Matko

This year we had a boy in first grade named Matko. Matko was a very special boy and stood out from day one, when he returned the pencil that the principal had given him during the opening ceremony for the school year. We all laughed about it later saying, "He looks like trouble." Little did we know.
Matko's issues when way beyond that of a normal child. In fact, none of us had ever encountered a child quite like him. No diagnosis quite seemed to fit - not ADD, ADHD, autism or anything else I am aware of. He was literally uncontrolable and it only got worse. Slowly but surely, he would be removed from lessons, and asked not to come back until finally, he spent his whole day out of his classroom, with teachers who had a free lesson. During the times he should have been in English lessons (5 hours a week) he would be with me.
Matko had free reign of the school (or so he thought) and you would often see teachers chasing him down the stairs and through the hallways, including me. Sometimes I could get him to work but many times it was just a struggle to keep him in the room. The farther in the year we got, the more of a struggle it became. And then, he started turning on the teachers, especially the Christian teachers. HIs comments were strange for a six year old to be making (much too mature) and were hateful. He would tell his religion teacher that the Bible was lies and that she was teaching lies.
Throughout the year, Matko had been on my prayer list. And as the year went on, he became a normal part of it, almost as if he was there. We all just knew we had to pray for him, without being asked. Then in May, things escalated and his behavior got so bad that there were only a few teachers who could (or were willing) to be with him. Some of the English teachers got together for an evening of cooking and fun and started discussing Matko. We all felt like we needed to do some serious praying for him. Not just our normal prayers but a day. So we decided to do a day of prayer and fasting for Matko. There were 8 or 9 teachers who participated and we also asked some of our friends and families to pray with us.
The change in Matko was amazing. Almost overnight he changed. He was still an overactive crazy kid, but his lashing out at teachers stopped, as did his hatred of all things Christian. In fact, he asked his religion teacher if she could pray for his mom and dad and later he asked her to pray for his cousin. There was a real change in him.
Now, Matko will not be at our school this year, as his problems are real, and he will be going to a school designed to work with kids with behavioral issues. This makes me a little sad, as I would love to see what else happens in his life. But I will continue to pray for Matko and trust God, knowing that he has a plan for this little boy and that he loves him so, so much.

End of Winter in Narnia

So, one of the things that I have been praying for (individually and also with a group of Narnia teachers) is for our vice-principal, Dasa. Working with her over the last four years has been difficult to say the least. She is moody, unpredictable and hard to please. The first two years were not so bad as I didn't have much contact with her, but after I started to head up the English department, I had to spend a lot more time with her and life became more difficult. I always tell people that Narnia is not a Christian school, but a school started by a church - a church school. This means that students, teachers and even administration are not Christians. One reason for teachers and administrators not being Christian, is that we are striving to stand out as an excellent school that provides one of the best (if not the best) elementary education in Bratislava. And so to do that, we hire the best teachers we can, who don't always happen to be Christian. And to be fair, I would say that at least sixty percent of our staff is, but not all. Now with administration, this has always bothered me, because it means that the leaders of our school are not all on the same page, or even the same book. With Dasa, I think she belongs to a different library even. It seemed that the longer she was there, the more her goal became to take over the school. She seemed to be the White Witch of our Narnia, bringing the cold winds of winter with her. Teachers formed groups, those with the White Witch and those opposed. The bitter cold of winter seemed to much to bear and I really didn't know what to do. So, I prayed. Constantly and consistently. Our Monday prayer meetings, I always mentioned Dasa by name, although often not more than, "Pray for Dasa." I really didn't know what to pray.
As summer vacation loomed and temperatures outside increased, inside Narnia, it was the coldest winter ever. Dasa seemed intent on taking over as the principal or destroying our school. And at times it seemed like it might work. But, amazingly enough, the White Witch was dethroned, relieved of her position and sent away from Narnia for good. The battle was not easy, and many were the wounds and scars inflicted on our Narnia. The White Witch fought bitterly to the end, telling lies to all she could, teachers and even parents. Many sided with her and we lost several teachers over it. But, God is good and merciful and summer has again returned to Narnia.
We started this year with four new administrators, two of whom are strong believers (which means that four of the six are believers now, compared to three last year). The new teachers we have hired and the ones who have stayed, seem to be forming strong bonds as colleagues and friends.
In all my prayers last year, I never thought that God would answer my prayers this way. I had hoped that Dasa would soften, that she would be more agreeable, easier to work with, but I never thought that God's way would be just to remover her, and those who stood with her. God is so faithful in answering our prayers in ways we can't even imagine - bringing summer to Narnia.