Honegger June 2022

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:9).

I am again writing to you while Stateside: though I had planned to be in the U.S.A. for Enrichment and training at the Home Office later in June, I returned a few weeks early as my visa expired and I needed additional paperwork. Please pray for the process to obtain a volunteer work permit to go smoothly when I return to Ethiopia in July.

The past three months at Rafiki Village Ethiopia were very full as I taught three different subjects to four different grade levels. The upper-level language arts curriculum focuses on the concept of a “life well-lived” and how an individual’s beliefs about God and creation affect what they value in life. Grade 9 students read the prologue of The Canterbury Tales and evaluated whether each character was a good shepherd or a peddler of God’s Word. Both the ugliness of sin and the beauty of a humble believer’s heart are highlighted in the story, and students considered which type of life they would want to emulate.

Grade 9 students dressed as the nun, monk, knight, pardoner, and merchant from The Canterbury Tales. Each student wrote and presented a short story from the perspective of their character.

Grade 8 students began studying three schools of philosophy and compared those worldviews to the biblical perspective of a life well-lived. They found scriptures that supported or refuted different beliefs of these philosophies and shared their reasoning. I loved guiding their discussions as much as they loved debating their ideas! We even had one class period “among the columns” of the gazebo as we discussed the Stoic philosophers of Athens.

Grade 8 students reading Luke 10 and analyzing the story of the good Samaritan from the perspective of a Stoic philosopher

Me with some of my Grade 8 Language Arts students.

Students were asked to consider the following: What is one truth you heartily believe about God? What should your life look like if you truly believe it? Some responses that stood out to me were:

“I heartily believe that God exists and that God sees me as His own child. My life should look like I am God’s son, being like Him and being a light for the world by obeying Him.”

“I believe that God is always there to help me and guide me. He is a God that feels my worries, pain, and struggles. Even when things are going wrong, I should believe that God is standing with me.”

“One truth I heartily believe about God is His true, never ending, never changing love. Because of His love for us He sent is ONLY SON to die for US! And my life must look like Him, loving those who love me and especially loving my enemy.”

What a joy it has been to see my students thinking deeply about their own beliefs, engaging in enthusiastic discussion, and learning to express why they believe what they do. Pray with me that they will continue to grow in wisdom, conviction, godliness, and a desire to seek the truth (Jesus) in all their choices!

Prayer Requests

• My volunteer visa and work permit to be processed smoothly.
• Grade 8 students to be focused in their preparations and do well on their national exams the first week of July.
• Complete funding for this term.

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