Liz Roddy (bottom right of photo), shared with us one of the highlights of her time here with the Christian Assembly team that helped us launch our on-going English classes with the young men in our football/soccer club.
Above, she and some of the others on the team are seen with the trainers they trained to carry the classes on. Below, you'll find her highlight story. Enjoy!
"We started the English club on a Monday and some of the students were very timid and afraid to speak up in front of the class. A lot of them had not had much opportunity to practice their speaking, so I think they were a little intimidated. One of the boys, Ibrahim, was particularly shy. He had a hard time understanding, and whenever we would ask him a question, we could barely hear his response...everything came out as a whisper.
Then on Thursday, our second to last day of class, we were teaching about "CAN and CAN'T." The boys had to do an activity where they walked around the clubhouse and asked each other what they can and can't do. They were to write their classmates answers down, so they could share with the class. Then, as we went around asking each person to share, we slowly made our way around to Ibrahim.
We were expecting another quiet response, when all of a sudden, Ibrahim, shouted in a loud, clear voice,
"I talked to David, and he can play football, but he can't swim."
We were shocked! And so was everyone else. All the other boys began applauding for him; they knew this was a big moment for Ibrahim. We gave him a prize for a job well done.
When Ibrahim spoke up, my heart was overjoyed. I could feel God in that moment, I knew English club was making a difference and that it would mean a long term change for these kids. I was so excited because of how much Ibrahim and the other boys had improved over just 4 days. Think of what we could have done in a month!"
