We are a COMMUNITY!

On Wednesday I witnessed, for the second time, the handing out of report cards at Adoration Christian School.  The handing out of report cards at Adoration is completely different than handing out report cards back at John Calvin School in Smithville- the only other school that I have worked at to hand out report cards.  The handing out of report cards here is a full out assembly.  The assembly begins with singing; if you have never heard the Haitian people singing praises to our Risen King you are truly missing out!  After a time of prayer there was a message given to us by our pastor, Pastor Octavius.  This time he spoke about our LORD and Saviour and how He conquered sin, death and the devil.  We then had the privilege of listening to every class present a song or Bible text they had memorized.  Some of the teachers sang a song for us as well...'Great is Thy Faithfulness'.  A true witness of how faithful our God has been to us so far in this year.

Then the time came for the reason why we had gathered...to receive the awards and the report cards.  During this time it is breathtaking to watch the reactions of everyone present.  The students sit on the edge of their seats.  They are nervous, they are anxious and they are frightened.  I am convinced that everyone had butterflies in their stomach, parents and students alike.  You see, most are so unsure of how they have done and everything they had done in the past control (semester) comes down to this.  Tests, assignments and everything else the students have done does not count on their final marks.  At the end of every control the students write exams and their report card mark is based on these exams alone, nothing else.

First the awards are handed out. There are awards for never being absent or late, awards for best achievement, and awards for highest marks.  Only eight students hadn't missed a day or weren't late this year.  Then came the awards for highest marks and best work ethic.  Some students came with heads lifted high while others had the look of shock- who me? really?  Other had tears in their eyes.  I looked at the parents and saw pride on their faces because their child had done so well.

Next was the report cards. Some of the children have the privilege of going to the front first to get their report cards while other parents make the walk from their seats to get their child's report card.  The reports are then opened and the children and parents glance at the one mark at the bottom.  This total mark has to be higher than 5 out of 10.  Anything lower is a fail.  There were fist pumps and grins and smiles and shoulders sagging and tears.  Seeing the different emotions appear on the faces of parents and students was also interesting to watch.  Pride, joy, happiness, sadness, and disappointment were just some of the emotions.  But the most interesting thing that I witnessed was when a boy, who could not wait for his father's glance, got out of his seat and ran to sit with him to look at that mark.  Immediately he relaxed, and his body was less tense.  I did not even have to see his face to know he had passed; his body language spoke it all!

As we sat through this assembly I noticed that we are a community.  In this community we can share, talk, laugh, cry, and be proud together.  This school community has been through a lot and will continue to go through good times and bad in the coming years.  Yet, this was a time of community when its people could come together to sing, read the Bible, pray and share in the education of their children.  God has blessed this community, God is with this community and we pray that this community may continue to grow stronger and closer to Him.  We are a COMMUNITY!