‘You can’t leave us like this’:
a Revelation at a school

Taken from a report by Morgan Jackson, International Director of Hosanna Ministries

BOLIVIA — When a secondary school started participating in the Faith Comes By Hearing program, the head teacher had no idea what a powerful impact it would have on the students.

Twice each week, during the school assemblies, the 500 students, aged between 12 and 18, would gather to listen to half an hour of the dramatised New Testament in Spanish and then spend half an hour discussing what they had heard. The students responded very positively, thoroughly enjoying the music, drama and sound effects that brought the stories to life for them.

But when it came time to hear the Book of Revelation, the head teacher decided to extend the listening session:

“This book is so powerfully and dramatically presented on the tapes that I could not see how to break it up into 30-minute sections, so we decided to have a special session and listen to all of Revelation, which lasts one and a half hours,” he explained. “Because we would be running over our usual time by 30 minutes and eating into lesson time, we decided not to schedule a time for answering questions after the listening session.

Trembling

“The session began and the young people were totally captured by what they were hearing. At the end, I stood up and told them they were dismissed and could go to their classrooms. But they didn’t move and I noticed that many were trembling. They began to plead with me to answer at least a few questions. Some simply said, ‘You can’t leave us like this.’

“I told them that we were already running into lesson time but several spoke up, saying, ‘You can’t let us leave without telling us what we need to do to get right with God.’ Others said, ‘My heart is hurting inside me. What is wrong with it?’

“I then realised what a powerful experience they had had through hearing Revelation. I said to them, ‘You have now heard the whole New Testament, so you know that you must repent of your sins and be willing to make Christ your Lord.’ I then invited those who wanted to, to come forward and make that commitment. More than 200 students did so and we are now discipling them. That experience has completely changed the school.” (WR 391/3 - 03.05)