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.