Last night, the we got the news that Kevin Bartkovich, our founding Headmaster, had suffered a cardiac arrythmia that had put him on life support in a North Carolinian hospital. Minutes later, around 9:30 pm we gathered staff together in the office and broke that news that Kevin had almost died and was in very critical condition. Men that we love cried like babies for a man that they love, Kevin.

This follows a day of difficulty. Yesterday morning we awoke to signs posted up all over campus. They mimicked the words in one of the hate mail letters we received a few weeks ago: “the days of mercy have ended” and “get rid of Christ School leaders now” among others. The signs threatened violence towards the school while the other note had promised to burn and stone all of us. Meanwhile, other situations were also erupting on campus. Problems in several English classes had led to near breakdowns in communication and angry demonstrations following classes. One boy had been kicked unconscious in an unrelated bullying incident the day before. Later that night two students forced their way into the kitchen after dinner, enraged that the kitchen manager had refused them a second serving. They assaulted and threatened him leaving him very shaken and afraid. In yet another incident, the daughter of one of our staff members seems to be suffering from a psychological, emotional or spiritual attack and she also became violent that night.

David spent all of yesterday engaged with teachers and students, checking handwriting samples, talking to “informers” and questioning involved teachers. After classes he met with teachers while Senior 6 students demonstrated through a sit out. And last night he was meeting each group of students by class when we got the news from America that Kevin was in critical condition.

Twenty minutes later, after informing staff and praying briefly with them, each of us walked into a classroom in the final 10 minutes of evening preps. I gathered Senior 5 students and some girls began crying as I explained Kevin’s medical situation. We gathered hands there in the classroom and that group of students prayed for a man that many of them spent three years with. The Holy Spirit was incredibly present in that moment. Kevin’s kids, who so often fought him while he was their headmaster, know what it is to be an orphan. They asked God not to allow Kevin’s kids to be orphans too. Walking in to a classroom where students faces showed hate and disgust, where students have threatened our lives, and getting to join hands and pray with them . . . . This was the lion laying down with the Lamb. This was God breaking through in some other-worldly way I can not know or understand.

So we remain in the tension of threatened violence and near-death mourning. We do not think the timing of all this is coincidence. Despite our significant fears that last night would involve real violence, the night was relatively quiet. As students went back to their dorms quietly, following the awful news, the staff gathered back together with us to sing and pray for Kevin. Many of us cried as we sang. We broke up shortly after midnight and walked home watching for skulking figures in the bushes – rocks always fly at night. Today is another day of watching and waiting; for Kevin’s life and for the school that He poured His life out to build. May God have mercy.