Learning to be a teacher among teachers…

Coming to a place that is not your home, taking up residence, learning all the do’s and don’ts, and trying to fade into the faces is not easy. Many days I wake up and ask God to tell me again why he drew me to this place. It’s not long before the answer is staring me in the face once again. Every morning I walk the 100 yards to the school to see 10 teachers and 220 beautiful children ready to face their day, and I am reminded once again of the task at hand. When I first arrived I thought I would be doing some teaching, preaching, and working on a sponsorship program for the kids. I do get to do these things, but a task I was not prepared for was working alongside of the head teacher (principal) to assist him with helping the teachers be more prompt and prepared. This means I am basically a temporary assistant principal. Now, I do have a fairly good command of organizational and time management skills, and I understand the in’s and out’s of classroom structure and management, but I was in NO WAY prepared for this role, especially not cross-culturally. After talking with Rose, she trusts that I am the woman for the job and looking back at it now , she may be right. Everyday is a challenge to balance what I know to be true and what I know to be culturally sensitive to. For example, time in Africa is not the same as time in the US, so how do you implement a program that requires the teachers to be on time, when they don’t have the same understanding of time as you do… it’s a mystery! The task is always challenging but what I love about it is that in order for both parties to be on the same page, you have to spend time building a trusting relationship. That’s what I’ve been able to do over the last couple of months. It’s difficult but equally rewarding. You may be asking, where does this fit in to your calling to Africa? I asked myself the same thing, I’m not a principal, I’m a missionary. Then I realized, being a missionary involves the relationships God develops while working with the teachers and kids. I am excited to see where this task of helping the teachers leads in the grand scheme of His kingdom. Pray that my heart is refreshed by this thought each morning.

A major encouragement regarding this issue came about when the team visited and among them were seasoned educators. During their stay I arranged for 4 teachers from the US to teach a class with both the Kenyan teachers and students in attendance. The purpose was to demonstrate different teaching techniques using only the resources available to them in Kenya. I think this was a challenge for the American teachers and eye opening for the Kenyan teachers. A few days later I arranged a teachers in-service where the American teachers and SaraBeth’s dad, a former Superintendent, encouraged the Kenyan teachers and talked with them about new ideas, teaching techniques, classroom management skills, etc. Then we had a Q and A time for the teachers. It was such a blessing and again I think both parties benefited. Praise God for working this out and I pray the teachers will be able to implement some of these new ideas this coming term.

Please continue to pray for the children, teachers, and staff at Tumaini as they work hard to raise up future leaders for the glory of God!