First Day Impressions

I (Glenn) was most impressed today with the director of the school who greeted us with open arms, and had breakfast prepared for us on our arrival. (He's the one in the picture eating breakfast and intently listening to Hannah, Jared and Marisa). He is certainly a rare human being. Even when he walked into the room, he sort of felt like royalty. The man had a special humility about him, and it didn't surprise me when Greg told me about his back story and ministry.
Greg confirmed that he was very much like royalty in Costa Rica as he is so well-respected in the community and his heart for service was inspiring. He serves on the boards of several ministries (in addition to directing the school, Colegio Monterrey) and the one story I caught that most impressed me was the story of his organization: "Casa Vida." They looked around Costa Rica and saw there wasn't a foster program meeting the needs of displaced and orphan children. The children were simply placed in large group homes in less-than-ideal facilities. So they went to the government and said, "can we start a foster home program?" They stepped up and began to offer this support service where they would reach out to community churches and select a family within the church where they would place a child not just in a family, but in a church community. It wouldn't simply be the family caring for the child, but the commitment of the entire church community to surround and support. What a great example of the body of Christ stepping up and taking responsibility.
This philosophy came through in the school as well. Looking around, we noticed quite a few students with special needs (Downs syndrome and others...). They were not ushered away and hidden in a separate room; they were integrated into the community, and supported from within--as part of the community. I was in a music class with first graders and when a group came in with Diego (a child with Downs), he sat down with the rest of the students. When he got restless, another first-grader (Camille) pulled her desk over beside Diego, put her arm around him, and reassured me saying, "It's OK; I'm his care-taker today." Absolutely precious.
Here's a picture of the class singing, "El Reloj." (Notice Camille and Diego in the back)