Three Days at Nalabumba: From Frustration to Live Chickens

On Monday night we sat around the table eating our supper. Ruhtt and Marti spoke in animated tones, visibly frustrated. They were discouraged and overwhelmed by the problems at Nalabumba Community School. Marti later said, "I was unsure what we had to offer. It felt like we were putting a band aid on an arterial bleed."

The classes are packed with children. The largest class has 62 students. The fourth grade teacher is using best practices, but only eight of his 40 students are able to read. The teachers seemed polite, but resistant. The headmaster seemed passive and disorganized.

We prayed. And we worked to win the teachers and the staff over. We asked Wilson Siazilo, our friend and an elder in one of the churches to come to talk with the headmaster.

By the end of our three days with them the scene was dramatically different. The teachers were inspired. They had come to realize that we were there to partner with them, not to fix them. And they were celebrating that God loved them enough to send people from so far away to encourage and support them. They convened a closing ceremony and gave us gifts: four pumpkins, two chickens, and a bag on ground nuts.

And when Ruhtt announced that water had been discovered for a new well they danced and hooted and sang.

God had answered our prayers.