Preaching and Teaching

We recently celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary, and consequently I’ve been pondering that “two become one” phrase. Let’s see… I’m a teacher and I married a preacher. Now, he is  teaching as well as preaching, and I am preaching as well as teaching. How did that happen?! Well, however this “iron sharpening iron” has happened between us, the results are very rewarding for us at this stage of our lives. Here is a glimpse...

Teaching some of the 88 students of four nationalities at KIST

Rod teaches a class called “Expository Preaching”. He happens to teach right next door to me, so I can sometimes hear his probing questions. An interesting one the other day was “How is preaching different than teaching?” I wanted to take the students in my “Principles of Teaching” class next door to join the discussion. We may do that someday.

My favorite Swahili word has become Mwalimu. That means “teacher”, and it is what I am most often called here. There is no better calling than being a “mwalimu”! In addition to “Principles of Teaching”, I teach “Introduction to English”. The students all already speak English – quite well, in my opinion. But this course is intended to prepare them for the academic reading and writing skills that they will need in their studies at KIST. My students were surprised to discover that they are also learning theology in my English class! We are using a great new text produced by colleagues at Wheaton College, Exploring Theological English (http://www.exploringtheologicalenglish.com/). So, my 32 students are learning theological vocabulary, concepts and writing patterns. To get class started each day, I also teach listening skills in the form of listening to new songs and filling in blanks in the lyrics. The Brazilian guitar I received from my parents as a high school graduation present is still serving me well!

We are also “teaching” here by providing resources. Our first initiative was to bring 12 copies of my brother Jay’s book Daniel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgMovWDSVv8) to our library. Thanks to Jay and our Sunday School class in Indiana for providing these books for KIST! The students cheered when I ceremoniously presented them to the Principal during chapel! 

 
Preaching – in lots of places!

We are often invited to speak and minister  -- both at KIST and in other places. A frequent topic for us is leadership, and what it looks like in Africa. Rod recently spoke at the ordination ceremony of our Deputy Principal, Jeremiah. His topic was “David, a Leader of Integrity”. Notice the garlands Rod and his translator, student Matthews, are wearing -- no, it's not a a preview of Christmas. These tinsel garlands are given for honoring people. Jeremiah was wearing about 20 of these during his celebration service! 

I recently spoke at the Banyore Girls’ Chapel – picture 1200 high school girls clapping and dancing and waving their hands and you’ve got a glimpse of their worship service. What leadership potential! I was given the text Mark 3:7-19 to preach on, and from that I pulled out five leadership principles of Jesus: prepare, dare, care, beware, share.  Can you find those five principles in that passage?

All for now. I will endeavor to get back to my monthly blog posting! Kwaheri! (Bye)