The Lord has really been reminding me this week to rest in his strength. Isaiah 40:29-31 says: He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. I encourage you to press into this and rely fully on his strength and take rest in his refuge (Psalms 46:1).
Now for my story for the day. Several of the children had asked our girls to come visit their school, so we decided this morning would be a good day to go see them. We trusted that the 12 year old girls who told us we wouldn’t need permission were correct. Looking back, being a teacher myself, should have never trusted that. But when in India…So Beka, Christina, and myself started walking towards this school. It was a journey in itself getting there because people were stopping us at what seemed like every house and wanted us to pray for them.
Eventually we arrived at the school yard and there were kids EVERYWHERE. Outside playing and in classrooms that overlooked the field. As we stepped into the yard there were literally probably over 200 kids who came pouring from every direction towards us. From the yard, out of classrooms, and I swear some were even jumping out of trees. We made it through the mob to one of the classrooms where we’d seen one of the village girls. But just as we entered the room these two older men came into the classroom swatting kids with sticks and yelling what we assume was for everyone to return to their classroom.
The men didn’t speak English, but we could tell they weren’t happy. Which I can’t understand why they didn’t appreciate our slight interruption of their school day! Ha. They led the three of us to what must have been the principal’s office. They sat us down in these three chairs that sat in front of an important looking desk. So there we sat. And we sat. And we sat.
Eventually a woman, who was the principal, came and began to talk to us. Here English wasn’t great, but we communicated the best we could. She wanted to know why we were there and we told her that we were teachers from America and that we just wanted to see the school and observe a classroom. But from that she thought we wanted a job at the school. Unfortunately, while I am currently unemployed, I left my resume back home in the states. The principal said, “You must speak simple English. The students will not understand what you teach.” Apparently she didn’t think we were very fluent in Telegu.
After another 5-10 minutes of not really understanding each other we finally felt like we wrapped the conversation up enough to get out of there. We especially wanted out because the first man that found us was still sitting in the room fuming, shaking his head, and putting his hands on his head about the fact that we’d just wandered into his school. An interesting morning to say the least. I definitely didn’t think I’d get in trouble and be sent to the principals office during our trip, especially during the first week. But this is India…..
