All heads were bowed as we prayed for Gam’s success in her upcoming school exam. Kneeling in a circle around Gam, Kaak prayed first, then Daniel, then me. I finished the prayer with an “Amen,” and we were just beginning to get up when another voice broke the silence. “Chief God, please help my daughter do well on her exam. . . .” The prayer continued, and I smiled as Chumpri said his first public prayer. He had just told us that he didn’t know how to pray and that he wasn’t going to pray. He knelt with us, but none of us expected to hear him pray. I’m sure God smiled, too. A few weeks later, Gam passed her exam and received her ninth-grade certificate.

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