Things are looking up a bit in the village of Iscos. You may remember that our last post was an urgent plea for prayer after our Kid's Club was attacked and our presence in the town was under persecution. A couple of weeks later, the mayor and the city council members (I use these terms very loosely... it IS NOT the same as in the USA) had a meeting regarding the oppression that we were feeling and the harassment from the local school personnel. The city officials decided to call a meeting of all involved parties - the mayor, city council members, local school director, local school teachers, directors of surrounding schools, our staff, and our lawyer. During the meeting, our lawyer had a formal reading of the agreement/contract that we have with the city. Each point in the agreement was discussed with the committee - this was not news to them, as they all had to read it and sign off on it before we began work in the village. He also explained our goals and purposes for being in the community and working with the children of Iscos. He was very upfront in stating that our #1 purpose is to teach the word of God and share the love of Christ with the community, and our #2 purpose is to educate the children who do not have an opportunity to attend school.
In the end, the city council voted in our favor and the mayor spoke on our behalf. The mayor also said, "This town NEEDS more love and we NEED someone to teach the word of God here. We are glad that you are here." This was a huge victory!!!
Since the meeting, the local school director has greeted our director with handshakes and kind words in the mornings. The verbal abuse has stopped and things seem to be going well. No, we are not so naive as to believe that everyone has come to love us overnight, but we do believe that God can do ALL things and use ALL things for good. So, we are moving forward in Iscos and continue to work with our students and teach the love of Christ and hold Kid's Club on Fridays.
Thank you for your prayers!!! We do believe in the power of prayer and we do believe that your intercession on behalf of the children made a difference. Thank you. To God be the Glory!
