The little preschool God started through us in a small village in Africa has grown to over 125 kids and isn’t so little any more. We can’t educate them all, but we do feed them each morning. After breakfast, forty-five of them stay back for class. Until recently that was only preschool, but those kids have grown and we’ve added an unofficial kindergarten class. Unofficial because we are not registered with the government, so anything we do won’t count toward their public education should they leave us and go into the public school system. Unless we add higher grades they will have to leave us sooner than later. Kids that move on to public school will be forced to start over since our school is not recognized or accredited. Even first graders who have had preschool and kindergarten with us will have to go back to kindergarten and start from there. We want all of the children to stay with us through graduation, but we need more teachers to add higher grades as they advance, and we need government approval. We’ve been praying fervently for a remedy to this situation, and God has begun to answer.
Last week the ministry of education came to our school and was pleased with what they saw. They said they would register us as a private school, allowing us to legally educate all ages, if we complied with a few licensing rules. We need more bathrooms and an office space, for instance. Snoden is already working on the upgrades, but he is just one man and there’s so much to do. He helps Susan feed the kids every morning, educate the students, tend to their medical needs by taking them to the local clinic, and buy them clothes when they need it. He also talks to the people in the village about our program and the God we are serving with it. There is more to do than one family can handle, especially since they have three small children of their own. Through a miraculous turn of events, however, God has made this impossible task something that has gained the attention of the villagers. People are asking questions and want to be a part of it. The village is favorable towards us and wants to see the school grow. Apparently the government does too.
It’s still hard for us to understand why God saw fit to bring us back to the States when the program is growing and they really need more hands, but we’re beginning to see His wisdom in this move. If we were there now people would surely think the school and feeding program were results of our efforts, but we are not there and they only see people like themselves involved. They relate to Snoden’s family in a way they could never relate to us. Snoden believes the village sees great hope in this for their own future and the future of their children. As he put it, “No one else is doing anything like this. The people are saying the education we offer is better than any other school for miles around. They think we’re super stars!” What a great position to be in to share the gospel and news about the real super star—Jesus.
Of course we still pray for more help and we pray that we can return soon to be directly involved in the planning and development of the growth of the school. They simply don’t have the resources the education or the training to continue on their own, but we are content to accept whatever role God has for us in this. Thank you for your support and for your prayers and for your patience. We realize there are fewer photos and videos than when we lived there and we hope to visit soon and stock up on images for you to be better informed. In the meantime, we will post whatever we get from Snoden and do our best to keep you updated on the progress. Know that God is blessing this ministry and these children through you and that great things are happening because of your faithfulness.
