Our annual Week of Prayer for the elementary school in Kemantian is a highlight for the students. By February of each year, we count on the student missionaries to be functional enough in the Palawano language to give a devotional of their own and to be able to talk with the students, even if they aren’t yet able to communicate at a deep level. This event pushes the student missionaries to plan, organize and execute a week of devotionals and song for the student body. I’m often impressed at how they rise to the challenge as they are stretched to do more than they thought possible. It is an event that the Lord blesses.
I love working with the student missionaries in this process, watching them come out of their chrysalises and start to fly on their own. I also love being part of the mentoring groups with the elementary students. Each morning after the singing and the devotional, the students divide into mentoring groups where more seasoned missionaries guide them in assimilating the story they just heard, praying with them and leading them to accept Jesus.
Each missionary teams up with a high school student, guiding them to mentor the younger students. This year our group had eight early-teen girls, and it was a joy to see how God was working on their hearts. Partially through the week, I lost my voice, so I was doubly grateful that I had a third-year student as my assistant. Sometimes I made whispered comments, but mostly she was able to keep the discussion going.
Each day, I encouraged the girls to draw close to Jesus, pray together and tell Him whatever was on their minds. Two days before the event concluded, I talked with them about accepting Jesus into their hearts, and I asked whether any of them had done that. They said they hadn’t, so I suggested that they think and pray about it before the final meeting the next day.
The following morning I asked them, “In light of all you have learned—not just this week, but in the months or years you’ve been in school and hearing about Jesus—do you believe that He is God? Do you believe that you are a sinner and that you deserve death? Do you believe that Jesus is the only Savior? Are you prepared to accept Him as Lord of your life? As we handed out papers for them to write down their answers, I encouraged them not to discuss with anyone else, but just to express what was on their own heart.
Thrilled to read each note as they were returned, I realized that all of the girls had indicated a desire to accept Jesus and study further in preparation for baptism. We shared a joyful prayer time as each girl accepted Jesus into her heart.
When we collated the answers from all the groups, 30 students over the age of 12 wanted to prepare for baptism. Many more said they wanted to keep learning and growing.
At the closing program, an agape feast, I was impressed with the sincerity and solemnity of the students as they sang praises to Jesus. And I think I heard angels joining in.
