The persistent urging of God to keep our schools open and even expand them has kept us praying. With limited funds, too few teachers and insufficient classrooms and staff housing, our prayer has been, “Lord, You apparently want us to continue to expand our mission school system, so we are depending on You to provide funding, teachers, classrooms and housing. Help us move forward in faith, not presumption.”
As the new school year approached, and our inadequacies stared us in the face, I urged our teaching staff not to worry, just to pray and work hard to prepare for the upcoming school term. As teacher Nickson in Emrang headed up construction of a classroom and a staff house, he kept asking me, “Who is going to teach with me? I can’t teach nearly 60 students in three grades by myself.”
“Nickson,” I said, “I don’t know who is going to help you this year. I just know that we need to build a house for them. Build in faith. Prepare for rain.” With the help of local parents and Nickson’s friends from Kemantian, the two structures were ready within a month. In Emrang, that is a miracle!
And the Lord did provide teaching help. Magne, a graduate of our mission high school, taught last year in our westernmost school, Kebgen, way up above the coast of the South China Sea. He requested reassignment and agreed to work with Nickson. He is delighted with his new house in Emrang.
Kemantian is our largest school with 90 students in 11 grades. Still working out of inadequate facilities while waiting for a construction machine to arrive, we finally decided we must build now, albeit simply. So our innovator, Napthali, led construction of a large bamboo house that was finished in six weeks. It is very native-looking and perfect for our kindergarten and first grade. Napthali is now working on a second similar structure that will accommodate our fifth and sixth grades.
And what about our lack of teachers? The Lord is providing in His time. Later this morning, I will meet two young ladies who are joining our teaching staff. In another week, we will have another high school teacher joining us. Classes have been running since the end of August, and we have been managing, trusting that the Lord would provide more help. We have also added another Palawano teacher to help with mother-tongue classes for grades K-3.
Besides these miracles of providence, this year the attitude of the students is much more polite and cheerful. The Spirit’s presence in the school is evidenced by a more peaceful and respectful atmosphere and an attitude of cooperation among the parents. This is the fruit of prayer and the dedication of our teachers to train our students in right conduct.
At the suggestion of one of the teachers, we began the school year with two weeks of emphasis on respect and manners and how those are portrayed in Palawano culture and in the lives of Christians. I had the privilege of leading discussions with two groups of older students about how our attitudes affect us and others. They talked about what they would like the school’s atmosphere to be and how to make that a reality. Then they took those same principles and applied them to their home lives. We also involved the parents in this process as students prepared a project to share with them. They wrote and dramatized stories using the peribasas of their ancestors. Peribasas are complex yet predictable verbal exchanges used in many situations, from asking for a bride (or refusing to become one) to visiting in someone’s home, from how to offer food in a variety of situations to how to properly beg for food from one’s neighbor. There are the standard greetings that new arrivals to the culture learn, but if one doesn’t grow up with peribasas, it is almost impossible to memorize all of the many hundreds of them.
The students thoroughly enjoyed preparing for the evening where they honored their parents with food that they prepared and served. The dramatized peribasas brought the house down as parents and grandparents laughed and laughed. The parents realized some of the misunderstandings the students had about some peribasas, and they determined to help them learn them better. The effect has been to remind parents and students alike to use the peribasas and also to be more polite in general.
Before the start of the new school year, we conducted a dedication for teachers from three of our schools. It was an emotionally moving event for me as I looked at the faces of these young people who work tirelessly at their God-given task of training up the next generation of missionaries. As I lit each one’s candle from my own, I thought about what my candle represented—the Holy Spirit’s work in my own life, enabling me to mentor these faithful warriors. I was humbled to think that He has chosen us and our meager offerings to work for Him.
Lord, keep us faithful. Keep us trusting in Your providence as You enable us to develop Your school according to Your plan. Please raise up a mighty army of youth as we train our students for Your kingdom. Amen.
