How often are we afraid to fail? Sometimes we so afraid of failing we won’t even try a new opportunity where there is even the slightest chance of failure. Failure is essential to grow and to learn. As I sit in the corner of an English class and watch the students one by one slowly approach my desk. They nervously sit down and hand me their practice sheet for their oral exam next week. My job, to make sure they are correctly pronouncing each and every word.
This month is all-squad month, meaning all 24 of us are living together and doing ministry together. Our host this month has 8 different ministry opportunities, so we were divided into 8 groups of 3, triads. Rachael and Lizzy are in my triad and we are serving at SALEA, Salt and Light English Academy. At SALEA we are helping students, ages 8-40, practice their English. Practicing English can look different depending on which class we are in, sometimes it’s helping students with pronunciation, helping them practice for their oral exams, or carrying on basic conversations. It’s been really exciting getting to know the students’ lives; part of their oral exams is to answer a random question from a list of 20 short essay questions. Here are some of the questions: what’s your favorite movie, how many pets do you have, what do your parents do, do you go to church, what do you think about God? Listening to their answers gives me insight into their lives, and most of their answers are so sweet and innocent. Most of the students grow up in very loving families who love God. It so cool to get to know their perspective on life.
So back to my story, I am sitting in the corner asking them questions in English and listening to their responses. I check to make sure that their oral answer matches their written answer and that they are correctly pronouncing each word. Sometimes they forget what they wrote or they mispronounce a word wrong so I gently correct them, however most of the time their pronunciation is very good. So why does it take a while for the students to get up and approach me so that I can ask them questions? The fear of failure, they want to say their answers flawlessly on the first try so they remain in their own desks and practice, practice, practice. However, sometimes the best way to practice is to fail. To fail over and over, but after each failure you pick yourself back up, brush off the dirt and try again until you succeed.
“Thus says the Lord:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?”
—Jeremiah 8:4
“For the righteous falls seven times and rises again.”
—Proverbs 24:16
“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
“A failure is not a loss. It’s a gain. You learn. You change. You grow.”
“It is better to make a thousand failures than to be too cowardly to ever undertake anything.”
The students didn’t remain in their fear, they rose up and conquered their failure. They took the initiative to challenge themselves even in spite of the fear of failure—and they succeeded. Their English has improved even in the week and a half we have been here. The students now want to come to us and talk with us. They desire to improve their English and it’s so encouraging to see them face their fear and overcome it.
It’s a powerful testimony that should empower all of us to rise up and face our fears so that we can grow and overcome them. In fact, we should have nothing to fear because
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you;
he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
—Deuteronomy 31:8
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
I pray that I will not be afraid of anything that the Lord calls me to because He won’t leave me or forsake me, he is my strength and my shield!
Salt and Light English Academy
English Class
My triad conversing with an English class.
An English classes’ graduation from one English level to the next. Rachael, Lizzy, and I where guest “judges” more like graders for the night.
