Dark gray clouds hung low over Antananarivo. The pounding
rain had finally dwindled to a drizzle by late afternoon.The weather was so
terrible, that a lot of the schools canceled classes; yet, a tall thin man
stood in his slacks and suit jacket in the muddy school yard, shielded by a
small umbrella. Waiting.
It all started five days earlier when Hasina and I went out
looking for a new school to fill our Thursday morning time slot. We went to a
small school nearby, and were greeted by the two teachers. We asked to speak to
the principal and they told us that he had two schools and lived far away, but
they could give him a message and set up a time for him to stop by and meet
with us. So we explained who we were and that we would love to have Good News
Clubs at their school once a week. To our complete surprise, both teachers
absolutely loved the idea that their students might be able to hear the Word of
God. They went on and on about how much their students needed the Lord and how
wonderful it would be to have us teach them. So they told us to come back in
five days and they would send a message to the principal that we wanted to meet
with him. As we left, we were hopeful that the teachers would pass on, not just
the information, but their enthusiasm for the Good News Clubs as well and that
the principal would be just as excited as they were.
Five days later, I woke up to rain pounding on the roof. It
rained and poured all morning. In the afternoon Hasina stopped by and we headed
out to the school in the drizzling, muddy mess. We wondered if the principal
would show up. The weather was terrible and he lived far away. He would have to
make a special trip just for us. But we went anyway. As we climbed out of the
bus near the school, we were so proud of how perfectly on time we were. The bus
had taken forever to fill up with people and be on it’s way, so we thought we
would be late. As we climbed the muddy hill to the school, a tall thin man
stood in his slacks and suit jacket in the muddy school yard, shielded by a
small umbrella. Waiting. We stared at each other in shock, first that he had
shown up and second that he was early and waiting for us. After introductions
were made, he chatted away as though he had known us for a long time. We went
through our spill about Good News Club, what we teach, and showed him the
visuals we use. But it didn’t matter at that point. We knew he was already
totally excited about having Good News Clubs at his school. Then we got to the
tricky part. We couldn’t work around whatever schedule they might have. We only
had time on Thursday mornings. So we hesitantly asked about the time, and he
replied, whenever you can come works just great for us. When you come knocking,
we will be ready. And with that, the time was set. Thursday morning.
By this time, his little nephew had come down the hill and
was standing by his uncle. When there was a break in the conversation, he shyly said, “Hi Zoky Hasina.”
We both did a double take, wondering how he knew Hasina since we had never
taught in this part of town. Turns out he goes to the school by my house and is
in one of Hasina’s Good News Clubs there. His uncle, who had teasingly told us
that once we started he wanted us to come every week, but not just when we felt
like it, seemed to take note and was amazed that his nephew had Good News Clubs
in his school too. We were serious about wanting to teach his kids. And he was
serious about wanting his kids taught the Word of God.
We walked away in complete shock. He had come all this way
to meet us. We had arrived on time, even though we should have been late with
how long the bus took. Good News Clubs had been set up standing in the rain in
a muddy school yard. He was excited, the teachers were excited, and even his
nephew went to Good News Club. And, Thursday mornings worked for them. We looked at each other and asked, “What just
happened?? What a God thing!!” So, bright and early Thursday morning, two new
Good News Clubs will be starting up at a brand new school. We praise God for
all He did and can’t wait to teach these precious kids!
