A Vision of Hope

The 2009 school year begins tomorrow . . . and so tonight our WHM team joined the CSB staff for a prayer walk, bathing every corner of the campus in praises and supplications. David shared a few words about the faith of Caleb in the Bible, who was not intimidated by the giants in the land of Canaan because he sensed God's power to be more real. Annelise kept us moving from dorm to dorm, classroom to classroom, in small groups and then all together in a circle of prayer. We prepared the way for the students by asking God to do great things: to protect from disease, to give a passion for learning, to provide adequate food, to inspire teachers, to draw forth worship, to change lives. It was a beautiful tangible picture of our partnership, and a way for us to collectively acknowledge that like Caleb we know that the God we serve is the One who can bring true change to CSB.

And our vision of hope was boosted by the weekend's news of the O Level exam results. Christ School emerged as the leader in Bundibugyo once again, with 5 students in Division One and NO FAILURES. To put that in perspective, we had 5 of the 8 division one scorers in the district, but only 51 of the 435 students. That means a Bundibugyo student at CSB was 8 times more likely to score in the top tier than average. And in our district more than 10% of students fail, but none of ours did. We still have a long way to go to meet the highest national standards, but this was hopeful news.

And so we meet the new year. The giants in the land are real (alcoholism, abuse, cheating, mediocrity, rebellion). But the grape- cluster vision of what God can do makes it worth the risk to move forward.