for the chance to do this for another summer. I love it! And it's nice to see ways in which I am becoming a better teacher. What are they? that's my secret! (just kidding)