Last evening we were well into a game of Scrabble when we heard singing at our outside gate. Who could that be? I ambled outside to see while Vivian quickly put some items in order in our living room area. Sure enough, it was a group of students and profs from SCEN campus about half a mile away who had come to visit. They usually have an informal get together on campus Friday PM's but this time decided to hold their meeting at the Stoners's house! Was a kind of farewell gesture since we will be leaving Brazil in a few months.
As you can see from the photos, we invited our friends in to sing and share. There was a Bible reading and then different ones spoke, telling what they have appreciated about Vivian and me, our ministry among them as teachers, counselors and friends over the years. Wow! What a wonderful ending for the day, one that had started out with a staff meeting full of discussion how to fix a certain SCEN department, quite a discourageing encounter. But now we were being encouraged and built up in a very unexpected way. Most of their kind words had to do with what they had observed, expressions of our character with little mention of what we've tried to teach in the classroom. And I find that to be significant, in line with the adage that more is caught than taught.
One colleague said that over 25 years ago he observed the way we raised our children and wanted to do the same when he had a family. A student said that he was impressed last week when he overheard me asking a student for forgivenes concerning a small incident in class. Another spoke of the dedication with which Vivian cares for the school library.
As the visit ended, we expressed our sincere thanks, pointing out that whatever has been accomplished has come from the Lord's enablement, and was certainly not our doing. After saying goodbye to our friends, we decided to finish our Scrabble game, which, incidentally, I won by a few points!
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