but I wanted to spare the rod...

I am guessing that if you asked most teachers what their least favorite part of teaching was, most would say either a.) huge loads of paper work, b.) working with overbearing or under-bearing parents or c.) disciplining students.

The only paperwork I do these days, is that which I have deemed essential and it is a blessing to say that so far, all of my encounters with Didinga parents have been nothing but positive.

However, I am going to tell you a little secret. Promise not to tell? As shocking as this may seem, life is not perfect here in Sudan.

Every culture, every generation is affected by certain sins, certain strongholds. Oh, we Americans have ours. We most certainly do! And the Didinga, well they have theirs too.

Methe, the local brew, is their god. They structure their every living moment around it. They work for methe, they play for methe, and they starve themselves and their children for that all consuming drink.

My class, though indirectly affected at this point by methe preparation and consumption, is directly affected by another Didinga cultural sin – dishonesty.

In the last few months, student after student has been caught lying, stealing, and cheating inside the walls of P3. Even the most unassuming and lovable little tykes have flat out lied, though not well, to my face.

I have lectured and praised good behavior. I have punished the whole class for the folly of one, I have made everyone run sprints until a little liar came forth revealing what we all knew to be true. Water has been carried and recesses have been missed.

And though we have had no repeat offenders, so to speak, each week there seems to be a new ten year old eager to see if Teacher Kim’s patience will falter.

In late October, I realized what most of you probably would have realized months before.

For a Didinga child, there is only one end to a serious offense – an “amogee” or spanking. Any other punishment, though it might be less than enjoyable, is not taken seriously.

In other words, I can talk until the cows come home, quoting the Bible and explaining not only my displeasure, but God’s in light of a student’s dishonesty. However, my students were seemingly unable to see their offenses as a true flaw in their forming character and harmful to others, until I showed them that it was.

Remember the movie, Anne of Avonlea? In the beginning of that movie, Anne has to swat one of her students. A big frizzy haired girl who I think was named Josephine. Anne hesitated spanking the child, but in the end, she knew that she must. The first time I didn’t spare the rod or spoil the child, I think I felt exactly the same way that this literary icon must have (if ol' Anne was real, of course).

Though most that have been spanked have never shed a tear, I always get choked up. My tears are those of disappointment, love and prayers for the very souls of these children.

Please join me in praying that the sins keeping my students’ parents in darkness, will be pushed aside as these children turn towards the light of Jesus.