Spanish, Español, Шпански!

As many of you know, I (Janae) am an ESL teacher. But, before ESL, I taught Spanish. When we first found we were coming to Macedonia, it was bittersweet for me to pack up my Spanish books knowing there is a chance of not needing them again. I came here to teach English. But, the Father had something else in mind.
I was approached by several people about teaching a Spanish class, but had written it off as just "several people wanting to learn something other than English." But, when the desire spread, I asked our team leader if this could be a possibility. After being given the "green light"--here's what happened:
We have almost finished the 6-week introductory Spanish course through Izgrev. Although this was a trial run to test the water, we were very pleased to see the response from the local community. 6 weeks ago we had registration complete with 26 names on the list (after the classes were advertised in the local newspaper and through flyer distribution) which soon grew to 35 by the first class. Because of this number and a lack of space, the class was split and offered at two different times twice a week. Each class continued to grow as friends told friends and family told family...
In the end there were 71 students on the roster! It was a blast as I was able to meet many new friends and get to know others who aren't in the already existing circle of friends.
I was especially appreciative of several of my close Macedonian friends who came along side of me in support, staying for both classes, serving drinks, washing dishes between and after classes (which is no small chore) and being willing to explain in Macedonian any grammatical concepts that I couldn't show with a picture or with actions. This would not have been successful without them! (Thank you Irena, Aneta, and Boro!)
So, many would wonder how such a class is taught if I am not yet fluent in Macedonian? Well, I taught completely in Spanish, using photocards, drawings and actions to relate the meaning. The biggest challenge was on the part of the student as the Macedonian language is in Cyrillic, and Spanish is not. So, if one didn't have a knowledge of the Roman Alphabet (such as we use in English), one had to learn pretty quickly! This way of teaching isn't traditional--textbook, pen, worksheets, etc--and I think it worked to my advantage!
The main group of people drawn to these classes are 20-somethings, single, in-and-graduated-from college students. There was some roll-over from students of the English classes, and some Americans!!! (NY, CA, FL)
Spanish classes will resume again the 3rd week in September, and I am so excited as Tree of Life Church in New Braunfels, Texas has partnered in ministry with us to provide the curriculum needed to be able to present Beginner and Intermediate Courses! Praise the Father for such a gift to us, and we are excited to see how He will use it for His glory!

Letters from Texas

We received such a surprise in the mail this past week. 55 letters from fellow Brothers and Sisters at First Baptist Church Andrews, Texas arrived in a small flat-rate Priority Mail box. What an encouragement they were to us as we read each one, and each one reminding us that we truly are one body in Christ. Now, even though I (Janae) am from Texas, I haven't been to this church nor do I know any of its members. However, this effort of love is testimony of a church without walls, a bond that stretches across the ocean from Texas to Prilep, Macedonia. Praise the Lord He does not leave us in this battle alone!
One of the letters came from Pastor Clayton, who had found our blog and emailed us to introduce himself and ask for our address. Here is what he wrote in his letter we have just received:
"Dear Spencer, Janae, and Kate,
Our church is praying individually and corporately that your ministry in macedonia will be richly blessed by the Lord. I am the youth minister here at our church and I have traveled to many foreign countries on short-term mission trips. Each one of our youth are reading about your story and you are an inspiration to us all. Love the Lord with all your heart and live it out!
In Christ,
Clayton"
What a blessing, to have a youth minister that is instilling in the hearts of our youth the importance of missions and of prayer! For those of you who know us, you know that Spencer and I have such a big heart for youth...now instead of ministering to them, they are ministering to us. What a joy!
One of the letters which really stood out was printed in black ink and not signed. This is what it stated:
"Thank you for everything you're doing in your service to the Lord. Know that we are praying for you and that you are not alone in your missions. You have God and a whole church behind. So again thank you."
These letters couldn't have arrived at a better time, as I had been in and out of the doctors' offices, had blood work done, and had to travel to the capital city to see a specialist. The doctor has diagnosed me with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, for which I will be treated a year and a half. As a part of this disease, I literally feel as if I am running marathons back to back, no matter the level of difficulty of activity, be it walking down the street or sleeping at night. Feeling kind of down about this news, we were really in need of encouragement. Isn't God good? He knew exactly what we needed! We give thanks to God for our Brothers and Sisters in Andrews, Texas. We hope that one day we will be able to meet you and thank you in person for your letters. May God bless you all.