We made it through the whirlwind end of the
school-year! We had 3 graduations within
1 week! Our three 6th grade
girls graduated first, then the mighty Seniors of 2012, and finally our sweet
little Kindergarteners. It has been a
week full of wise speeches, memory sharing, last things and bittersweet
goodbyes.
And now, the 2011-2012 school-year is officially over. As I sit here reflecting a few memories come
to mind.
Kindergarten Graduation
Our principal, Mr. Graber had a special place in his heart
for our Kindergarteners. They quickly
learned that if they announced their presence in the office or if they snuck
across our restricted yellow “no pass” line and peeked in his office; they were
very likely to receive a Hershey kiss.
This was especially true if they happened to get injured while playing
at recess or if they were not feeling well.
It’s possible that a few times, their injuries were not quite as life
threatening as they might have seemed; but it brought a smile to our faces to
see them work their magic on Mr. Graber.
(I thought about trying some of their tricks myself!) Jesus taught us to, “Let the little children
come” and Mr. Graber’s soft heart toward our little ones was really sweet.
Viktor
Viktor, our newest 5th grader, arrived at OCS in
late January/early February. Viktor was
an inspiration to me. I have briefly
mentioned our Truth Seekers Bible Memory Club before; but basically, the elementary
kids had the opportunity to memorize one Bible verse that I posted each week
and then say it to me for a prize. Well,
almost every Tuesday there was Viktor, waiting with his hand-written copy of
the verse on a large piece of paper. It
gave me such joy to see him because Viktor still struggles with English. For him to memorize the verses took a
tremendous amount of effort. Yet each
time, he was excited and gave it his very best.
His goal was to reach our VIP list, which meant that he had to learn 10
verses, but by the end of the year, he had learned 12! After our Truth Seeker award ceremony, Viktor
came up to me, shook my hand and said, “Thank you.” All I could tell him was how proud I am of
the hard work he accomplished. The Bible
says that we are to hide God’s Word in our hearts, so we do not sin and that is
what Viktor is learning to do.
"Mr. Intelligence"
One of our youngest
students can tell you ANYTHING you could ever need to know about ANY kind of
dinosaur or snake. He is a brilliant boy
and brings exuberance to every situation.
I still laugh when I think about our intelligent little guy the day he
came in with a large scrape on his leg.
His comments were, “I do not understand why there are so many roots and
rocks on the playground.” (We have
trees) And, “You have lots of owie equipment.” Proverbs 20:11 says, “A
young man makes himself known by his actions and proves if his ways are pure
and right.” Our little guy is
very matter of fact and has a wealth of information, but he still has his
precious child-like innocence. I am
thankful he is a part of OCS.
I feel very blessed by God to be able to have a part in
OCS. It is a great school, but most of
all, it is full of really special people.
These people have left their home countries to work hard at the ministry
God called them to in Mexico. They are
going in to all the world to preach the good news, and I just happen to get to
work with their kids!
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OCS has a need for several staff positions for the coming
2012-2013 school-year. If you are a
teacher or are interested in serving on the mission field, please feel free to
ask me about it.
