We're two weeks into the new semester at the learning center and we hit our first real big hiccup in terms of student attendance. Up until this semester, we haven't had to do a lot of promotion. The kids in the neighborhood seemed to be coming out of the woodwork without much effort on our part.
This semester has been different, though, with probably an all time low of 8 students on Monday. Granted, it's still the very beginning, but it caused enough of a stir that Wenny held a special meeting with the staff. We evaluated our teaching styles, our relationships with the families and the local schools, and our overall program.
As it turns out, some of the parents are concerned that our program does not help their children enough. They are afraid that their kids will not pass the national tests and advance to the next grade. At the same time, some of the local teachers, in an effort to increase their own personal income, have been offering after school tutoring. Thus the reason for at least some of the dwindling numbers.
While we have tried to help a little bit with what the parents want, our main program has been focused on creativity and building internal motivation for learning. Much of the educational system in Indonesia is built on rote memory, giving kids very little tools for critical and creative thinking. As we met this week, we brainstormed ways to use our foundational principles, and then tweak the program to help meet the families' felt needs more. The teachers also recommitted themselves to weaving their lives in with the families of the center.
We also spent a good amount of time in prayer, asking God for wisdom and resting all these issues in his hands. It's his school to do with as he pleases for his name's sake. (Last week and this week, our family Bible time has been focused on God's promises of guiding us and providing for us. So, as we talked about how these promises relate to everyday life, it was a good time to have our kids (Brienzi, Aidan, and Delaney that is) help pray for the learning center).
Answer: we had 22 in attendance on Thursday! Now, one day is not a pattern, but it certainly was a VERY visible way to show God answering prayer.
