Missionary Teachers and their Families

Last week a panel of five people visited Hillcrest (where we teach and the girls go to school) for ACSI (American Christian Schools International) evaluation. After MANY hours (and many before the visit) of reviewing curriculum, talking to students, parents and teachers, sitting in classes and being in the school for a week, the evaluators provide the school with very positive remarks and encouragement on Friday....and a real hope for accreditation! In our mailbox today we found the following article by one of the evaluators. We thought that we could have not have explained the spirit of the family at Hillcrest any better way. Hope it gives you a glimpse into our world here, a picture of what we are doing, and specific ways to pray.

Missionary Teachers and their Families

I have met many of them before, but this time it
seemed quite different. Had I changed over the years
or had I just missed something that had been there all
along? On my recent visit to a missionary school in
Africa, I had the chance to meet them in the
classroom, in their homes, and in numerous personal
conversations. Somehow theses conversations were
never about trivial matters. They didn’t seem to live
life at a trivial level. They are focused but fun.
They are passionate about what they do and why they do
what they do! They seem to ask little for themselves
because they have discovered that it isn’t about THEM!
Their days are spent investing in others. Rather
than to be uncomfortable with language barriers, they
welcome them and are fascinated by the differences.
They seem to have a high regard for learning new
things and discovering different perspectives. They
open their hearts and their homes and families to the
kids they serve. They are willing to stay after
school or come back at night for tutoring sessions.
They find newborn infants without home and make them
objects of great hopefulness. They have little of
this world’s wealth but seem very content with what
they have. They raise all their own support to do
their work and are careful in how these limited
resources are expended. They often find themselves in
impossible situations only to discover that God does
his most surprising work when resources are at their
least. They care deeply for each other and seem to
accept the fact that one person’s need is really the
need of all. They are “tight” with each other and
care for one another’s kids with titles like “Aunt”
and “Uncle” instead of teacher or coach. These
relationships seem almost as deep as the gene pool
because they are filling the function of parent which
is more important than the title. They have learned
that “simple living” is really a kind of freedom
rather than an enslavement. Simple meals shared with
each other is as rich as the most exclusive cuisine
and there always seems to be room at the larger table
for others. They find themselves as grandparents with
painful miles separating them from their children.
Sometimes they are parents with just as much distance
separating them from their college age kids in the
states. Holidays carry a special pain of separation.
They have said far too many “good-byes” far too often.
Saying “good-bye” never becomes something you
“adjust” to. They come with graduate degrees and a wealth of
experience that would make any school in the states
envious. Many of them have personally come through
the same mission experience that their students are
now going through. It is out of this deep reservoir
of experience that their ministry seems to take on
extra traction in the lives of kids. They teach out
of a heart that is thankful for those who made the
sacrifices for them and now they welcome the chance to
give back to others. Yet, others come with little or
no experience and begin perhaps a new cycle of givers
and receivers. But the one thing they all carry in
common is a deep sense of “the Call”. They have heard
their own timid hearts say, “Here am I, send me!”
Perfect people? No, not really. But they are living
proof that God is able to take flawed tools and do
highly technical surgery of the HEART!

Ken Tanis
Delaware County Christian School
On his 2006 ACSI Accreditation visit to Hillcrest
School, Jos, Nigeria, AFRICA