Me, A Teacher?!

The (almost) finished classroom in Kitale, Kenya…

A couple weeks ago we had our 6-month Debrief. This is a time when our coaches and some World Race staff come out to the field to teach us, see how we’re doing, and challenge us to go farther and push harder to realize all that God has intended for us on this Race. While in Nairobi, Kenya, for this Debrief we met a couple who are going to be coaches for the upcoming June World Race trip. Gary taught our first session and he spoke on the spiritual gifts in Romans 12. The way he taught was that there are two different types of spiritual gifts, a way that we’re hardwired, called our “redemptive” gifting, and then the way that we manifest the Holy Spirit in our lives after we have been born-again. I had never heard this differentiation before and it intrigued me. According to Gary, the gifts listed in Romans 12 are our redemptive gifts and there are 7 of them: Prophet, Servant, Teacher, Exhorter, Giver, Ruler, and Mercy. He then went on to give a pretty detailed description of each of the giftings. He explained that the way God has given us these gifts is displayed in how we view the world and how we respond to different situations and circumstances, and he also gave examples from Scripture where these giftings are displayed. As much as I thought for sure that I had one of the other gifts, when he started describing the Teacher gift I began to listen more closely and realized that, for the most part, the way that Gary described that gift pretty much nailed my personality.

Because I have never even considered myself a teacher in any respect I had a lot of questions for Gary after his talk. I had the chance to talk with him later that day and he helped me to see that, because of my gifting as a teacher, God has given me the ability to bring people to a deeper understanding of Him through His Word. It also helped me to see that the way I view certain things is because of this gift, and some of the other gifts to a lesser degree, and I was enlightened about a few things in my own life. Later that same evening we had a worship session as a squad and one of my teammates spoke over me a word from God which I didn’t think I was ready to receive, but I told her that I appreciated it and then jokingly told her that she may have to remind me of it later.              Me teaching 3-5’s in Lira, Uganda

Well, my Father was having none of that, so He gave me a word for the entire squad!! I was sitting in the teaching session after worship trying to make a deal with God because I didn’t want to get up and speak right then and I felt like the word He gave me didn’t really fit with the message being given that night. However, He then brought a verse to my mind that was immediately in context with the teaching and so I felt that I had no choice but to get up and challenge my squad to a deeper relationship with God and to consecrate themselves in order to move into the things that God has promised us as a whole. After the teaching I stood up and walked to the front and spoke, while shaking in my shoes, and God was glorified in my weakness! Gary told me later that that I had used my gifting to bring a truth in Scripture to a practical purpose in the lives of my squad-mates. I am so glad that I was obedient and that God was glorified.

God also reminded that day of whenI was commissioned at my church before I left home last August. During the commissioning my pastors prayed over me that God would use my gifts and even reveal gifts in my that I didn’t know I had! Well, He has, and there may be more, but God works in His own perfect timing and He must see that I am ready for the responsibility that comes with this particular gift. I am still a little hesitant and unsure of when God wants me to utilize my teaching gift, but I do believe that as I continue to allow God to use the gifts He has given me it will become more natural to just share what He has placed on my heart. I am open to Him using me as He pleases and am looking forward to how much more He will develop His gifts in me, and in my team and squad, in the next 4 ½ months and beyond!