Leading people into total surrender to Jesus
Can you imagine schools where there is no bullying?
When we first became the directors at Instituto Alfa in Puerto Escondido, Mexico one of our 6th grade students exploded with anger, throwing chairs around his classroom and destroying desks. Hearing the commotion, I ran out of my office to see the teacher and the other students in complete shock and full of terror. The memory of seeing the fear on their faces still makes me sick in my stomach. For the next few days after that happened, I walked around the campus grieving for each of those children and talking to God. The Lord pressed into my heart that never again would the school be a place where children felt scared. Rather, the school would be a place where every child would feel safe, experiencing the love and security that each of them deserved.
Immediately, we launched an initiative to cultivate love, belonging, hope, humility, and forgiveness among the students. We began to teach the children how they could have healed hearts instead of broken hearts so that we can act with kindness and respect toward one another. Over the next few months Instituto Alfa became a safe place for emotional healing, and as a result, the students began flourishing in their academics and their relationships. Even the teachers and administrative staff grew closer together in unity as the school became a place of refuge, restoration, and celebration.
Instituto Alfa continues to be a school where love, hope, peace, and belonging thrive.
Bullying has been eliminated and Instituto Alfa has become a model of a school where children can grow emotionally, relationally, and academically. Because of this experience, the GDM team is passionate about carrying this message of love and belonging to as many schools as possible. In the last few years, we have had the joy of sharing this life-changing message in hundreds of schools with tens of thousands of students and teachers around the world.