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We are Morning Glory too!
by Rob Courtney
Campus Relations
Even here on the ground, in Guatemala, you could feel the collective inhale from the gasp of so many of our friends and supporters when they heard Lori was going to go in for therapy. The elephant in the room made an exit and we had to start practically talking about what was going to happen. Lori Nij has been synonymous with Morning Glory Christian Academy for more than a decade. What was the school and the hundreds of brown-eyed children (and the couple of light-eyed ones in attendance) going to do without the founder, director, and administrator of the school? I remember what I felt. I remember very clearly I said to myself “Welp, now we are going to see what we got.” That is, we were going to find out what Lori’s team was capable of without our leader.
Dean took lead in assuring all of our supporters that Lori was not out of the game. She only had to take a water break. Lori had a meeting with all of her teachers to talk about responsibilities and chain-of-command. We were in the height of “group season.” Lori and Tabi, and our team of Interns were managing food and housing for tons of Casas por Cristo groups already, but we one of our biggest weeks to come right as Lori went into a much needed time of rest and therapy. So we all knew we had to step up and take on our share.
Tabi did a great job of keeping the kitchen for all the Americans running. As far as I know, all the food went out on time and just as good as ever. I know it was hard for Tabi to support her mom and simultaneously keep the Americans full and happy. She had every right to back out and say she needed to support her family, but she knew the Work had and has to continue.
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“With Lori’s new challenge and real hope of healing, the process has taken her off campus and I have been thrilled with how professionally our full team has operated the school, churches without a hitch. This is a credit to Lori’s training, to the quality of our whole crew from top persons to clean up crew; and to the blessing of the Good Lord. We are not slowing down. The Trustees this week laid out a fantastic plan of growth and enlarging our finance base.” – Herb Pinney
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Personally, I knew what was going to “fall” to me. On the BIG week, on campus, we had three groups that wanted to work at Morning Glory in 48 hours, We had a couple of volunteers looking to serve, and our dear friends Compass were right around the corner. It was a lot to get ready. Mynor, our accountant at school, was a very big and very patient help to me as I had to coordinate getting materials. I am proud to say that thanks to several groups (including Journey & Peace churches, and some groups from North Dakota) we saw great progress in the structures on campus. We now have ramps for Lori’s scooter. She will be able access all of the first story buildings on campus when she gets back. We also have a nice overhang to cover a snack/meeting area for our new building. All of the students got the Chapel sessions the week that Compass came, and most of them got multiple sessions with our other volunteers. In summary, Lori told me how to start, and I did the best I could to make things happen. Obviously, I lacked Lori’s “special” touch, but we had some exciting weeks and really cool things happened while Lori was recovering. The campus grew, relationships were formed, and God was honored.
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I think the MVP of the moment is our Academic Dean, Heyson. I sat down and talked to him. He said that in addition to all of his normal responsibilities, he was taking on from Lori’s absence the disciplinary interactions that Lori so masterfully handles. He noted that it has been a big adjustment but he, like all of us, is trying to step up to the challenge. Heyson announced that he will be stepping down from the other school he directs to focus on his responsibilities at Morning Glory. I admire Heyson’s courage and dedication to his role in The Story. Heyson’s done a great job and is just as devoted to the Dream as any of us.
And I think therein lies the hope of Morning Glory. We are a team and we are dedicated to making Lori’s dream work. (Is a “Dream Team” joke too cliche right here?) Heyson told me that he was especially impressed with the Primary School teachers who are being very responsible in fulfilling all of their job requirements. Some of our unsung heroes this summer were our interns, who kept at it despite less-than-ideal circumstances. Michael and Rosemary were a big help to me, especially in coordinating the dozen new cabinet sets for our teachers. Even our friend Libby came to rescue me when I needed a second translator. If you had been here in July, you would have seen a team of teachers, volunteers, interns, and even students stepping up to take on the load of Lori’s vision for San Raymundo.
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I have always related best to the disciple and apostle Peter. That poor guy gets a bad wrap for messing up all the time. But that man tried, and tried, and tried again till he got it right. I know I felt like Peter here in Guatemala. I can imagine Peter watching Jesus ascend and thinking “Ok, so now what?” But Peter was part of a team of disciples that took the Kingdom to the next level. Their secret was that they used what the Master taught them. They looked, learned, tried, and failed. But in the end, they became the pillars of a very successful, ever-expanding team.
And that’s how I see Lori’s absence. Just as Jesus did with his disciples (Anyone else see the resemblance in the words ‘Lori’ and ‘Lord’?), Lori taught us, helped us, and beat her head on her desk because of us. But in the end, she instilled her vision and her dream in us. So when she took a time-out, we were ready and willing to give it our best. I know I made some mistakes, but I’m a better and stronger leader because of it. I know many of the other Morning Glory personnel can say the same things. We banded together because we know Lori gave us a lot of tools to succeed. When she comes back to her office, she will find a stronger team. We passed the “trial by fire.” When Lori comes back, she will find even more to work with. I can’t wait to see what happens when our leader and our heart comes back to be with us. We have just now been exploring our full potential. When all the pieces are together again, we are going to be prepared and charged up to combat the forces of darkness even more. We are ready. Lori started Morning Glory. But the we are parts of The Story as well. We are Morning Glory too, and the next chapter is going to be even bigger and better.
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A special word from the President of NIMA: Herb Pinney
With Lori’s new therapy, we are seeing results right before our eyes: 87 lbs weight loss in less than two months, inches off legs, midsection, and feeling coming back in her feet after five years. There are no drugs; just wrapping, therapy, and diet. The doctors are saying she will be driving her car again with in the year. We are seeing wonderful progress.
This process is going to be an 18 month to two year project. The one thing I did not want to happen was twelve more medical fund raisers. As always, successful medical fund raisers take a toll on budget income. If we could get a hundred concerned people to faith promise $25.00 extra per month for a year and get six churches/organizations to increase their giving by $50.00 a month for one year each, we could cover the monthly estimated $2,000.00 without additional medical fund raisers and in a year to reevaluate where we are medically with Lori and make a closing effort on what we need then.
Right now we have a hole on normal fund-raising to cover the budget, very often because of the summer vacations of our supporters. We are $14,500.00 from having the budget money for the August 15th wire to Morning Glory. We have the immediate needed medical money and we have covered the debt. We are up to date for this month and even a month ahead. The big gifts for the medical came in and the bills are paid right now, but I am not going to be able to pay my teachers on time. I need everyone, new friends and old to step up and help with donations and gifts summer time relief.
You can use the links below to give to both causes.
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