The King for All Nations

Exactly three weeks after I watched my students graduate from high school in America, I find myself sitting in a church in Haiti watching 139 students graduate from the School of Hope. I cannot help but compare the two events. At home, I work at the Landmark School, a high school for students with language based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. For my students, school was a struggle for many years, and their success at graduation is truly an accomplishment to be proud of. This year, 100% of Landmark seniors are going onto college. Many of these students thought that they would never be able to attend college. The ceremony was a celebration of triumph and of hope.

Sitting under the tin roof of the Church of Hope does not feel much different from the graduation tent. This ceremony is also one of triumph. Almost all of the graduates have parents who did not attend school or did not finish. Most parents cannot read at all. In an area of Haiti where only twenty percent of children attend school, graduating from high school can seem like an impossible dream. The excitement of the graduates was something palpable. I look at the beautiful faces of the Class of 2011 as they sing their song about being the future of Haiti, and I think about how the school that started in 1998. Vanessa Johnson tried teaching 230 students that were so malnourished that they were passing out during class. Now, the school has transformed into one of the best schools in the country, training the future leaders of Haiti. This miracle could not have been done without the hand of God, and in my heart I give thanks and praise for the love He is showing His people.

A guest singer is called to the podium, and she sings the words “Jezi se wa pou tout nacion,” which means Jesus is the king for all nations. As I think about the work he is doing in my students and school at home and the work that he is doing in these students and school in Haiti, I know these words are true. He is redeeming all nations, and to all people he declares, “For I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) I believe that the young men and women receiving their medals and diplomas today are the hope and future that God promises this beautiful country.