I am a teacher of 3-4 year olds everyday with each class having 15-20 little kiddos and I absolutely love it! Although it is tough and draining at times, it also is a crazy, fun time! I love teaching English and sharing Jesus but I have began to see just what sharing of Him looks like. What God has been teaching me lately is to become more like Jesus. Looking at those students in the same aspect that He does. Being intentional and loving towards each child creates such a different atmosphere, an environment of joy and peace. I look around my chaotic classroom everyday and see children of God. Just holding a patience, grace, and gentleness for each kid. We must do everything for Him and often don’t recognize that the people around us are Jesus, maybe because they act quite opposite of His character or live a life different from that of Him. In fact, the Holy Spirit lives in each and every one of us. If we want to be close with God we need to stop playing it safe, take the risks, and talk to the people we avoid, who are our enemies, who we don’t understand. Love them as though they are just like Jesus. By treating the people that come into our lives the same way as Jesus we get an insight into how He feels about us and those people we come into contact with. Is that not so cool! That is exactly how I’ve been seeing more of Him lately. He is such a good and ever faithful father to me. Through all suffering and brokenness He is there for me. He puts His children first and encourages us to love one another the same as He does to us. This makes us complete in Him. For He is love. In my Bible I have continually been rereading the verse 1 John 4:12, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” By acting on this I am lighting a fire for Christ in my heart.
I have realized that ministry is not only those students but also the teachers we work alongside. Praying over them, comforting them, teaching them English, and just being a friend to them has been so amazing to me.
Just last night we had a camp for the teachers, guards, the guys who live at the school and our ministry hosts family. At the beginning of the night we prayed that God would show up, fill this place and move in their hearts. Boy did He move! We started the night very layed back and fun roasting food over a fire and dancing to music! As we began to worship it was deep, intense, and beautiful. My teammate Madi just asked everyone, “how does this make you feel?” I got a glimpse of the Holy Spirit working because even though they did not understand the words in any of the songs we have sung they had these emotions come up that we could walk through and point back to the Lord. This is when my teacher assistant Seavhour started balling as she poured out her heart to me. I stood there crying, listening to her talk of a life of poverty, having a father who does not treat herself or her mother right, and of not feeling beautiful because of the judgment she gets from her darker skin color. She talked of her dreams to study abroad and become a doctor yet weeped saying she was too poor to do anything in life. I really felt a tug at my heart that the Lord was working through me to reveal to this woman of just how special she is to Him and how He is constantly working for her. I had the chance to pray over her and to tell her of a God who loves her, who sees her as beautiful and perfect, who has a greater plan for her. After she walked away I cried into my teammate Madi’s arms, I was overwhelmed by the sadness and brokenness she had been carrying around. I cried thinking of the fact that God has sent me half way across the world to share this and be there for these people. It was hard for me to hear of her life and then seeing all God has done in my life. It deeply hurt me and made feel confused as to why. I cried for her because although her story is hard she is so strong. I cried because I know that deep down God is there for her and pursing her if she would only turn towards Him. Peoples stories are so unbelievably powerful and heartfelt with so much raw emotion. Loving looks like opening up to those people in your life by hearing their stories and being there for them through their struggle and brokenness. It is not easy to hear of their own burdens. Learning to become His love has been a challenging obstacle and tiring. You live a life of excessive availability to those around you but it is far worth it because with becoming His love I get a greater understanding of my faith, myself, and my father. Simply looking at those around me as God looks at myself.
Each day we must strive to look to the people surrounding us, talk to them and become interested in their lives and their stories. Earnestly pursuing others will go a long ways in the eyes of the Lord and in this you will also find yourself. By no means am I perfect at loving others but it’s something to dig deeper into and work at. Loving is as simple as choosing, choosing others before you day to day. This leads to walking more and more into a kingdom perspective.
