This is a really, really, long blog entry

I hope from my photos you can tell that I have been very busy in the 3 plus weeks I have been here. There are so many places to visit. There are scenic places to go and many ministries to be involved in. I wanted to post pictures of a variety of things. There are photos of chimps, baboons, forest, etc. from the Jane Goddall Chimp Reserve. There are pictures of fishing boats as well as a picture of the boat that belongs to the mission. There is one photo of a local boat going up the lake. You probably can't tell from the photo that there are between 150-200 people in that boat. The picture of the sailboat I took because the sail is made from canvas sacks stitched together. There is a photo of one of the many villages along the lake. There are also photos from the destitute camp of me washing the peoples' hands and feet. There is also a photo of a toy that the kids at the destitute camp have built out of things they could find. There are photos of me in the classroom with the Bible College students and a group photo of the class being silly. There are photos from the Kids' Club ministry here, the womens' bible study ministry, and a photo of a Kids' Club meeting that is held in a Christian woman's yard in a village that is 99% Muslim. There are so many more photos I have taken. I have taken over 1700 pictures and I still have to take photos of the art classes I am teaching at the primary school that the mission runs as well as photos of the safari we will be going on. This past Friday was my last day teaching at the Bible College. At the end of the class I was crying. These men have become so dear to my heart. They call me "mother" or "mama" which is a term used for adult women. I do plan on going to morning chapel this next week and eating lunch with the Bible College students on Wednesday. They want to see the photos I have taken and they want to take photos of me with them. Talking about eating, one of my friends who is a nutritionist wrote and asked me what the people ate here because she will be teaching a class on Cultural Foods this winter. They eat alot of rice and beans here. Fortunately, I love rice and beans. Jim(my sister's husband) and I have beans and rice for breakfast quite often. Sometimes when the people here make rice it has vegetables in it but sometimes it is just plain rice. It looks like sticky rice. Before they cook the rice they have to sift through it first and pick out rocks, twigs, bugs, etc. Then they wash it thoroughly and cook it the same way we do. The beans look like refried beans when they are cooked but they aren't smashed. The staple food here is called ugali. It is made from casaba root which is pounded down and ground into a flour. Then it is mixed with water and made into something that looks like paste. It has no nutritional value but it does fill up the stomach. Since many people can't afford rice and beans and may only eat one meal a day, ugali at least fills them up. They also have mchicha. It is similar to spinach but looks like seaweed. I have not tried ugali or mchicha yet but I will try them before I return home. People here either grow mchicha or casaba or they buy it at the market. The market has everything imaginable. You can buy fish, live chickens to butcher, meat hanging from hooks, produce, fabric, shoes, pots and pans. You name it you can find it. The market is like a maze with narrow alleyways. If you went by yourself you would easily get lost. I love going to the market. It is a bustling place and a true adventure. I was really made for life here. The pace of life is so much slower and laid back than it is in the States. Time means nothing here. For example, my sister says if you tell the Tanzanians that something starts at 9 am, they might show up between 10 and 11. She also said if for some reason I had been late for starting class at the Bible College by 1-2 hours, my students would still be sitting in the classroom patiently waiting for me and they would stay however long the class went. It took me a while to not worry about whether I was somewhere on time. I forgot to say that they also eat chapati and mandazi. Chapati is like a tortilla. It is made with flour and water and then fried. Mandazi is like an old fashioned cake donut but not as sweet. The people here eat the same things they ate 100 or more years ago and they will still be eating it for many years to come. 

I started teaching art at the primary school last week. I will have 3 days with the kindergarten class and 3 days with the first grade class. I centered my lessons around creation, so with the kindergarten class I have taught them how to draw the face of a lion; we did tissue paper fish, and we are doing sun, moon and stars tomorrow. Tom arrives tomorrow afternoon. Then on Friday the four of us (my sister, her husband, Tom, and I) will go on safari for 3 days. When I return home I am going to put together a large album of several hundred of my photos. Also, I plan on putting together a presentation for my church. They were such a blessing by supporting me in many ways. I could not have done all of this without them. I also could not have done this with out all of you(my family and friends). I appreciate all of your prayers, support, and interest in what I have been doing here.

Today we went to a Tanzanian church service. Everything is done in Swahili. One of the mission staff members and his wife go to church there so they translated for us. They have 4 different choirs and they all got up to perform. There was the church choir, the womens' choir, the youth choir, and the childrens' choir. They really know how to sing and dance. The music is so beautiful. I couldn't understand all of the words but it didn't really matter. The church service was 3 hours long and we sat on narrow wooden benches that are low to the ground. I got up and went outside to stretch for a minute. There were mothers and children out there and one little girl about 2-3 years old. She took a shine to me and came and held her arms up. I picked her up and she was looking at my skin, my eyes, and my teeth. She chattered away, kissed me quite often, and played peek-a-boo. When I went back into the church and sat down she came to me and sat in my lap. Her mom came to get her because she was worried the little girl was bothering me. I let her know it was no problem. She stayed on my lap through most of the service. When the service was over she went to her mom. Her mom brought her over to kiss me good-bye. There is so much more I could write, but this is quite long. I probably won't write again until after I get home. Once home, I will create an album of some of my photos and post them on Facebook. I hope you aren't bored with all I have written. Love, Shawn

What Amazing Experiences

I arrived safely in Dar Es Salaam on Thursday night Tanzanian time. My sister met me there and we spent the night. The airport in Kigoma was closed to big planes so we had to fly a smaller plane to Mwanza. We had a 5 hour layover there and the only place we had to sit were hard couches outside the little airport there. Then we took a 12 seat plane to Kigoma and arrived at 3:15 pm their time. From the time I left Portland to the time I arrived 
in Kigoma, it took a total of 39 hours. Saturday we were 
up early to take the boat 2 hours north to the Jane 
Goodall Chimp Reserve. It was the only day it fit into my 
schedule. It was a beautiful ride on the boat. The sun was just coming up and the orange rays were streaming across the water. As we got close to the dock at the reserve there were thirty or more baboons on the beach. Some were sitting and staring straight ahead, some were grooming each other, some were chasing each other, and some had babies on their backs or sheltered against their breasts. I got wonderful pictures of the sunrise and the baboons. We then started our hike. The trackers had not spotted the chimps yet so we hiked up through the forest. Our first stop was at Jane Goodall's feeding station and we heard part of her story. Then we 
continued our hike up to a beautiful waterfall. We saw 
some redtail monkeys, beautiful trees, and colorful 
butterflies. Because my camera has a small view finder it 
is hard to see if I have captured good pictures. As we got 
down from our hike one of the trackers called and he had
 spotted 3 chimps. We had to walk a long way to get 
there and then had to walk into the forest through vines 
and bushes. The first chimp we saw was in a tree right 
above us sucking water out of leaves. I got some great 
photos of that chimp. The second chimp was swinging 
from tree to tree so I hope I got some good photos of 
him. The third chimp was climbing down from a tree. 
When we were under the first chimp our guide pulled out of the way in the nick of time. The chimp was peeing and I would have had a yellow shower. We spent 6 hours there. On Sunday we went to church. The entire service is run by Tanzanias. The signing was wonderful. Two men played guitars. The guitars were electric guitars. One young man played the keyboard. What joyful worship. Here nobody has inhibitions about clapping, raising hands, dancing, etc. They freely worship the Lord. Then one of the pastors preached in Swahili while a young man translated into English. There are 2 men in the Bible college who are working for degrees instead of a diploma.To get a degree you must do everything in English(tests, papers, reading the Bible out loud, preaching, etc.) it is very difficult to earn a degree.  They have really high standards here. On Monday a group of the women who are here from the states went to a market to buy fabric. I got 6 yards for $16(U.S. dollars). On Tuesday we went to the destitute camp where the poorest of the poor live. We took soap, water and towels to wash their feet and lotion to put on their hands and feet. We also took nail polish to paint the nails of the women. They like bright red and hot pink. There were 5 of us who went. Another lady and I washed their hands and feet. One put on lotion, and two others painted nails. Many of the people who live there have leprosy and they were missing fingers and toes. I loved washing their hands and feet. It made me realize Jesus' love for his disciples when He washed  their feet. At the end we passed out toothbrushes and biscuits. The people there were smiling and they were dancing and singing loudly during the music worship time. My first class was that afternoon. I had 20 students and they are so eager to learn and share. They have already learned two heart stories. Our class is very interactive. Sometimes I don't finish my plans because so many share about the treasures they found in the stories and how the stories have touched their lives. They are sharing their stories in the dorm or with their families. This weekend their homework is to into the town and tell a story to 2 people. On Wednesday, I rested in the morning as I am still adjusting to the time change. I fall asleep easily but I wake up many times in the night. I am usually up by 5:20 when the Muslim calls to prayer begin. They use a loud speaker and each group does their call to prayer one after the other. So you really can't sleep through them.I am so thankful for the opportunity to come to Kigoma and learn so many new things about how Jesus is working through the lives of people here. i may not get to blog very much because someone cut the phone lines near my sister's house and stole the copper wire. My sister and her husband have Internet sticks and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Hopefully there will be Internet soon. Thanks for all of your support and prayers.

All My Bags Are Packed And Tomorrow I Leave On A Jet Plane

 

 

 

Notice that my bags are all color coordinated(that is so like me)

 

The time has finally come. I am as ready as I will ever be. Today is a day of rest. These past few weeks have been filled spending time with family and friends. I had some wonderful lunches with ladies from my church. We laughed and shared how God has brought me to this point over the past year. A group from my church threw a bon voyage party for me where we played croquet, sat around a bonfire, and ate some amazing food(there is never a shortage of good food when a group of Christians get together for a party). My mom and I spent lots of time together over the past few weeks. I know it will be hard on her to have both of her girls in Tanzania but she knows that God has called both of us there. God called my sister and her husband there for years of service and He called me there for 5 weeks of teaching, sharing, helping, and so much more. Tom and I have had several evenings together(a rarity this time of year). We have had time to sit on the patio eating dinner and just relaxing. Even though he will be joining me in a little over 3 weeks it is still a little nerve wracking to be taking the flight alone. I have never gone this far without him and I will truly miss him. He worked very hard to make this trip as easy as possible for me. He managed to find a flight with only one layover. I fly from Portland to Amsterdam. Then I leave out of the same terminal there that I arrived at. He also managed to get me aisle seats on the right hand side of the plane so I can stretch my left leg into the aisle every once in a while. This is the leg I have the most trouble with. Then it's on to Dar Es Salaam where my sister will meet me. I am so excited to see her. She is such a special woman of God and she is so much fun to be with. I wish all of you could know her. Your lives would be enriched. She and her husband have such a heart for the people of Tanzania.

For me this year has come full circle. I went from taking a half day introduction to Oral Bible Storytelling, to a one day workshop, to a full 5 day workshop in Idaho, to being an assistant instructor at a 5 day workshop in Beaverton, Oregon. Now I go to share in a new place a part of what I have learned. It has been an amazing year. I thank all of you so much for having a special part in this adventure. I have been blessed with financial support, prayer support, cards and letters, words of encouragement, and the list goes on. Please continue to pray for me over the next 5 weeks.

I plan to blog from Tanzania as often as possible and to share photos of my experiences and photos of the people I meet there. They say it's a small world and it truly is. I may not speak the same language but I know that the people there and I share the same heart for God and the work He is doing in every part of the world.

So, it's good-bye Oregon and here I come Tanzania(ready or not).

Teaching Art In Tanzania

These are some of the students that attend school in Kigoma, Tanzania. I don't know if any of them will be in the art classes I will be teaching while I am there, but as you can see they are outgoing children. The title of the second photo is "Yeah, we love school!" I am thrilled to be teaching kids who love going to school and who are excited about learning. I decided to center my art lessons around the story of creation found in the book of Genesis. I will be doing lessons about the sun, moon, stars, planets, land, sky, sea, creatures of the sea, creatures above the sea, and morning and evening. I chose lessons that use many types of media to expose the kids to all types of art. They will be painting, drawing, doing collages, cutting, gluing, etc. The lessons are short(about 25-30 min.) and each group will have two lessons a week. Lately I have not been doing much of my own artwork so I am sure that this experience will inspire me to get back into photography and maybe back into painting. Can you imagine the opportunity to teach art to children who have only experienced coloring pages? It is like starting with a blank slate. I am so excited to see their faces as they view the artwork they have created on their own and as they see the variety of expressions of the same lessons from each of their classmates. I hope they will share them with their families and talk about what they did in each lesson. Oh, the joy of sharing about God's creation with these children. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and to learn from them and experience these new adventures with them. I am sure I will learn more from them than they will learn from me. I am also excited to come back and share a new enthusiasm for teaching art at the elementary school here in Albany where I have been doing art with the students for the past several years. I pray I will be energized and that once again I can impart the joy of creative expression here at home. I am so happy that even late in life(they say you can't teach old dogs new tricks) God gave me this gift of creative expression. I never dreamed my life would be changed so much with the gifts of storytelling and art that came at a later age. Oh well, better late than never. I hope each of you that are reading this will discover new gifts you have been given or will be inspired to revisit those gifts you have had for many  years with a new sense of awe at what you have been blessed with.

Getting Closer

There are only 39 days left before I fly to Tanzania. At times it seems like it is taking forever for the days to pass by and at other times it seems like the days are flying by. I look at things I have left to do and it seems like I will never get everything ready in time. One praise is that I have finished preparing all of the stories. I am excited to see which stories the students will pick to learn. They will use the stories they have learned to go door to door on the weekends and share the story they have chosen. It will be amazing to help the students learn the stories and then watch and listen to them being told to unbelievers right away. I am not conducting my teaching as I would in an official Simply the Story workshop. I will be modeling stories and how to use questions to lead a discussion. I will also be sharing some of the illustrations that show the power of storying. Most of the time I am with the Bible College students they will be learning stories and leading small group discussions for practice. My main focus is to show them ways to learn the stories, how to tell the stories with action and expression, and how to form questions to get others to dig deeply into the treasures in each story. I have a list of about 30 Old Testament and 30 New Testament stories they can choose from to learn and tell. I will be modeling some of the stories that are on the list.

I will also be working with the Kid's Club leaders for 2 weekends teaching them how to learn and tell stories. Then I hope to have time to observe them using these stories during the Kid's Club meetings.

I am praying that God will open hearts to how much God has placed in each story and that the stories will impact people's lives.

Probably one of the most exciting things for me is the opportunity to do art with the kids at the school there two times a week. To be able to show children how to express the beauty of God's creation in new ways is my joy. There are so many lessons I have to choose from and only a short time to share those lessons with these kids. I hope to bring joy, laughter, and inspiration. I love being with children and I know I will be surrounded with excitement for learning, open minds, and the love of God's children. I never dreamed I would be going to East Africa to share the blessing of art with others.

God is combining my love of teaching with storying and it seems like such a perfect fit for me.

So much left to do but my excitement grows with each new day. For those of you who know me well, I will answer the one question most of you would ask me. No, I have not started packing yet. I usually start packing way, way ahead of time. That doesn't mean I haven't done anything in this area. In our spare bedroom there are a variety of things laid out on the bed such as my camera bag with my camera, battery charger, extra SDHC cards, etc. I also have my headphones and all of the things I need to take for those so that they work on the flight to and from Dar es salaam. I would hate to have to fly 20 hours and not be able to listen to my own music and movies with my good set of noise cancelling headphones. Yes, there is quite a stack piling up in that bedroom. So much so that you can hardly see the bed. Now, in all fairness, much of that pile holds items my sister has asked me to bring which they forgot to pack in the containers(brooms, mops, dust pans, a blender, cinnamon red hot hard candies, and the list goes on(just kidding). I am amazed that they only forgot a small amount of things when they had so much to put in 3 containers. I would have forgotten so much more. I hope I don't forget some things such as sunscreen(I burn very quickly), mosquito repellent(mosquitos love me--I am so sweet), and something special for my sister's birthday which is on September 3rd. I will be there to celebrate it with her. I can't remember the last time I was with her on her birthday. Maybe it was the year I left for Bible College. I will try to think of something special for her(yes, I know my being there will be special enough).

I am looking forward to seeing some people I met who came over from Tanzania this past year. I look forward to taking some long walks with Dismas, Sylvester, and Moses. We shared a wonderful walk in the country here in Lebanon. I have seen photos of Dismas' and Sylvester's families but it will be nice to meet them in person. There are so many names of people I have heard my sister and her husband talk about and it will be so great to spend time with them in person. I will see Harold and Coni again and meet their family members who just moved over there to work on the mission field.

Well, I could write so much more about what I am looking forward to but I had better stop here(some of you might wonder if I am really the author of this blog since I usually don't write this much). Suffice it to say that I couldn't be more excited about going somewhere than I am about going to Kigoma. I looked up the word "kigoma" to see what it meant. It is a name that can be used for a boy and its meaning is "small drum, joy". I know it will be a joyful place for me.

I have finally chosen the 12 stories I will be using when I teach at the Bible College in Tanzania. It was very hard to only pick 12 stories, but a friend told me that if I picked stories that had touched my heart in some way then they would be more meaningful and they would touch the lives of those I am teaching. So, I sat down and looked at the list I had picked and went through them one by one. I thought about why each story spoke to my heart.


The first story on my list was the Sacrifice of Isaac. This story touches me because having wanted children and not being able to have them I could identify with Abraham and Sarah. If by some miracle Tom and I had been able to have children I can just imagine the things going through Abraham's mind when God asked him to sacrifice the only son he and Sarah had. I asked myself if I trust God enough to follow Him no matter what trials, sacrifices, etc. I may have to make.


Another story I chose was the story of the Shunamite Woman in 2 Kings. This story spoke to me about being bold. This woman had the courage to go before the king and ask him to restore her property after being gone for the 7 years of famine. In this past year I have been experiencing situations where I have become more bold.


The One Leper personally touches me because lepers were outcasts because of their physical disease. There are times in the past I have felt like an outcast because of my mental illness. Jesus looks beyond all of these things, looks at all of us with compassion and reaches out to touch all of us. Without His love, compassion and sacrifice we are all outcasts.


The Prodigal Son touches me because there have been times in my Christian walk where I have wandered away from God and God continues to love me and welcomes me home with open arms.


The Woman Caught In Adultery touches me as a teacher. It reaffirms that the most meaningful lessons are taught by example and not by eloquent words. Jesus didn't say much here but His example of forgiveness spoke volumes.


The last story I will share about is Paul and Silas In Jail. This one touches me because Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God while they were in prison. I love hymns and I learned many, many of them growing up. I praise God that He gave me a strong visual memory because I can still remember the words to those hymns even after many years. It has been singing those hymns in my head when I have been hospitalized during a bipolar episode that has carried me through some hellish times. I understand completely why Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God in that jail.


My friend was right. Taking a look at the personal meaning each one had I truly believe that I will be able to share them with passion and conviction. I am so appreciative of this friend who pushes me to dig more deeply and to really look at the stories.


I really am looking forward to spreading God's word through His stories and seeing them passed on orally to various groups of people in Tanzania.

Preparing for Tanzania

     I am now in the process of preparing to teach the basics of Oral Bible Storytelling in Kigoma, Tanzania this fall. I have been trying to decide which 12-15 stories to share and discuss that I think would be good for the Bible college students to learn. I have been asked to use stories that deal with God's love for us and His forgiveness; God's care and compassion for us; and God's provision for us. Do you know how many stories in the Bible cover those topics? Let's see!! I'll make a guess. Whenever I ask my husband for cash, he asks how much I want and I always say, "$1,387". So if you ask me how many Bible stories speak to the above issues, I will make a guess of 1,387. I don't know exactly how many Bible stories there are but maybe someday when I have nothing else to do with my time(ha!ha!) I will sit down and count them all. That way if the question of how many Bible stories there are comes up in a trivia quiz, I can answer correctly. Well, I have digressed. Now back to narrowing the choice of stories to 12-15. Some of the stories I have chosen are ones I learned when I attended a Simply the Story workshop. They include Jars of Oil, The Shunamite Woman, One Leper, and Jesus Feeding The 5,000.
     I love Jars of Oil which is found in 2 Kings 4:1-7. I don't remember ever hearing this story before I went to the Simply the Story workshop last summer. Here is a widow with two sons who are about to be sold as slaves. She goes to a man of God for help. Elisha tells her to take the little oil she has and go around and ask all of her neighbors for empty jars. Not just one jar, or two, or even three. Then she is to take her sons and go into their house and fill the empty jars with oil and as each one is filled to set it to one side. And she does exactly what he says to do without saying a word. I would have looked at Elisha and said, "Are you nuts? I just have this small amount of oil and you want me to do what?
You're crazy!!! And yet she was able to keep her mouth shut(an almost impossible task for some women), trust in God, and obey. I sure wish I could do that. There are times God will speak to my heart about something I should do and I have so much to say. "You've got to be kidding, Lord." "I can't do that." "Tell me to do something else." But this woman says nothing.
     I know God was speaking to me when he said, "Shawn, go to Tanzania and share what you have learned about oral Bible storytelling." I have had plenty to say in response but God has listened to my worries, my doubts, my fears and reassured my heart that this is what He wants me to do. So how can I question Him?. I will be still and know that He is my God. Well, as still as I can possibly be.  

Workshop In Beaverton

What an amazing time I had at the Simply the Story workshop in Beaverton, Oregon. We had 8 people who came which made it fun. All of us were able to give and receive lots of training and practice. Normally these workshops are attended by 20 or more(sometimes hundreds) people. We were called a one of a kind, very unique workshop. Well, what else could we expect. Each one of us there was unique in our own way. One of the women that attended was blind. What great insights she brought to the discussions. God sure showed his sense of humor. This wonderful woman was in my small group and the first story we were assigned to learn was Blind Bartemaeus. We didn't skip a beat. We just went with learning the story and preparing for leading a discussion. Later she told us that she appreciated us not changing the story because she was blind. One of our large group observations was that he didn't have to be able to see to believe in Jesus. This woman shouted, "Hallelujah" at the top of her voice. Another woman has a ministry in Togo helping to bring tools for those who minister there to use in evangelism. She shared how she could use this method there in West Africa. Another woman is going to the mission field in Guatemala. Two others take ministry teams to Iraq and Lebanon. One couple from Seattle(they are Korean) go to China every summer for two months to minister to Koreans living there. Finally, another woman works in the church she attends in a big children's ministry. Everyone shared the various ways they can use this in their individual situations. We had so much time to just share about our lives over meals that we all felt that we had established new friendships. One of the most interesting stories came from the couple from Seattle. The husband really wanted to attend the workshop but he didn't want to come alone. So, his wife agreed to sign up and come along. She told us later that she thought she was going to just come and observe but all of a sudden there she was telling stories in small groups, sharing in the large group, and leading discussion groups. I was able to watch these 8 people blossom as each day went by. They grew in confidence and in their storytelling abilities. I saw the Bible stories they told come to life as they made them their own. I was witness to the outpouring of God's blessings as these amazing men and women opened their hearts to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I discovered through all of this that my niche is working with small groups teaching them the basics and then having time to tell the stories as often as possible to their families, friends, neighbors, and to anyone willing to listen. I found that I enjoy facilitating the discussions and sitting there listening intently to all of the discovered treasures in God's Word and having all of us together digging into the stories. Those at the workshop told me that my gift was telling the stories from my heart. They said they could tell that each story I shared had touched me personally. They also said I had the gift of truly listening and being able to remember the things that were shared and going back to those who had shared and asking them if they would be willing to share more. I look forward to using what I learned when I go to Tanzania. My desire is that the stories God chose to put in His Scriptures will be told orally with passion around the world and I feel so blessed to be a small part of His plan. Please pray as I learn more about sharing Simply the Story.

Preparing For Assisting At A Workshop

Next week I will be an assistant instructor at a Simply the Story workshop in Beaverton, Oregon. The workshop is 5 full days and I have stories, teaching points and illustrations that I will be doing in front of those who are taking the workshop. Believe me, learning all of these things and having to teach them all without any notes is a challenge for my 57 year old brain. I now know the true meaning of "brain freeze". Sometimes as I go over them in my head while I am driving (no, I don't take the papers with me to read while I am driving), I seem to jumble some parts of one story with some parts of another story. Combining the Good Samaritan story and the story of Jesus Calming the Storm makes for an interesting "new" story. But, the Holy Spirit has been present as I prepare in various ways. I decided that posting videos of myself doing the stories, etc. on YouTube would be a helpful tool for me to use. I could record myself using the Camera App. on my iPad and then post the videos. First of all, have you ever tried to tell a Bible story to an iPad? It is very comical. Well, at least for me it is. I had to find a place in our house that was high enough so that when I recorded the stories the "audience" could see my face and hands. That is very tricky for someone who is tall. I tried one spot after another until I finally found a place that would work. I guess I could have taped the iPad to the ceiling and told them while lying down on the floor. Next, I had to figure out how to use the camera application as a video recorder. Half an hour later and I was able to get the camera so it was recording me and not what I was seeing through the camera. You know how when you watch movie directors on the set and they say, "Action, take one"? Well, for me it was Take One, Take Two, and by about Take Twenty Five I was able to actually make it through telling one five minute story without having to start again. Now came the time to post the videos on YouTube. I had to create a YouTube account and then give my video a title and tags so that people could find the video and watch it. In case you don't know what a tag is I will tell you. Tags are short, descriptive words that people can type in their search engine and then, hopefully, they will be taken to your video. I tried to use as many tags as possible to ensure that my videos could easily be found. For my recording of the story of The Terrible Storm I used the following tags: shawknee(a nickname), storm, bible story, and terrible storm. I thought that if anyone typed in "shawknee" in their search engine it would take them right to my video. Boy, was I wrong. There were so many items that came up when I typed in "shawknee". I quickly learned to type in "shawknee" and another of the descriptive words. After watching several of my videos over and over again I was able to learn how to make the presentation not come across as robotic or as just a memorized recitation. My lead instructor was able to view them and give me valuable suggestions. With practice, I am now much more relaxed about presenting at next week's workshop. Well, about as relaxed as I can possibly be in front of a group of adults. I will pretend they are kids and I should be just fine. Actually, I am really looking forward to this opportunity to share God's word and to dig deep into the Bible stories. I will post more after the workshop and keep this blog updated with my continued adventures in Oral Bible Storytelling.