Dear Family and Friends,
We made it through the first quarter of school! Only 3 left! NOOOO!!!!! Time is slipping away, but God is so good. I would love to share with you some stories from this week. I've never seen God work so hard in someones life.
This has been the craziest, most rewarding, busiest week, for me, thus far! This story that I'm going to share is so powerful. It was obvious to see how hard the devil was working, but we know that God is much Mightier, so much stronger than any other. I will replace the students actual name, with the name "Roger".
Roger started off at a different school but transferred to SDA. When Roger first walked into my classroom, he had a huge smile and was super friendly. The weeks went on and he was happy to join us for vespers and church every week. It was something he looked forward to. One day, I randomly asked him, "Hey, what school did you come from?" He informed me that he had come from the Catholic school that wasn't too far away. Not to mention the fact that it's a pretty small island. Nothing is "very far" away! Anyway, I was curious as to know why he would leave that school after attending for quite sometime. He told me that he felt judged there. His fellow classmates weren't giving him the respect that he deserved and he got real sick of it. Roger decided that he would see what the SDA school was like. I asked, "So, you like it here?" He said, "Miss, this place is great. I don't feel like anyone is judging me and I feel like myself here." I was happy to hear that. Days past by and his attitude quickly changed. He went from being the student who loved to read my devotional book, sing songs, smile , and pray to a completely different person. I could feel darkness around him. Putting my arm around him, I asked, "Roger, are you doing ok? You know that I'm always here for you, right?" His reply was much different then I expected, "Yeah whatever, I'm fine." Roger stopped coming to church, stopped reading from the devotional book, and even stopped greeting me in the mornings. I started to become concerned/worried about him. What was happening? Finally, about two weeks went by and I thought to myself Wow what kind of teacher am I if I don't find out what's going on with Roger? Something had to change quickly. One day after school, he was sitting in my classroom and I said, "Hey, I'll come pick you up for vespers on Friday, ok?" Once again, I was puzzled by his response. "No, I don't want to go." At this point I didn't even know what to say but I figured this was the perfect opportunity to figure out what was happening to my student. "How come you don't want to come with us anymore?" I questioned. "I just don't believe in God anymore. He is not even real." he replied. That explained a lot. I was almost mad and annoyed that he would say something like that about God. Just two weeks ago, he was coming to church and learning a lot about God and all of a sudden, God's not real? We had about a 30 minute conversation and I gave him as much evidence as I could think of and real-life stories of how God was real. I told Roger that if God wasn't real, I wouldn't be here. Time was really limited because the bus was supposed to come at 3:30 and I was praying to God that I would say the right things with enough time. Well, for the first time ever, this year, (that I know of) the bus was late. It came at 3:45 and I had plenty of time to tell him what God needed him to hear. He didn't say much at all but the thirty minutes was quite emotional for him. He cried the entire time. Rogers face never changed though. He was crying as if it was really starting to make sense but he still looked so mad and depressed. I told him, "You know what, I would be miserable, lost, and depressed without God as well. There is absolutely no hope. But the only reason why I'm happy is because I have God right by my side. I'm letting Him lead my life and He's showing me what He wants me to do. How is it fair to God if you don't give him a chance? You have no reason not to believe in God. You are letting the devil tell you lies and twist the truth. Can you pray to God and ask Him to become Someone real?" He shrugged his shoulders and I felt like the conversation was getting nowhere. After my 30 minute lecture/sermon, I asked if I could pray with him before he left. Of course he said "no" but I asked calmly once more and he agreed. After the prayer, I looked at him and the darkness was gone. Tears were running down the sides of his face and he went on his way. The next day was thursday (1st quarter exam day) and after his test he came and sat by my desk grabbing my devotional book. Granted I did act as though I didn't realize that he took the book. I sat there praying for him as he read it. His attitude was still the same. I wanted to give up so bad. His attitude was completely bringing me down. After all this prayer and all the tears (on my behalf and his), Roger was still the same. Thursday came and went. Friday was a new day and God was wondering why I wasn't trusting in Him. Things don't always happen over night. He needed me to still care for this student (Spiritually). After all, why was I giving up? I'm here to tell these kids about God and I'm just going to let the situation go? Friday morning comes along and Roger comes straight to my desk. Sitting next to me, he pulls open the devotional book, again! "Hey, we will pick you up tonight for vespers?" I'm sure you could guess his reply. "No thanks." Well, God told me not to give up so I was going to be a little more persistent. "Well, I really want you to come. Can you please join us?" "Okay, fine. I'll be ready." he said. At that moment I thought, God, thank you for pleading with me. Thank you for reminding me that it's not about me. Now it's 6:30pm and we are picking up Roger for vespers. He jumps in the car with the biggest smile ever. I couldn't believe my eyes. We get to church and he sits next to me and says, "So.... Miss, I've been thinking a lot." I said, "Oh yea? What have you been thinking?" He says, "Well, I really want to give God a second chance. I want to come back to church and I want to change my attitude." As you can imagine, tears have now conquered my eyes and I'm trying to keep it together. Right before our "small group" prayer before vespers started, he told me that he felt as though he was possessed. The topic by Amazing Facts was just what he needed to hear. His prayer was the most sincere prayer I've ever heard. He was apologizing to God for not giving Him a fair chance and asking Him to forgive those thoughts and his attitude. Roger also thanked God for bringing me here so I could encourage him to come to church and change himself. I'm honored to report that Roger is doing great and he is on the right track. I ask for special prayers. Not just for him, but for all the students. The devil is trying so hard but we will NOT give up.
Friday afternoon was quite eventful. I was dealing with a bit of a situation. One of my students was quite mad and decided to skip two of his classes (not my class by the way!). After looking everywhere, he finally showed up and we had a nice chat. Well by "nice chat" it was more like me doing all the talking and telling him that behavior like that is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Let's just say that he got the point pretty quick. Poor kid was really sorry and apologetic about the way he went about things. We talked about it on the phone Friday after vespers and took care of everything. We agreed that it was done with and there was no need to bring it up at church or school. Anyway, he called me after church (after dropping him off at home). We were talking for a couple minutes and then I asked, "Wait, did you just call to say hi?" His response was so sweet, "Well, I'm really bored at home and knew that you would take the time to talk to me." We ended up talking for a long time about his life before he became SDA and he begged me to come back next year! I told him that a decision like that is completely up to God. We are praying about it :)
I hope you know that if God can use someone like me, He sure can use someone like you! Also, we should never give up on someone when it has to do with God. We have to have faith that He will work all this out according to His will.
Thank you again for the continued support and prayers. God is good.
With much love,
Ivana
