“The world belongs to God, and the world is everything—including our professions and our callings,” said Mwikali Wambua, a Resonate Global Mission missionary.
Resonate is the Christian Reformed Church’s mission agency. As Resonate missionaries, church planters, and campus ministers work to spread the gospel throughout the world, ministry leaders such as Wambua are discovering that Reformed theology resonates with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
The idea that “every square inch” belongs to God—that God is at work outside of the walls of church buildings and in and through all individuals in all spaces to redeem and renew the world—is encouraging to believers.
And it’s completely transforming how people live out their faith.
Wambua, for instance, sees God at work in classrooms. She works with teachers and school administrators in Kenya and throughout Eastern Africa. Despite the influence teachers have in the lives of students and communities, very few people in Kenya want to be teachers. As in many places throughout the world, school resources vary depending on the school and where it’s located. In much of Africa, teachers often are thrown into classrooms with limited training, are paid little for the hours and energy they put into their work, and are teaching in crowded classrooms with too few resources.
On top of all that, the teaching profession is looked down upon. For many, teaching is not a calling or vocation; it’s a tough job they never really wanted.
“Teaching is a difficult job,” said Wambua. “In my early years of teaching, I struggled to settle down as a teacher. I relate my experience to that of Jonah. Every time I would try to do something else, God blocked it until I said, ‘OK, Lord. I will be a teacher because you called me to do that, and you’ve given me the skills and giftings of a teacher.’ Once I started loving teaching, I saw many doors open.”
Wambua sees how teachers can make a big difference in their students’ lives. The ways in which educators teach and relate to their students can have lasting effects not only on children’s education and future career, but in their walk with Christ and how they live out their faith.
“When children are taught well, with good planning, they don’t just learn for the sake of learning. They learn for application, and they learn for change,” Wambua said.
In response to some of the challenges educators in Africa face, Resonate missionaries developed Educational Care training. Based on biblical principles, the training equips educators with best teaching practices and a Christian perspective on teaching. It’s helping teachers such as Job Were see their jobs as a calling from God.
Were never thought he would be a teacher. He wanted to be a medical researcher and work for the Kenya Medical Research Institute. But after graduating from university, he had trouble finding a job and thought he would give teaching a try. Unlike many of his colleagues, Were didn’t hate it—he had volunteered at his local school during his summers at university—but it was still just a job. He thought something better might come along someday.
From Were’s first day teaching biology and chemistry to high school students, he said, he was a tough, no-nonsense teacher.
“Having been brought up by an autocratic father, all I knew was obeying orders no matter what,” he said. “I never thought I would give a child an opportunity to argue with me or defend himself or herself.”
But that started to change as Wambua led Were and other teachers through Educational Care training’s first module, which focuses on a biblical worldview of teaching.
Teachers learn that “teaching is a noble job because it’s a calling from God,” Wambua said. “Even looking at Jesus as a teacher—it didn’t make him lesser.”
As Were read Scripture, he started to understand that teachers play an important role in caring for and discipling God’s children. He was also touched by Wambua’s humility as a facilitator.
“I asked God to make me as humble (as she was) for his glory,” he said. “(Wambua) would correct us during our training with lots of love, and I felt the move of God in me to embrace such virtues while handling my students.”
Throughout the various modules of Educational Care training, Were learned more about different teaching methods that address a variety of student learning styles. He started to incorporate interactive projects and group work rather than only lecturing from the front of the classroom. Some of Were’s students told him they were learning more than ever before. Were also started to become curious about students, asking questions and listening rather than making assumptions.
“I recall one student in my class had challenges with writing class notes,” Were said. “I kept pushing and forcing him to complete his notes in vain. One day, after we handled the module on learning intelligences, I called the boy and asked him to share why he hardly writes class notes. … He said he is not the type that must write notes, that he understands well listening to the teacher. His response prompted me to apologize to him and his parents too. … He emerged top of his class in his final examinations.”
Because of Were’s changed posture, his students haven’t been as intimidated by him. He has developed a good rapport with them, and they have told him he is a “good teacher.”
“God transformed me, and my students started addressing me as a father figure,” Were said. “They started approaching me with confidence and courage. We now chat, crack jokes, and have fun.”
When Were first started teaching, he would scan job postings hoping for a new opportunity, but not anymore. Today, like thousands of other educators who have participated in Educational Care training, Were doesn’t see teaching as just a job. He sees it as a calling to join God on mission in the classroom.
“I no longer think about or imagine being a medical researcher,” he said. “I have concluded as a child of God that this was the Lord’s leading. I deeply enjoy teaching.”
About the Author
Cassie Marcionetti, Resonate Global Mission
