Life is made up of stories. Stories of hope ... stories of love... stories of challenge.
While we yearn for hope and search for love, many stories are about the challenge.
This is such a story.
To tell this story, we need to introduce you to Alma. Alma has been a secretary at a school for students with learning and physical disabilities and handicaps. This is the only school for special needs children this side of Ensenada. While working at this school since it's inception 11 years ago, she attended night school to earn her teaching degree. She loves the students of this school and has a great rapport with their parents. These parents and students are her family and she cares for them as if they are her own. Her heart is so big for these special needs kids.
Two years ago, Alma began formulating a vision to teach these students some life skills and began developing an agricultural program for handicapped children and young adults. Her objective was to provide practical training for her students, utilizing real fruits and vegetables and other plants grown in greenhouses at the school. The students would be trained in all aspects of field work, giving them the opportunity to become employable and eventually self-sufficient in providing for their own well-being. There is currently no such program in all of Mexico. Alma approached us 8 months ago to inquire whether or not we would be interested in helping her get this project off the ground. She already had the government approvals in place, and so we began working hard since that time ot put together a school building project for a group coming down from Saskatchewan to build the week of February 15th, 2009. Although the focus of this project was something different from our regular school building projects, we felt it was a great fit for the group coming down, who are predominantly prairie farmers themselves, and who were excited to take this project on.
About 2 weeks before the project was due to begin, we began to experience some "hurdles". We normally like to have the concrete floors poured for our projects and ready to go at least a full week ahead of the project. We were in the process of setting the date for the floor pour, when all of a sudden we got a visit from Alma, saying that the land where the new school was going to go (a piece of property adjacent to the existing fenced school yard) was in a dispute with a different school who was claiming the property as theirs. Alma, along with the director of the school, said this was no problem, we would just re-locate the school within the existing school boundaries -- everything would be fine and we could proceed on schedule. We carried on with our plans to pour the floor in the new location. Two days later, we got another visit from Alma, saying some of the other teachers in the school were upset about the relocation of the new agricultural school and we could not pour the floor until some school officials came down from Ensenada on Thursday to meet with the teachers to set them straight. We explained that Thursday was way too late as the group was arriving the following Monday and the floor needed at least 2 days to dry! She proceeded to try to change the meeting date to Tuesday, and it all looked good. The only problem was that the officials didn't actually show up on Tuesday. They still only came on Thursday. So we went to the project site Thursday morning, tools in hand, ready to go. The parents were also all there ready to help us. Playground equipment got moved and concrete forms were ready to be put in place. We began thinking we could still pour concrete on Friday.
On 99% of our projects the concrete is all mixed on site using a gas powered mixer and manual labor. This is due to costs and the need for flexibility. However, since we were already behind schedule, we decided to order ready mix concrete from a local supplier for Friday morning. We anxiously awaited the outcome of the first meetingg between the school authorities and the parents. Finally we were told all was well and we could begin the work. Forms began to be put in place. Then something happened in the meeting between the school authorities and the teachers, and in the midst of it, they came out and halted our work! We couldn't finish setting the forms! Our concrete contractor finally left, but we stayed to see what the outcome of the meeting was - trying hard not to panic, wondering what was going on. Finally the authorities came out and said it was a go, we could pour tomorrow. We breathed a sigh of relief and went home thinking that everything would be fine for tomorrow.
About 8:00 p.m. that same night, we got a phone call from Alma, saying that we couldn't do the project - period - unless we did it in another place. She had received a call from the teacher's union, threatening her, we are sure, and she was scared. So there we were, in our office at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night, with Dan Klassen and Roberto, our concrete foreman, again asking ourselves "what was going on?" "Had we missed something along the way? Had God tried to tell us something different and we had not heard Him?" We cried out to God to give us some direction, to tell us what was going on! WE felt we had no other options. This group from Saskatchewan was already en route by now, expecting to build a school and we didn't even have a floor, let alone a place to put it! "Lord, what are You trying to tell us??" Needless to say, there was much prayer happening that night, and not much sleep.
Our phone started ringing at 6:15 a.m. on Friday morning. The president of the parent's association wanted to assure us of their support. The Director of the school called shortly thereafter and we found out that he had no knowledge of the phone call that Alma had received from the union. He assured us of the support of all levels of the school authorities, that Alma would be o.k. and would still have her program there. He said that the teachers were still not in favor, but they (the teachers) didn't have the power or the authority to say whether a school would be built or not, and they (the teachers) would be handled by the school district authorities. The parents were there ready to work again, and were in complete support of the building. Work resumed once again. The forms were set, everything was leveled and ready to go. The schedule concrete truck was pushed back until Saturday morning. We all breathed another sigh of relief and went home to have a good sleep that night.
Saturday morning brings another desperate phone call from our concrete foreman. He has arrived at the school site at 7:30 a.m. to find that the teachers have posted signs on the fence saying what a bad thing we are doing, they have locked the gates with chains, and would not let anyone in. Les immediately calls the concrete company to delay their first truck, but it's too late -- it had already left their yard with 7 metres of concrete on board. He then calls a Christian friend and government official whom we work closely with, who promised to come to the site with some of his people. Les arrives on site to find police, government officials, school officials, lawyers, parents, and the media! All outside the fence. Les is eventually granted an audience with the teachers -- a fence between them, of course. He does the best he can to communicate with them, with his limited Spanish, until Val arrives. They won't let anyone else near to hear their conversation with him.
He gathers the information that the reason the teachers don't want the new school building within the present school grounds, is because the existing school is for handicapped children up to 12 years of age. The feel it is a danger to younger students, some of whom are as young as 3, to be together with students from ages 15 - 20. (We are somewhat confused by their rationale, because there are children from our own ministry at IDT who go to this school who are 16 and 18 years old. Something's not totally correct here.) Anyways, this is the first we have heard of this kind of concern. Why were we not told earlier that this was their complaint? Plus, if that is a legitimate concern, why is it not the parentswho are up in arms about the safety of their own children?? We tried to reason with the teachers. If they don't want this particular program, could we at least offer them the building as a gift to expand their own programs? They said they needed to talk about that one -- so 15 minutes later, they come out and say "No!" They don't want it ... not even to enhance their own programs. What?? Hello!! This is a free gift!! Nobody could understand their logic or understand what their real concerns were. Were they just using this project as an opportunity to apply leverage for some totally unrelated issues? Nobody knew.
Somewhat taken aback by their response, we asked the teachers to please open the gate for us. By now, our patience was completely exhausted -- we just wanted to get in and get our forms and get out, so we could go to another location, wherever that was. (We knew by now that the floor wouldn't be ready for Monday, but we were out of options!) But wait -- what's this!? They wouldn't even let us come in to get the forms. They kept the gate locked ... refusing to open it!
In the meantime, the cement truck has been there since 8:30 a.m. It is now 10:30 -- we've got a "hot load" and we are out of time. It looked like we would have to dump the cement. In desperation, we began asking people who were there, "Who needs cement at their house?" not wanting to waste the whole load.
Meanwhile, the government officials were continuing talks with the teachers. And then, suddenly, they cut the chains on the gates, telling us that we should go ahead ... begin the project. We were still thinking that we were leaving at this point so there was a bit of confusion on our part. The cement truck began to back into the gate, but Les still had huge hesitations about going ahead. At this point our emotions were pretty raw and some were in tears -- not knowing what to do. We again met together with our friend, Moises Davalos, the secretary to the governor of the Baja and a Christian brother. He understood our dilemma -- and then he said -- whatever decision we make, whether to go ahead with the project or whether to pull the plug -- he would respect our decision. That, we needed to hear! We asked him to tell us, from his heart, what he felt we should do. He said he felt we should go ahead -- it's what is best for the school, the students, the parents, and the community as a whole. It would be a tremendous asset to the San Quintin Valley. And so, without further discussion or sideways glances, we plunged ahead.
The concrete began to flow. Les ordered the second truck. Dan got in there on his hands and knees and helped Roberto work this "hot" cement into a beautiful finish. Val wen tout and bought pizza for everyone, including the teachers who were sitting off to the side talking to their lawyers. Amazingly, they accepted
our gesture, and while they ate our pizza and drank our soda, we assured them that we came in the love of God and our intentions were only to bring good to the communities. The floor eventually got finished and as we packed up our tools and got ready to leave at the end of a very trying day and week, we turned to each other and said "Happy Valentine's Day!"
Hope Church from Saskatchewan arrived Monday, and as they always do with
every school they build, they did another awesome job. on their bus, they have the name of their church -- "Iglesia de Esperanza". And on every school they build, they mount a sign -- "School of Hope - Escuela de Esperanza". As Alma drove by the finished project at the end of the week and read this sign, she cried. She cried, because this was in fact supposed to be a "School Hope" ... hope for those who had little to look forward to.
You see, Alma wasn't there the week of the project. We learned that one of the demands of the teachers, in trying to resolve this conflict, was that she not work at the school anymore. This broke our hearts! The one who initiated this whole project, the one who had been working through all levels of administration and authority to birth this awesome program for these special needs students, the one who should have been front and center at the dedication of this project, could not be there to witness the blessing this gift was to bring. She appeared to be the biggest loser in the end.
As we pray for Alma, we still pray for resolution. We have tried to keep from telling God what resolution of redemption of this situation needs to look like, even though it is our nature to do so. We don't necessarily see what God is doing or what He will continue to do, but we do know He is up to something. And we may never in our lifetime, see or understand what this was all about. Yet, we know that God is still in control. He has a plan, and we rest in that knowledge, believing that somehow, someway, He will redeem this for His glory, and whether we see it or not is not important!
We ended Valentine's Day sharing a meal together with Dan and Judi, going over the events of that day and the week leading up to it, trying to make some sense out of the week's events. We were still incredulous that anyone could be so calloused and obstinate as to refuse a gift that we were so freely giving. Why? It just didn't make any sense.
But wait a minute ... Someone Else ... namely Jesus Christ ... came with a free gift ... and He still comes with that same gift ... a gift of salvation ... and He is continually refused and rejected by many as well. If only people could understand that His gift is eternal, never ending ... not like our gifts which eventually deteriorate or lie in ruin. His never does. It's amazing to think that people the world over wouldn't want to just reach out to Him and take it. A gift that's free ... yet a gift that costs everything. Hmmmm ... I guess He knew how we were feeling right then! But more importantly, we glimpsed a sense of what He feels. He who is rejected by so many ... every single day.
While this whole experience is not one we want to repeat any time soon, we recognize that "our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and authorities in the spiritual realms, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12. God was doing something here that Satan did not want to happen, and he worked overtime to prevent it. But God will ultimately prevail! What Satan doesn't realize is that we've read the end of the book -- and God wins! God is always faithful ... and always good!
Throughout last week, God continually brought this song to our minds and our hearts --
"For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love, I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough. With every breath I take, I will give thanks to God above. For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love."
This is our prayer -- that no matter what happens, our lives will be a testimony to God's love.
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