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Donald and Carol Paige have served in Paraguay since July 2008. Donald is a journeyman silversmith and has developed friendships with and ministers to Paraguayan silversmiths in the town of Luque. Carol has a master’s degree in social work and teaches third grade at a local Christian school. Additionally, they pastor a Methodist congregation in Lugue.

Here, Carol recounts a moving story about her third grade class and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Being a teacher is definitely not for the faint of heart. It is one of the most difficult jobs I have ever done. Difficult, but definitely worth it!

I grew to love teaching preschool last year, so when the director asked me to take on the third-grade class in the afternoon, I thought, "How much harder could it be?"

Two weeks into the school year, I was seriously reconsidering the wisdom of my decision. I was also wondering why God put me with that group. Had I really heard His voice?

There are only 16 students in my class. The majority of them have been together since preschool and will be until graduation. Needless to say, their interpersonal relationships are very important.

The two activities that seemed to interest the class the most were talking and arguing. More of my time was spent trying to keep the students quiet and peaceful than actually teaching. 

In addition to all the normal lessons, I had also been trying to teach them about respecting and loving each other. However, nothing seemed to be sinking in.

Until one rainy day.

That day, we went down to the covered parking area for recess. When I called them to come in, the boys were arguing and fighting about something. One was so angry that I had to physically restrain him from hitting one of his classmates. What really got to me, though, was that several of the boys were continuing to taunt him even though they knew he had trouble controlling his anger. They were enjoying watching his reaction.

With the help of a male teacher, I was able to get my class safely upstairs and sitting at their desks. 

I was so disappointed and frustrated that I started crying. The room fell into a complete silence. 

"Do you know why I am crying?" I asked.

No answer.

"I am crying because you have no love for each other. God put us together in third grade as a family. You were purposely trying to make a classmate angry, and you were enjoying it. There is no love here."

Then, in that moment, God did something that I had been trying to do for nearly two months.

One of the boys stood up and asked to say something. With tears flowing he said, "I do not feel safe at home. My family is always fighting. I am in a Christian school where I should feel safe, but all we do in this class is fight, too. It should not be that way."

Suddenly the flood gates opened. Another boy started crying and shared that his parents were going through a divorce. As I looked around, the majority of the class was crying, most of them boys. I was completely taken off guard as I strongly felt the presence of God in that room.

I went to get the school's director and explained what was going on. Together we started praying with the children. I felt a great sense of compassion well up in me as I touched and prayed for each and every one of them. The children then began praying for each other.

I sat down on the floor and the kids all surrounded me, and one of them actually crawled into my lap. As I was sitting there with a rather large eight-year-old boy in my lap, I realized that it was indeed God's plan for me to teach this class this year.

It was His plan, if for no other reason, that I was able to witness the miraculous way He used the honesty of an eight-year-old boy to accomplish His will and purposes within the hearts of many, including a frustrated school teacher.

"Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children." - Matthew 19:14