Hello family, Yesterday i got a letter from one of my old CCD(catechism) students which made me write this .
I always liked teaching (had i not become a doctor i would have preferred teaching at school). And so after reaching USA i thought one of the best ways to penetrate into the youth world is by teaching Catechism. I was so confident that i'll do well , but the very first class itself ,and many more to follow, was a disaster ..the kids were not listening ..and even told me they 're coming just because their parents want them to come !!!!!!!!and i found myself crying in the car while returning home. But i wrote down the name of all my students and prayed for them hard that they will get to know the Love of the Lord.So even while i was pregnant , and at times when i was not to take class,instead of going to the english church so near to our home ,we went to the Syro Malabar church and to CCD class just to be with them,even though they didn't seem to mind me.I didn't see any friut that year or the year after.I thought i was a failure. And even thought if i had put that effort in studying for USMLE,it would have been good! But next year also i started with new kids in another grade,where i have to teach Church history and Liturgy .The theory was so dry ,that even i found it hard.But i learned a lot.And i tried hard to put spirituality into what i was teaching.Luckily Lovely (another JY) who was teaching in that grade for a long time was handling most of the sessions beautifully. But i got lot of time to interact with them..and out of the 9 kids 5 came for World youth day and all of them got touched. Now some of them are our right hands in conducting the youth prayer at church. But i always wondered what hapeened to my kids of the previous batch.It was out of the blue that i received a letter from one of my kids of that batch yesterday..In which she told me that ..'i was the first CCD teacher she ever listened to...and thanked me for helping her to grow closer to God."!!!! I was so struck by that,and thanked God . It made me realise that none of our work and prayers for His kingdom go in vein.I know that it was the Lord's work .Since my British accent and my style of talking often made the kids laugh and i thought they even sympathised me .But how many things are hidden from us and how we judge people and situations wrongly. She told me that she even prayed for me at times...!!!!! Our duty is just to do what we're told to do and say that i'm an unworthy servant ...And its HIs duty to produce fruits in His time. And this year we 've 31 kids ..all from top families in the parish ,which often makes them behave as if they're very important.... One thing i should say is that these kids are very sincere and talk every thing open rather than keep it a secret.But they are taught in school and this society to excel...to rely on their own understanding.....me ..mine...I....etc...So we've a tough Job ahead. Since we get hardly one hour in class which is just sufficient to cover our syllabus, Lovely and myself are planning more spiritual meetings out side CCD classes.When we hope to answer their faith questions and lead them to more deeper prayer sessions.And slowly lead all of 'em to JY prayer group .. Please keep us and our kids in your prayers that they will get to know the love of our Father , their Father too. In joyful communion, Sindhu, Chicago,USA. **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join To get a standard help message on the list services send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
