At the beginning of September, I started helping out at a nearby Christian school a couple of days a week. I’m teaching Bible and Reading to 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders, and then doing a choir or singing class with high school students once a week. The students are from quite a mix of backgrounds – a lot are from Pentecostal churches, and several are Muslim. They are also at quite a mix of levels academically -- in the fifth grade class, for instance, most of the kids are between 12 and 15, but there is one 19 year old who is a very poor reader! And then in the 6th grade class, I have one or two good students who work hard and get top marks -- and then there is a boy from Guinea who speaks French and very little English -- and certainly can't read English. I have no idea what he's doing in sixth grade! He doesn't speak enough English for me to find out if he's actually at sixth grade level if everything was in French. I spoke to the principal about him, and he promised to look into it, but then the boy hasn't been at school for the past week. I asked the other kids where he was, and they told me that he had washed his uniform and hung it out to dry and someone stole it! And he's not allowed to come to school without a uniform, for security reasons.
Please pray not only that the kids will learn academically, but also that their hearts will be opened to the Gospel. Pray that the singing class will be the means of teaching the young people solid hymns and choruses – all that they know so far seem to be Pentecostal-type choruses. They're very keen to learn new songs -- so I'm happy to take advantage of that and teach them some good ones!