Thursday, September 26, 2019

Welcome Fall

Hello, Friends:

Monday marked the first day of Fall or Autumn. We had equal hours of daylight and night. We also had a beautiful, full harvest moon. You may have noticed the leaves drifting off of the trees and some color appearing at the tops. From here on out you will notice the daylight hours getting shorter.

Football fans (and people just looking for conversational topics): The Colts won the game on Sunday! It looks like the quarterback Jacoby Brissett was a good choice when Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired after the first game of the season. Read more about this passing game from this article. The next game for the Colts is Sunday, September 29 at 1:00 pm.

Choice things to do:
  • Oktoberfest at CLC: Friday at CLC from 4:00-10:00. Check the web pages for more information.
  • Carmel Arts Festival: September 28. 10:00 am - 7:00 pm and September 29, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, Main Street and Rangeline Road.
  • Colt's Football: Home game against the Oakland Raiders. 1:00 pm Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium or watch with your friends at a sports bar.
  • Check out October Indiana things to do with seasonal discounts.
International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, Room 100.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark we read about Jesus calling the first of his disciples to follow him.  Andrew and his brother Simon (Peter) were fishermen who had learned about Jesus from John the Baptist. One day, as Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw the two brothers fishing. He called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark tells us that Andrew and Simon immediately left their nets and followed Jesus. As Jesus walked a little farther, he repeated this invitation to two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They, too, left their father and the hired men in the boat and went off to follow Jesus. This story led to some interesting discussion about what each of us might have done in that situation. No doubt the brothers were aware that Jesus was someone special. Perhaps they were convinced that he was the promised Messiah, as John the Baptist had proclaimed. Perhaps at Jesus’ baptism they had heard the voice from heaven declare, “This is my Son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased." Yet some of us still marveled that they would immediately drop their fishing nets, leave their homes and families and all other commitments behind, and follow Jesus. And yet, would the decision have been so difficult? Already many people were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God. If God were calling you, how would you answer?~Jan Heimann

October 1: Join us as we continue reading and discussing Mark 1.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-11:30, Room 100.
We had a great field trip to the apple farm. We enjoyed lunch and shopping at the farm store. Did you see the news on Thursday where someone stole apples from a farm in LaPorte, Indiana? Read the story from Fox News.

October 1: Don't miss this chance! Barry Bobb (the music director at CLC) is leading a session in
October 8: Let's Tailgate! Join us in the CLC parking lot to celebrate the great American pre-game party. Show your team spirit: wear your team colors.
October 15:
October 22:
October 29: Let's carve pumpkins. Come carve Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns. Bring a large pumpkin, a serrated knife and your design ideas.

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, Upstairs Classrooms
We talked about the value of a conversation class: to practice the free flowing exchange of ideas. A good conversation meanders from one topic to another. Our hour and a half flew by! We talked about:
  • Suicide: what to do and why it is important to talk about difficult topics.
  • Poetry: rhyming is important in English poetry, but not in Japanese poetry
  • Japanese written language is much expressive to convey ideas because the use of three syllabaries (characters that represent syllables that serve as alphabets) carries additional meaning that has to be thoroughly discussed in English.
  • "You can't put it into words": difficult ideas; things that can't be translated from one language to another
  •  Cool things that aren't what they appear to be...Like this puzzle box of Sarajevo....
October 2: We had a request to talk about politics. People have very strong opinions about this topic and finding a place to develop important ideas. This is a great year to talk about these things since elections in the United States are so interesting.

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-11:30, Upstairs Classrooms
It was nice to get around to all of the classes. There are so many interesting things going on in each class. Conversation was talking about helping neighbors. We sang in two classes: one to practice pronunciation and one because we were filling time while exploring technology. I covertly ran in and out of Accent class.

October 3: See you all Thursday!

English for Children: Thursdays, 9:30-11:30, Nurseries
We wrapped up our classes all about apples this week by concentrating on trees and counting. We decorated our pumpkin trees. Madison started teaching our class. She is in training to teach English to children in China.

October 3: October is famous for pumpkins. We will begin our pumpkin unit.

calling: asking, inviting
disciple: one of the 12 personal followers of Jesus Christ; a person who is a pupil or follows a specific teacher
proclaim: to announce or declare in an official or formal manner
declare: to make known or state clearly
marvel: to wonder or be curious about
commitment: obligation, engagement, involvement
thoroughly: completely
exchange of ideas: listening and sharing opinions
covertly: secretly

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