I pretty much let the kids organize themselves when we sort. They scoop a bunch of coins and they go from there. Sometimes, they push their desks together and work in twos or threes. In my eighth grade section, Jack aligned himself with Christian and Sam. As I wandered the room as they were commencing, I heard Jack exclaim, "This is great! I am learning so much!" I need to explain. Jack is a first year student from China and very bright. I asked what he meant and he told me he was speaking about the coins- I took it that his two classmates were informing him of the value of each. I asked if he didn't spend US money. Jack told me that he did but really only that of the paper variety. I can relate. Coins I've received in other countries from purchases are meaningless to me- Vietnam no longer even uses any metal money. I thought it was neat that Jack had turned in his bank bottle that morning so it was a win-win day. He made the lives of children in poverty a little better and he has a better grasp of our monetary system.
The next day, I had several more cultural awakenings as I did with Jack. Hellen, also from China and like Jack, every bright, asked me to help with the meanings of the four basic coins as we sorted in her class. Then, after school, Amy came to me with her bottle and that of another student. Amy is from - you guessed it!- China, and was in my class last year. She told me that she had made a poster and stood outside a store and asked (her word) 'consumers' to add their change to her bottle. (Let me say in no way do we suggest or advocate this at all- she did it because her heart was touched by the stories and pictures of the children.) I just was charmed by her use of the English language. Everyone I know would have said customers or shoppers but everyone doesn't have the tender heart .... or vocabulary of Amy.
Interestingly, our 8th grade Bible test Friday covered the story of the widow giving two very small coins to the temple treasury. Jesus remarked to the disciples that she gave more than the others as she gave out of her poverty and they gave out of their wealth. In fact, as you recall, she gave everything, 100% of what she had to live on. To the apostles, she was probably simply one more little old lady but because of the Savior's awareness, we have perhaps the greatest display of generosity found in the scriptures! I wish I was more aware of what goes on around me. I've taught kids from China for two decades and had no idea they had some currency issues. It should have at least crossed my mind as I've somewhat been in their shoes. There are things that I've always known as I was exposed to them from birth; the love of God, stability in the family, etc. Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that a number of the kids who sit in front of me have no knowledge of the foundations my mother and father built my earliest life upon. Those are foreign concepts to kids who aren't foreigners. (I now only use the term international student after a conversation with a child from another country!) Looking back, I'm glad we weren't rich because my parents taught me the value of pennies/nickels/dimes/quarters and not just that a quarter is worth twenty-five cents. The two pennies of the widow can't be simply defined as an amount. They were an investment in eternity. I should help my students, now matter their nation of origin, learn to make those investments thirty-six weeks of the year... and we are down to the last two. Pray for us.
Applicable quote of the day:
“Every blessing, just like a coin, has two sides”
Sunday Adelaja
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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