Michael's story

 When Michael's mom first brought him to us to see if he could attend the school, I didn't really have a lot of hope for him. He had never been to school. He was already past the age he could become fluent in a first language, at fifteen.

But his family had just lost everything; their house was one of the ones that was completely underwater during the floods of Noel a couple of years back. His mom pleaded for him; they were now in a bad neighborhood, and if he wasn't in school while she was working, he might begin to hang out with guys who would be a bad influence on him.

So we let him come, although we told her we could not guarantee how much he would learn.  He turned out to be a pretty calm young man, easy going, and friendly. But he would do things he shouldn't do, and then when he was caught, would show no remorse at all; in fact he would usually just continue to deny he had done anything wrong. He didn't seem to have a conscience.

Recently I began to notice a difference in him. He still does things he shouldn't do sometimes, as we all do,  but now he admits it when he is wrong. He seems to be truly repentant. His mom told me that he is behaving much better at home, and is much more helpful than before. I knew that this could mean one of two things; he is either a new Christian, or he is about to become one! One of the teachers informed me that yes, he recently became a believer.

Pray for his growth in grace. It is more difficult for Michael in some ways, because his language skills are still way below average, because of his late start. This means a good part of the Bible is not going to be accessible to him. The good news is, that the Spirit of God is 100% accessible to a believer, and he is obviously working in Michael.