In these last days (weeks? months?) I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed, fatigued, and discouraged. The other morning, after I had spent the early morning hours continuing to press the snooze button in an effort to rebel against myself; I was at school, fulfilling my morning bus duty.
As is the joy (no sarcasm) of morning bus duty, I was greeted with hugs and hellos by various present, former, and other students. It was nice, but the DELIGHT came when I was greeted by a student from last year for whom I have been praying.
I have heard from his first grade teacher that his heart has hardened. This saddens me greatly because last year he asked such wonderful questions, had grown in his interest of spiritual things, and was always reminding us to pray for his parents -- who do not allow him to have a Bible or pray at home. I made a purposeful effort to remind him that sometimes the Lord says a quick yes, sometimes a quick no, and sometimes He tells us to wait. I tried to encourage him to endure while he prayed for his parents. But, at 6, he had become discouraged. He was at the point of giving up.
After hearing this I made sure to stop him during a lunch and ask him how he and Jesus were doing. He turned away from me and said that it wasn't good. I asked why. "I don't know," was his reply. I let him know that I would be praying for him. We continued our conversation with smiles and hugs.
Since that meeting this boy will run and JUMP to hug me when he sees me on morning bus duty. (I have bus duty once per month.) On this particular morning bus duty, just a few days ago, he continued his normal greeting and then told me, "I dreamed about Jesus last night!"
Praise the Lord for His timing -- that I would be doing bus duty on that morning!
I asked what his dream was about. With the noise of the other students passing by, buses driving up, etc I couldn't really hear the details of his dream. There was Jesus, there was a road, and Jesus walked on it. "I didn't cry," he said.
(Last year, he thought he was a Christian because he cried when he prayed -- and Christians cry when they pray, he informed me.)
I brought him in for another hug and spoke in his ear, "I will keep on praying for you! I want you to know Jesus." I hugged him tight, he smiled, and then ran to his part of the school.
Two students of mine from last year returned to their home countries after the first semester. One to Korea and the other to Japan. I continue to pray for the seeds of God's Word to sprout in their souls. They were asking good, thoughtful questions last year. They have returned to (potentially) difficult countries.
I often think of my students from my first and second years of teaching. I have kept a list of names and pictures of both classes as reminders to pray.
And so, if I am forgotten, I suppose that is all right, but I pray the Lord would use the seeds I have tried to scatter. I haven't had many students yet, and so I pray they would all be saved and would be leaders who love and know Him. I pray that they wouldn't be consumed by the world. I pray that I would be able to accurately and lovingly present the Gospel to my students and help them to think through their world from a biblical perspective.
As my Chinese friends are often amazed to hear -- these young children can understand. They already ask questions and ponder the reality of God and the presence of a Creator. Why not supply them with answers grounded in the Truth? Why not teach them theological Truths? Why not teach them to search and probe their own hearts now? What an influence THAT can be! There are answers. There is Truth. You must think.
May the Lord redeem their souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment