Have you ever ridden a roller coaster? I remember the first time I stood in line for “The Corkscrew” as a kid – I thought “This is crazy!” But, when I got off, I thought – what a ride!
The academic year just wrapped up here. The exams have mostly been taken and the assignments have been turned in. As sit here and look back on this year, the first word that comes to mind to describe how many of us feel is “whiplash”, to be honest.
But, what a year!
We started the year back at the end of August with high hopes that the security situation in the neighborhood would remain stable. It did, for about a week.
Then suddenly in early September, the floor was ripped out from underneath us as Haiti was catapulted into the worst political stalemate in a generation. Countrywide unrest ensued with flaming barricades blocking roads in literally every corner of the country. As one week turned into one month and one month turned into three, we began to realize that Haiti as we knew it was being forever changed.
Confined to our homes, the STEP team began to ask the question: How do we keep the mission going forward while we can’t “meet”? The next thing we knew, we were well on our way down the path of exploring ways to teach that we’d never explored here before.
Of course, we never thought what we were doing would be permanent. As we found ways to teach classes via WhatsApp and other platforms, we did so thinking it would be temporary, a way for us to ride this out.
By December, the political situation calmed. In January, we breathed a sigh of relief when we returned to the campus and saw our classrooms full once again. We just didn’t realize how short-lived that relief would be.
Within a month, the security situation in the neighborhood declined and it was no longer safe to use the campus. We were forced to hold classes in a church on the other side of the city. That worked great until three weeks later when the first cases of the Coronavirus were announced in Haiti. Immediately, schools across the country were closed, gatherings of more than 10 were restricted and the border was shut down.
What we thought was a temporary solution this past fall, turned out to be a test run for the model we will be using for the foreseeable future. We are now well on our way to launching new distance learning options at the seminary that will increase its impact for years to come.
The start/stop/start/stop of the past academic year has left us feeling like we need a neck brace. There isn’t much about this ride that’s been fun. At the same time, the innovation these challenges have produced helps us see great value in this wild ride.
While this year has been a roller coaster we would never choose to get on, now that the assignments are in and the exams are taken, we give thanks to God. He has provided for us and protected us just as generously as He always has – and He has shown us anew how He is able to work all things out for good.
Thank you for partnering with us!
