Putting In A Word

In my experience, a minister, in his or her role as an "advocate", may break through complete impasses without any reference to the impasse -- in situations where the minister might not have had success in any other way. Here's a real example. A teenager was barred from his final school exams because his mother couldn’t pay the fees. It was a well known school. I called the vice-principal, introduced myself, and said I was the young man's minister -- no more. The vice-principal said: “This is an internal matter. I don’t feel the need to justify our actions. The decision cannot be reversed. Under the circumstances, we’ve been good to the boy.” I thanked him for his kindness, and his time. The mother then decided to approach the school one more time -- and the school announced an about-turn. The vice-principal said to her: “Check in here every day, and pay what you can for that day.” And she did. OBSERVATION: In fact in some cases, a minister may be asked for advocacy in dangerous situations -- then this approach may be all the more appropriate. We had prayed for a solution here, too -- and prayed-for solutions tend to surprise one.