As we near the halfway point in school year, we asked the staff for stories of how they’ve seen God working. We’re always humbled by what the Lord is doing, and wanted to share a few glimpses of what’s been going on in our schools.
Our high school director, Jasmin, shared her perspective from devotions, as she and the other high school staff worship alongside and minister to the older students:
In devotionals, the Lord has been touching the lives of students. Two of our students have decided to give their lives to the Lord and have gotten baptized. They’re confident that their families will come to know Jesus.
Many students have been comforted by the Holy Spirit, receiving new strength to continue. Some of our students have really difficult situations at home, or big challenges ahead of them. They’ve expressed that when we have breaks from school, they miss being in devotionals. ‘This is what I needed,’ they say to me.
One of our staff who wears many hats is Luis. He is an accountant, a full-time pastor, a father of three, and in his spare time he runs a macadamia farm, supervising five full-time workers. He talked about the school’s impact from the perspective of a parent with students at the school:
Devotionals, the way our teachers teach them to worship, creates a habit of being in the presence of the Lord. People in our church, both adults and children, learn through my children’s example. It may feel small, but they’ve been an example for so many people.
The kitchen is a hub of activity in our school, with delicious food and kind-hearted staff. Pancho (far right in picture) is one of our maintenance workers who helps in the kitchen when needed, and shared about the interactions he had seen:
When I’ve been helping in the kitchen, I see children from kindergarten that come with their 25 cent coins and want to buy something worth ten times more than that. They get really sad, because they don’t have enough money to buy food for recess. But I’ve also seen other children help those who don’t have money, paying for their snack or giving them the food that they just bought themselves.
When students get in trouble, there are various steps of intervention, and teachers make every effort to help struggling students. After a certain number of visits to the office, students get assigned to community service with staff members like Edwin, our elementary school custodian (pictured below). He reflected on his time with students this year, sharing:
Each time that they’re with me, I tell them I don’t want to see them doing community service again. It does help me—but they have to behave well, because their actions have consequences.
I tell most of them part of my testimony. And thanks be to God, they see that I have a good attitude, and I tell them that they need to have a good attitude in everything that they do too. After they finish community service, they come say hello to me again. They look out for me, all of them, and that makes me happy.
Mirna, our Grade 4 teacher, shared:
One of my students came to me and told me that her father didn’t want to go to church. She was distraught, crying while she told me this. So I told her that we would pray for her father, and that I was sure God would do something special in his life. We prayed each day in devotions for a whole week.
The next week, she came to school very happy, and told me that God had heard our prayers. Her father had gone to church! Now she tells me, “I’ve learned that if I ask the Lord for something with all of my heart, he will do it.”
Lastly, our elementary school secretary Ileana shared her elegant solution to a recurring problem:
As the secretary, students come to my desk whenever they feel sick. Sometimes though, they aren’t actually sick and just want some time to nap, get some affection or simply eat one of our chewable pills that taste like candy. Recently, I was given some cinnamon candy hearts and I’ve been giving those to students who clearly aren’t sick. Once they taste the spicy candy, they don’t come back.
Whether through devotions, sharing food, community service, or candy first aid, we’re grateful for our staff’s efforts and we believe that God is working through them. //
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