Saturday’s Tee Shirt

Fiji is hot and humid. Cool, lightweight clothes are a must! Saturday clothes are my favourite. I can throw on a pair casual shorts, a tee shirt, and a pair of flip flops, and be fairly comfortable in the humidity! 
    
​On a recent Saturday, the tee shirt I happened to throw on was a Gospel School for the Deaf one, as I got ready to head off to the grocery store. While I checked out at the register, the clerk noticed my shirt, and inquired about the school. I gave her the usual spiel, and asked if she knew of any deaf children not in school. As it turned out, she did. Her son Jeremiah was 10 years old. He had been in a regular first grade class for 6 months, when he became ill with Meningitis and lost all of his hearing. He has not been back to school since.  I immediately set up an appointment for his mom to bring him into school the following Monday. 

​Then, as I was walking to the van, an Indo-Fijian man also noticed my tee shirt, and asked if our school was connected to The Gospel School. I responded that it was.  He was a graduate of the high school, and told me how much he enjoyed his experience there.  He asked about several teachers that we knew in common, and then pulled out his card and handed it to me.  He owned a car dealership, and said if we ever needed any work done on our vehicles to call him. He would beat any price we were given for repairs. Since all 3 of our vehicles are about 15 years old, they are almost always in need of something or other! I happily took his card and thanked him. 
    
Jeremiah and his mom came in to school bright and early on Monday morning, and registered for the start of school in January. As you can see by the smiles, both were very happy. As they were leaving the interview, Jeremiah held up 6 fingers toward me, and I was confused. His mom explained that he still thinks he’s 6 years old, because that’s what he had been taught the last time he attended school.  We can’t wait to catch him up on his past 4 years! 
 
Yes, I was thankful I had thrown on my GSD tee shirt on that particular Saturday. And thankful to God that another deaf student had been found and brought to school.  Maybe we should encourage all the staff to wear their GSD shirts around town on Saturdays!