A friend who works in China sent the following:

* Twice a week in sunshine, rain, or snow, Little Bean cycles to our apartment from her home in a neighboring village. As this tiny woman lets herself in, greets us, and begins her cleaning tasks, the wood-smoke smell clinging to her clothing tells us how she heats her simple house. The $1.50 an hour she earns helps Little Bean supplement her earnings from a paper route and other odd jobs that make up her main sources of income. She’s a tireless worker, and a resourceful one. We’re hesitant to offer her worn or faded items we no longer use, but Little Bean accepts them all eagerly, her face splitting into a grin that reveals a mouthful of broken teeth. She has had some education and, along with Chinese characters, she’s able to read and write pinyin, the romanized version of Chinese. This is a great help to us since we can read the notes she leaves us without struggling through characters (we know between one and two hundred characters, but there are thousands). Since most days Little Bean comes to our home while we’re away at school, we don’t have many opportunities to talk with her. At Christmas we gave her a bonus and a colorful pamphlet explaining the real meaning of Christmas; she was happy with both. Will she take the words of this message to heart amid the harsh realities of her life?


* Ann was born in this country but has spent the past 20 years living in the US. She and Lynn have been friends for a year and have met together regularly for tea, conversation, and an exchange of books. Ann likes to discuss philosophical and ethical issues, and she reads many current bestsellers dealing with such themes. Last spring Ann became increasingly interested in Christianity, and this past summer she e-mailed Lynn, “I’m finding myself reading the Bible almost constantly these days.” However, Ann’s interest in the Christian faith had cooled by the time she and Lynn met up again in the fall. She now espouses what she calls “a universal light within all of us” and holds that all belief systems are equally true. Spiritual journey is more appealing to her than spiritual commitment. Ann considers herself to be a good person and is offended by the idea that she, like all of us, is in need of forgiveness by and reconciliation with God. She is doubly offended by the idea that this reconciliation can only be obtained through Christ’s atoning work on the cross.



* We met Pete in the Bangkok airport recently during a 1:00-7:00am layover. John offered him a Ritz cracker after he sat down across from us in the waiting area, and as the hours rolled by Pete poured out his story. He grew up in Europe during WWII and immigrated to America in the 1950s. He rose to a respected position in his chosen profession and later married the love of his life, caring for her tenderly until she passed away a few years ago. We were impressed by this vibrant, interesting man’s grateful attitude for the good things in his life. After Pete mentioned for the third time that it seemed as if everything in his life had been planned out so well, John asked him if he believed there was a Planner behind all that planning. Pete eagerly took up this conversation, and the three of us discussed related ideas nonstop throughout that long night. Pete grew up in a church but now believes a little bit of everything. He told us emphatically, “And one thing’s for sure: there are no absolutes!” (He assured us he’s absolutely certain about this.) The authority on which Pete bases his mix of theology is himself, yet at times he hesitated when asked how convinced he was of his own belief.


* Thomas is enrolled in a registered seminary in our city. He is passionate about studying the Bible in its original languages. With permission from the authorities he asked John to teach him NT Greek, and the two of them are meeting weekly. Thomas grew up in a non-believing family and as a young man became interested in a Christian woman who agreed to date him if he would go to church with her. He attended church throughout the course of their relationship just to please her and found himself captivated by the music as well as the message. Thomas was devastated when he and the girl broke up. He grieved not only over the lost relationship but even more at the realization that he had only been pretending to be a Christian. He says now, “I felt God was punishing me for faking a faith I really didn’t have.” He went to visit a trusted friend who sat down with him and explained how he could be made right with God through Christ. The transformation resulting from his commitment that day continues through the present as Thomas trains to be a pastor.




A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

(Luke 8:5-8)

Video of Indian school

Here is a link to an Indian school.

Gyanankur Englisk School Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNU-IS8HU5U

The KGB goes to Christian School

From Ray and Cindi LeClair in Kiev. Ray is the director of ACSI schools in eastern Europe.


She made her way to the front of the small, crowded hall like someone who had just survived the battle of her life. Slowly Marina Petrovna proceeded to tell us about a recent experience that had affected her deeply and, as she suggested, should be a lesson to all of us in Christian education. The occasion was our annual ACSI conference for directors of Christian schools in the former USSR held January 14-16 just outside Kiev.

Months earlier I had invited Marina, an experienced director of a large Christian school in Ukraine to speak on the topic “Developing Relationships of Trust with Local Authorities.” I knew that this soft-spoken, seasoned administrator with a good understanding of a distinctively Christian approach to school leadership would not let me down. And she certainly didn’t!

“When Ray assigned me this topic about developing trust with local authorities,” Marina began, “I had no idea that it would prove to have so much meaning for me personally and for my entire teaching staff and student body. I certainly don’t see myself as an expert in building trust. But God showed me in a dramatic way that this topic is essential for all of us no matter how big or small our schools are. As it turns out, He had been working behind the scenes for some time helping us to build trusting relationships among our teachers and staff, with our kids and parents, and very importantly—with local authorities. I started to clearly see His hand in this as I was preparing this talk. But it took the KGB coming to our school during the very period I was preparing for this to really convince me of that. And it has expanded my understanding of the far-reaching benefits of making ourselves worthy of trust. It has motivated me to do even more to build on what we have.”



KGB!? Now she really had our attention! Raised in the Soviet era, every person in the room now empathized with Marina and could imagine the psychological pressure she had felt­—an inescapable, gut reaction conditioned by years of fear. Of course, in the now-independent Ukraine, the KGB no longer exists; but its direct descendent, the State Committee for National Security, elicits no less fear.



Marina continued:

“We Christians will probably remain suspect in many circles of our societies just because we are Christians, but we must always attempt to be honest and transparent; we must try to make bridges of trust wherever we can. That is part of our calling as Christians in education. And this includes our relationships with our government and educational authorities. Can parents and governmental authorities trust us to provide a good education? Is there anything they could legitimately criticize? Is the way we administer our schools pleasing to God and a good model for our students? We must resolve to become leaders and schools of integrity that can be relied upon to do the right things before God and society in all areas and not just the things we normally think of as spiritual. This is our responsibility as Christian educators and Christian leaders.”



Marina then explained that an anonymous letter containing false accusations against her and the school was addressed both to the Ukrainian Ministry of Education (analogous to the US Department of Education) and to the new and improved Ukrainian “KGB.” As a result, there was to be a surprise, emergency examination of her school by a team of inspectors consisting of members of both agencies. In the case of the KGB, it was likely that a counter-espionage agent was included because the letter of complaint also claimed that the school was a front for a Dutch spy ring and that it was organized by a “dangerous sect that brainwashes and secretly tortures children!” According to the complaint, this was “proven” by the fact that the school receives financial aid from a Christian teachers’ association in Holland; that each year Dutch Christians sponsor students and chaperones from Marina’s school to attend Christian summer camps in the Netherlands; and that the school was partially funded by Ukrainian Baptists--a term still carrying sinister implications by some poorly informed segments of society here.



The inspectors spent two full days examining records. They randomly interviewed teachers and many of the students of various grade levels, members of the school board and parents—called in from their jobs without warning.



“From the very beginning of our school,” she told the inspectors the first morning as they gathered in her tiny office. “We have strived to give a quality education that is consistent with the highest standards of the Ministry of Education, yet based on a Christian worldview perspective to the extent allowed by law--all in a Christian environment of loving, caring teachers and staff. We owe that to our children and society. We can do no less.”



Here Marina began sharing from her heart to these inspectors about the importance of trust and a cooperative relationship—things she had been reflecting on as she was preparing for our conference. The team of inspectors sat there quietly, at first cynical of what she was saying; undoubtedly, they had seldom met a school director, who reacted this way to a scheduled visit, never mind a surprise inspection.



“We are not perfect,” admitted Marina, “but we are doing our best for our students. Our doors and books are open to you. I’m sure that you will find everything in order. In any case, welcome to our school.”



What happened over the course of the next two days came as a complete surprise—this time to the inspectors! Not only was everything in order with the school’s legal charter, registration, license, administrative and financial records, but the overwhelming majority of the students—first graders to high-schoolers—proved to be bright, fun-loving kids, yet well-behaved, mature and unusually articulate for their age. The inspectors found no evidence of psychological coercion. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be there. Strangest of all, some inspectors commented later, students and staff were sincerely kind, lacking in fear and warmly welcoming these, their uninvited guests!



“I am really proud of our students,” Marina said smiling. “Despite being grilled by these officials about our school’s policies, the content of their subjects, our alleged religious “brainwashing and torture” and the religious beliefs of teachers and staff, students calmly and respectfully answered their questions. Many of them—even the little ones—did so well, that their responses amounted to Christian testimonies that literally brought tears to some of these seasoned inspectors. At the end of the second day, some of the officials came to me privately, obviously touched by all they had seen and heard. It was so different from the average school. They wished there were many more schools like ours in Ukraine and wished me well. One of the inspectors from the Ministry of Education—a non-Christian woman, who knows our school well from previous regularly-scheduled inspections and many conversations we’d had in the past, said that she had not been concerned about the inspection when she learned about it the day before it began. She knew we would pass the test. By God’s grace, we had managed to build a trusting relationship with her and now with the others, too. Even the KGB could see that we are neither a threat to national security nor to the education of our youth, but are contributing to a new Ukraine. The inspectors had a job to do; I’m sure they love our country too. I’m glad they visited us. It’s not hard even for non-Christian bureaucrats, who bother to take the time, to see that Christian education is a good thing. The question remains, are we making ourselves worthy of their trust—and God’s?”