"Gotta go BACK, BACK, BACK to School Again"

This song from Grease 2 has been playing in my mind off and on since I found out I was going to take some Wheaton University classes. Not the best film but for some reason, one of my childhood favorites. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all tempted to dance just like the "kids" in the picture above whilst singing this song on my treks around UB...

My company just celebrated our 20th year teaching in Mongolia with a big celebration which was filled with lives that have been  drastically changed by our English teachers!!

Here is a picture at one of our celebrations - this is Brad who is our country director and his wife Ruth.

The Mongolian Government is so impressed by our excellence in teaching that they have asked us to provide more teachers in more schools all over the country which, of course, allows us to touch more lives!

In order to maintain this strong relationship between our company and the Mongolian Schools, we teachers are now required to have a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification. I have been accepted into Wheaton College in order to take the necessary courses this summer so that I can become certified before I begin teaching in the fall. Arrangements have been made for us to travel to Beijing this August where several Wheaton professors will be waiting to teach us these courses for three weeks.

A few weeks ago, we received several assignments that are due by August 1st - 6 books that need to be read and assignments on each. While singing old Grease songs, I've tried to awaken old college study habits to get these done by July 10th (because my mom is coming for a visit - YAY!!). With an unseen grace, I have 2.5 assignments completed even though we are still required to keep up with our Mongolian language lessons and other commitments - it's been busy but it's all good!!

However, the cost of this certification was not included in my original financial profile (as these changes happened shortly after I moved here) and I now need to raise $3,900. Through several very generous donations, I already have $900 raised and a few others have committed to give a little extra in their monthly support! If you would like to help meet this need, I would be very grateful. All you need to do is click on "Partner with me financially" under the heading on the left entitled "BE CREDITED WITH CHANGING LIVES IN ASIA!" My last name is Kitchens by the way, you'll need to know this when giving. Yes, just like the room with an "s" on the end :)

By the way, if you haven't seen Grease 2, I want to leave you with an image that gives you an idea of what you've been missing...