Last month, Linda, who runs the nearby youth centre, introduced us to a man who happens to be the headmaster of the local high school. We were attending a “mystery dinner” put on by some fellow Christians in the area and wound up being seated next to him for the event. We had a great time and got to know him a little through the course of the evening. Of course, as soon as we met him we thought that the Lord's hand must be in this, but I didn't think I could just say to him, “Hey, why don't you have me into your school and introduce me to your Religious Ed. teacher so I can start teaching kids about Christianity” – or something like that. So we said very little about the school all evening – we were too busy trying to solve the mystery being played out before us.:-)
However, at the end of the night, the headmaster turned to me and invited me to drop in at the end of a school day and he would give me a tour and introduce me to the RE teacher. Just like that. So, last week I stopped by and spent an hour or so with him, although the RE teacher wasn't there. So, he told me to come by again and attend a class assembly and meet the RE teacher, which I did. He introduced me to the whole Year 11 assembly – about 250 16-17 year olds – and then I sat through two class periods of RE. In the second period, the teacher (the other RE teacher, in her first year) asked me if I would be willing to take part of the class period and teach. So, my first visit went way beyond my expectations. We will see what comes of all this. The main RE teacher, Chris, didn't say anything about my coming back, but the headmaster pretty much invited me back. I really have no idea why he has been so forward about helping me get into the school. He has never said anything about his own personal religious views, but he seems very sympathetic with the RE program. So, this seems like an open door. Please pray for wisdom about how to proceed. I certainly would like to be involved in the RE program, but I want to be careful that I don't push in where I'm not wanted. So far, so good.
5 October 2009
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