August, for me as a teacher, has always been the chance to relax and unwind; in the UK, of course, it marks the end of the school year and the summer holidays, but even here in Zambia the holidays came as a relief for everyone at the end of quite a hectic but successful term at Amano.
One of the features of the whole school assemblies since May has been the focus on Paul’s teaching in Ephesians about putting on the spiritual armour. Different speakers have looked in some detail at the different items of armour and their spiritual significance and this has been taught against the backdrop of an encouragement for God’s people to read the Bible and so to become equipped to serve God faithfully. This was highlighted towards the end of term when Dr. Fernandes visited the school on behalf of the Gideons and kindly gave copies of the New Testament to all of the students from grade 4 upwards. Hopefully the students will make good use of them during their holidays, both for their own benefit and that of those around them.
Mentioning the Bible reminds me of an activity the grade 12 students did in one of their Christian Foundations lessons while revising the Gospel of Luke. Each group of students was challenged to make a tableau of one of the miracles which Luke wrote about, almost as if they were presenting a photo to go alongside a newspaper story. So we had the blind beggar by the side of the road who was given his sight by Jesus; Jairus’ daughter who died and who Jesus brought back to life; and the crippled man who was made better. I thought you might enjoy seeing an example of their work - the two photos that head this post will give you a flavour!
The primary students were kept very busy towards the end of term. Two main events dominated their final week of term: performing a musical and preparing for their sports’ day.
I am pleased to write that both of these events went well. Mr. Smith, who has been teaching Music to grade 4 to 7 students this term, had taught songs from a musical called ‘Cruising with Noah’ which the students learnt off by heart and were keen to perform to their parents. These songs were linked together by a series of short mimes which featured a number of different animals, as you will see on the photos, along with Noah. While based on the story of the Ark, the mimes and songs presented various issues which affect the developing world; these ranged from poverty, injustice, famine and war, and each mime concluded with Noah giving the animals some words of wisdom to help them think about what the world should be like. So it seemed fitting to conclude the musical with a performance of the school song ‘Wisdom Seekers’.
Sports’ Morning for the primary students was held on the last day of term this year. It provided am enjoyable way to mark the end of term, especially as many parents arrived in time to watch their children in action before taking them home for the holidays. Amanda Kirk organised the morning, while staff along with secondary students helped to run the different events. The participants were divided into four teams and enjoyed wearing the new team strips, as provided by our visitors from Judson University, for the first time. Events included long jump, the shuttle relay, distance throwing, skipping races, and a sprint relay. The final event was a fun race which involved a lot of water, much of which went over the teams rather than into the container they were supposed to be pouring it into!
Well done grey team who were the ‘champions’, but most of all well done students for taking part with a competitive attitude while also helping and encouraging each other along the way- even if they were on a different team! It meant that even those who didn’t win went home happy!
So, the students and staff have a month off. Please think of the grade 12 students who will be revising hard during the holidays as they prepare for their final exams and pray for more Primary staff to apply to teach at Amano next year. Also remember the Kirks as they continue to recover from their car accident, remembering particularly Amanda as she returns to South Africa for more important treatment on her hand, back and head. She’s doing well, and is grateful to all who have been praying for her.
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