#elicengage

[thelightsolovely]

Another one from the best day 🌈#Laos #waterfall #rainbow #elicengage #weareelic (at Tad Yeuang Waterfall)

[thelightsolovely]

This is what I did today in Laos #weareelic #elicengage #Laos #waterfall (at Tad Yeuang Waterfall)

[tintamarie]

Fantabulous Friday

Hello all! Tina here!

I hope everything is going well! God is working tremendously here in HK and I'm sure He is with all of you too! He is an amazing God who is present everywhere!

What have I been up to? Well class was extremely exhausting this week. However, I loved every single minute of it because I got to spend the time with my students (I didn't particularly like sweating everywhere on the way to school haha). They are so absolutely wonderful.  I love my class so much! I think they have actually been learning a good bit and that I have been able to establish even better relationships with them. They are all so sweet and sassy but we have good comraderie in the classroom. Some of the girls and I even went to lunch a couple of days during the week (they even took me to pizza the second day because they knew I liked pizza).

Now I know I am not supposed to have favorites but I have to say that one of my students has just captured my heart. His name is Henry. It's funny because the first thing he told me is that he got a demerit because of his gambling habit. What a thing to say to a teacher when you first meet them! Even so, he has been such a sweetheart. He tries so hard even though he has a lot lower of an ability than all of the other students in my class. He also just has this smile that melts my heart. I remember one of the lunch days, he came with me and some of the other teachers to lunch and offered me both his Subway cookies. So sweet! Please pray for him. He has been heavy on my heart and I feel as if he needs prayer.

There is also another student that needs prayer. His name is Michael. He is one of the most smiley kids I have ever met and is just so sweet. Every time I tell him to smile, he smiles while wagging his finger at me. It's so funny. However, today in class he just started crying. I'm still not sure what it is about but I really hope that he feels better! Pray that I have the words to say to comfort him.

Some of the struggles...

- Tiredness

- Don't want to leave

- Stress about lesson planning and observations.

Prayer requests

- Pray for even deeper connections with my students

- Pray that I would be a light to them and at least one step in their journey towards the Father (even if it's merely by knowing their name and teaching them well)

- Pray that I would stay focused on what God has me here for!

 Finally, if time permits, you should check out my instagram - TangledTina20. I'll post more pictures soon!

[4thelovemagazine]

Spending Time With Students

Spending Time With Students  

By  @sydmullet

Meet Yan! She is one of my students and she’s completely adorable. We got to eat lunch together today, and it was so fun getting to hear her practice her English. So excited to spend the next 3 weeks getting to know my students better!! :) #elicengage

[4thelovemagazine]

Great Photos From ELIC Engage

Some wonderful pictures by Megan McKenney during ELIC Engage.

About ELIC

ELIC places passionately committed people in teaching roles across Asia, who primarily serve through the medium of English instruction. www.ELIC.org

[cobblestonesandhoney-blog]

#elicengage

for the past year i have been recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and preparing 140 college students to teach english in asia for a summer program called engage. having done it myself, teaching in mainland china two years ago, i can honestly say it's probably the best experience anyone could have. ever.

[me and my class. changzhou, china. july 2012.]

after months and months of hard work and the lord's help, i hopped on a plane with all the "engagers" and we headed to asia. for the third summer in a row, i got to spend a week in hong kong for training, watching those kids gear up for the wildest month of their young lives and then head out -- to mongolia, vietnam, and china -- to do what they've been called to do.

[the view from the training site. shatin, hong kong.]

i adore being in asia. not because it's beautiful (don't let that view deceive you, it's not all islands and skyscrapers), not because the food is great (i've only mostly eaten asian cafeteria food while there, which is just as bad as american cafeteria food), and not because the culture is easy to absorb and welcoming to outsiders (it's just not). asia is, overall, a challenging place to be.

[exploring the city. tsim sha tsui, hong kong.]

but i have a heart for its people. for the tiny, timid voices of young girls that call out from beside me on the subway, asking to practice their english; for the students i came to love that summer and the emails they still send asking for advice on life and dating and school; for the cheeks that blush when i catch people snapping photos of my blonde hair, and the smiles we exchange when i suggest we take a picture together instead. i love each one of them -- the strangers and the friends alike. i can't exactly explain why, either, which can mean only that that love comes from my Father, not me. and that's the best kind of love, anyways.

[the ferry from one island to another. soho, hong kong.]

and with all that in mind, i'm so proud of them -- those 140 who have chosen to embrace that challenging place and a similar love. they've each been bold enough to say "yes" and have worked hard to make this summer happen. and i am so excited for them. they are about to experience the most difficult, the most fun, the most rewarding summer of their existence thus far. i can't wait to hear all the stories of altered lives and changed hearts and about how they they fell for asia.

[about half of the group of engagers and me. go get 'em, guys!]