Saturday, July 18, 2009

Completing the first stage

My first week of teaching yesterday afternoon. I bade a tearful farewell to all my students and then went off to meet an old friend. The students seemed to appreciate the course. They worked pretty hard and joined in class discussion. All the first assignments were way beyond what I was expecting and indicated wide reading, good thinking and the desire to reflect on how this applied personally and to their ministries.

The old friend I met yesterday runs a micro finance project here that now has 4000 project holders and has contributed seven billion rupees to Sri Lanka's GDP. As he says 'not bad for something that started with 200 rupees and faith'!

He spells faith r-i-s-k and is continually putting himself on the line so that the poor on this island get a shot at living. He's one the most inspiring people I know,

Today I'm off to buy a motor bike for another friend who's current bike is clapped out and unroadworthy. I've never bought a motor bike before, so this should be fun.

Tomorrow, it's off to Kandy. Not sure what the internet access will be like up there, so blogging might become a bit light.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Simon - I have been on leave for two weeks so only caught up with your blog this evening. Thanks for persevering with regular reports. Your impressions bring back many memories of our years on the island. Sadly we have not been able to visit since we left in 1998.

Your comments about the people are so right - great people indeed, gifted and dedicated. Your comments about the heat also remind me of many sleepless nights in the stifling humidity, at least until we grew used to it. But one day we will return and connect with friends still there.

Keep well and keep blogging.

David K