The illegal strike had been going on for several
days when one of my students came to school one day to get his books. Or at
least, that was his pretext for coming, and I think he did leave with books.
It was what happened before he left that began the miracle...
"Mr. Chaffart," he said, once in the classroom,
"would it be possible to start a Bible club here at school?"
Little did he know, this was something I had been
wanting to do for a long time. It required, however, the permission of the
school principal, which had, prior to then, been denied. But things were
different now. Our principal was showing definite signs of interest in
becoming a follower of Christ.
As I talked with the student about this, our
principal came into the classroom. This student asked him for permission to
start a Bible club, and the principal smiled. "Absolutely!" was his reply.
"When do you want to begin?"
My student and I suggested that we begin as soon
as the strike was over, and we did. Students from grades 5 to 8 attended
regularly, and we had a good group. I always tried to focus on what the
students wanted to learn or share, and sometimes our principal even joined
us.
This was a miracle in itself. It is unheard of to
have a Bible club in a public elementary school. But didn't God promise that
He would confirm our evangelism through signs and miracles? "This salvation,
which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who
heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles,
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." (Heb.
2:3b-4 NIV). But the miracles of that Bible club continued. Two years later,
my former principal retired and was replaced by a new principal who was not
a Christian... What would happen to our Bible club?
Join us on Friday for "What will Happen to our
Bible Club? There is ALWAYS Hope, Part 8".
Rob Chaffart