Sorry to update hear via prayer letters but I don’t seem emotionally and mentally capable of more right now and I want you to get the info you need. I am sending this update as well as this blog post in the morning, the same day that our school will reopen, see below.
Friends,
The very day when I sent the email about our God, El Roi, was the day of major escalations in tension at Christ School, our ministry here.
Christ School has about 380 students, male and female and about 25 staff. The kids are in the equivalent of high school/junior college classrooms but they range in age from pre-teen to early twenties. Putting so many adolescents, especially so many young males together can bring problems. In secondary schools all around this country there are periodic problems with tension that can eventually lead to violence. Such was the position we found ourselves in this week. After almost ten years in existence, CSB faced it’s greatest low as we shut down the school and sent students home to avoid what we think was inevitable rioting come nightfall.
Why the tension? The easiest way to explain is to say that there are the normal problems you can imagine in a boarding school but without the resources to manage conflict wisely (at least in the case of the students). Students are unhappy about food, available water for washing, rules, discipline, some staff members. Some of these complaints are legitimate issues that need to be resolved, others are unreasonable demands. Since communication and conflict resolution are not strong points for our students, and perhaps even many of our staff, small problems can become bigger than they should. This is an opportunity to see areas of growth for how we educate the whole person and the effect that has on their ability to succeed academically.
On Tuesday, after several nights of rocks being thrown at staff housing, of written threats against staff, of noticeable tension in the air; things got worse, not better as we spent a full day in assembly with students being given a chance to talk among themselves and then with staff members. We feared the potential for serious harm to staff and property should our facility remain open so the current headmaster made the tough call to close the school until we could resolve the tension. At the time this was a dramatic moment when us women and kids drove our cars off the compound in a mini-evacuation, fearing that the students would riot when they heard the news of the closing. David remained behind with other missionaries and staff to manage the situation. We all feared for their safety and some of you got emergency prayer updates. Thank you for praying, we know your prayers were the vehicle to provide for student and staff safety that day.
We now have a plan in place for reopening of the school. The Christ School Board of Governors has met over the last few days and there is an ongoing investigation into the ringleaders who provoked other students. AS usual, most students were passive participants in the plans of a few. Starting today, Wednesday, students and parents will be called back in class by class for individual re-entrance to the school. There are likely expulsions as well.
Please pray for us!! This situation has been emotionally difficult on many levels. We have so far to go before this is resolved and the issues are complex and difficult. Many missionaries sponsor kids at the school and so this affects our relationships with them as well as with parents, the community, our staff. In many ways we see this as an indication of Satan’s attack against progress we have seen in our entrance into ministry here. Pray that we would stand strong in the power of God. Please pray for truth and for reconciliation. Pray that staff would see this as motivation for working towards better relationships. Pray that we would be good guides of peacemaking, discipleship, reconciliation, forgiveness, and honest relationships. This is HARD WORK.
And please pray for Naomi and Quinn to feel secure in the midst of instability, potential violence and many many conversations that they don’t understand but know effect them. Their hearts fear sometimes. We are thankful for you.
Love,
David and Annelise, Naomi and Quinn