CovFel ESL Class on Nov. 5th, 2014

1. High Light of Your Week

2. Write a report on "Banking" in general, "Banking System in US compared with that in your own country", or "What do people do with their extra money?" "How should we be a good steward of our possession?"
3. Crossword Puzzle -
http://bogglesworldesl.com/files/Verbs_II.jpg
http://www.kidslearningville.com/countries-capitals-crossword/
4. A Short Story - Provider Overbills Customer


Simon got a monthly bill that he didn't like. His Internet service provider, Wink, automatically withdrew $15 from his checking account each month. This was called direct payment. It made things simpler for him because it meant one less check to write each month.

In fact, Simon had direct payments with his gas company, his phone company, and his electric company. So that was four fewer checks that he had to write each month.

This month, instead of $15, Wink had withdrawn $75. Simon went online and looked at his account. Part of the increase was because he had switched from a slow dial-up connection to a fast DSL connection. Wink charged him $45 just to make that switch.

Simon thought that this charge in itself was ridiculous. It probably took them about five seconds to make the switch. But any time a corporation can gouge you, they will.

In addition to the $45, Wink had charged him $15 for his dial-up account, but had also charged him $15 for his DSL account. This was a double-charge, since a computer uses dial-up or DSL, but not both.

We'll see about this, Simon thought, as he searched for Wink's 800 number. 

5. Bible Story - Esther 8

Esther Saves the Jews

1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. ² And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, ⁵ Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. ⁶ For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” ⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,^[a] because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. ⁸ But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.”
⁹ The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. ¹⁰ And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, ¹¹ saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, ¹² on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ¹³ A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. ¹⁴ So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
¹⁵ Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. ¹⁶ The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Lesson Three for March 15, 2014: Beijing Time 8:00-9:00 AM

1. Talk about your week, or pick a topic to report
2. Following link is the 10 most popular national parks in U.S.: - pick one of them and report your research http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/most-popular-national-parks.htm

• Imagine you are a park ranger at a national park. Pick one of the most popular U.S. National Parks and give your classmates a tour of the landmarks and wildlife.
• Why are national parks important?

The Gospel of Mark Chapter 4

 The Parable of the Sower

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

²¹ And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ²² For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵ For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

²⁶ And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. ²⁸ The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰ And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹ It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
³³ With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Q&A

Homework:

Lesson Two for March 8, 2014: Beijing Time 8:00-9:00 AM

1. Talk about your week

2. Discuss the Home Work
    a. How do you get well?
    b. How do you stay well?

3. Study Mark 3:7-30

Many Follow Jesus

⁷ Jesus went away with his followers to the lake. A large crowd of people from Galilee followed them. ⁸ Many also came from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the area across the Jordan River, and from the area around Tyre and Sidon. These people came because they heard about all that Jesus was doing.
⁹ Jesus saw how many people there were, so he told his followers to get a small boat and make it ready for him. He wanted the boat so that the crowds of people could not push against him. ¹⁰ He had healed many of them, so all the sick people were pushing toward him to touch him. ¹¹ Some people had evil spirits inside them. When the evil spirits saw Jesus, they bowed before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² But Jesus gave the spirits a strong warning not to tell anyone who he was.

Jesus Chooses His Twelve Apostles

¹³ Then Jesus went up on a hill and invited those he wanted to go with him. So they joined him there. ¹⁴ And he chose twelve men and called them apostles. He wanted these twelve men to be with him, and he wanted to send them to other places to tell people God’s message. ¹⁵ He also wanted them to have the power to force demons out of people. ¹⁶ These are the names of the twelve men Jesus chose:

Simon (the one Jesus named Peter),
¹⁷ James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee (the ones Jesus named Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”),
¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, the Zealot,
¹⁹ Judas Iscariot (the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies).

Jesus’ Power Is From God

²⁰ Then Jesus went home, but again a large crowd gathered there. There were so many people that he and his followers could not eat. ²¹ His family heard about all these things. They went to get him because people said he was crazy.
²² And the teachers of the law from Jerusalem said, “Satan is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”
²³ So Jesus called them together and talked to them using some stories. He said, “Satan will not force his own demons out of people. ²⁴ A kingdom that fights against itself will not survive. ²⁵ And a family that is divided will not survive. ²⁶ If Satan is against himself and is fighting against his own people, he will not survive. That would be the end of Satan.
²⁷ “Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.
²⁸ “I want you to know that people can be forgiven for all the sinful things they do. They can even be forgiven for the bad things they say against God. ²⁹ But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They will always be guilty of that sin.”
³⁰ Jesus said this because the teachers of the law had accused him of having an evil spirit inside him.

4. Read the Story : U.S. National Parks
   More than 200 million people visit U.S. National Parks every year. These parks protect the wildlife and landmarks of the United States. Each park is different, and each one is beautiful.
   At Yosemite, in California, you can take a nature walk with a park ranger. You'll see waterfalls, redwoods, and the deer there.
   In south Florida, you can take a ferry to Dry Tortugas. It's great to snorkel around the park's coral islands.
   There are 113 caves at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. The deepest cave is 830 feet below the desert! You can take a tour of these beautiful caverns.
   There are 391 national parks to see. Go online for information about park near you.  
5. Talk about it.

Following link is the 10 most popular national parks in U.S.:

http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/most-popular-national-parks.htm

1. Why are national parks important?
2. Imagine you are a park ranger at a national park. Pick one of the most popular U.S. National Parks and give your classmates a tour of the landmarks and wildlife.

Lesson One for March 1, 2014: Beijing Time 8:00-9:00 AM

1. Talk about your week

2. Discuss the Home Work from last week
    a. What are some problems in your community? How can people help?
    b. Imagine you are Marta. What do you say in your speech to the city council?

3. Study Mark 2:1-17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Man

2 A few days later, Jesus came back to Capernaum. The news spread that he was back home. ² A large crowd gathered to hear him speak. The house was so full that there was no place to stand, not even outside the door. While Jesus was teaching, ³ some people brought a paralyzed man to see him. He was being carried by four of them. ⁴ But they could not get the man inside to Jesus because the house was so full of people. So they went to the roof above Jesus and made a hole in it. Then they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. ⁵ When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
⁶ Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there. They saw what Jesus did, and they said to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this man say things like that? What an insult to God! No one but God can forgive sins.”
⁸ Jesus knew immediately what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why do you have these questions in your minds? ^9-10 The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. But how can I prove this to you? Maybe you are thinking it was easy for me to say to the crippled man, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ There’s no proof it really happened. But what if I say to the man, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk’? Then you will be able to see if I really have this power or not.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I tell you, stand up. Take your mat and go home.”
¹² Immediately the paralyzed man stood up. He picked up his mat and walked out of the room. Everyone could see him. They were amazed and praised God. They said, “This is the most amazing thing we have ever seen!”

Levi (Matthew) Follows Jesus

¹³ Jesus went to the lake again, and many people followed him there. So Jesus taught them. ¹⁴ He was walking beside the lake, and he saw a man named Levi, son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting at his place for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Then Levi stood up and followed Jesus.
¹⁵ Later that day, Jesus and his followers ate at Levi’s house. There were also many tax collectors and others with bad reputations eating with them. (There were many of these people who followed Jesus.) ¹⁶ When some teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with such bad people, they asked his followers, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “It is the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”

4. Talk about "Taking Care of Your Health"
    a. Types of Health Problems: vision problem, hearing loss, pain, stress, depression
    b. Help with Health Problems: optometrist, glasses, contact lenses, audiologist, hearing aid, physical therapy, physical therapist, talk therapy, therapist, support group
    c. Ways to Get Well: seek medical attention, get bed rest, drink fluids, take medicine
    d. Ways to Stay Well: stay fit, eat a healthy diet, don't smoke, have a regular checkup, get immunized, follow medical advice

5. Read the Story
Once a month the Fadool Health Clinic has a health fair. You can get a low-cost medical exam at one booth. The nurses check your blood pressure and check your pulse. At another booth you can get a free eye exam. And an acupuncture treatment is only $5.00.

You can learn a lot at the fair. This month a doctor is giving a lecture on nutrition labels. There is also a demonstration on sugar-free cooking. You can learn to do aerobic exercise and yoga, too.

Do you want to get healthy and stay healthy? Then come to the Fadool Clinic Health Fair.

Welcome, Skype ESL Class!

Dear Teachers and Students

I created this blog spot for our class and named it "ButterflyESL.blogspot.com" The name ButterflyESL is chosen because it is available and also meaningful. Butterflies are beautiful. They are transformed from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly we see flying everywhere in our garden. I picked one above just to show you how beautifully God created them.

As children, many of us learn about the wondrous process by which a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. The story usually begins with a very hungry caterpillar hatching from an egg. The caterpillar, or what is more scientifically termed a larva, stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin. One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly or moth.

But what does that radical transformation entail? How does a caterpillar rearrange itself into a butterfly? What happens inside a chrysalis or cocoon? It reminds me of our life that can be transformed inside out when we ask the Light of Jesus to come inside us.