Ice Cream and the Good News

Ice cream and the Good News: We concluded our teacher seminar with some ice cream, but more importantly, a discussion on giving the gospel in the classroom. Many of the students in our schools come from Muslim families or other families that do not believe in Jesus alone for salvation. These teachers may be the only gospel witness in their students' lives. So the teachers gave examples of students who heard the gospel in class and believed in Jesus, then we talked about how it is absolutely necessary to give the gospel and to be an example of a life that has been changed by the power of the gospel.

Christian teachers from different cities revising the curriculum together
We just completed a week-long curriculum and teacher-training conference focused on rewriting the History and Geography curriculum for our Christian schools. The theme for the conference was: How should a Christian teach History and Geography? Christy Sopcisak and I reviewed some principles of teaching and curriculum, then the teachers crafted new learning objectives followed by creative learning activities and discussion questions. It is a slow but rewarding process to shift from pure rote memorization to encouraging students to think and use the knowledge that they've learned. And throughout the week we discussed the Scriptures to better absorb the wisdom of God's word into the schools. We all shared specific examples of how to use patience, diligence, and encouragement in order to teach a Christian worldview, model the Christian life, make disciples of Jesus, and share the gospel.

The Light - Bible Baptist Primary School in Tsiko, Togo
Our ultimate goals are to spread the gospel and makes disciples, and we can't lose focus of those goals or we will cease to exist as Christian schools. The name of the school where we held the conference is "La Lumiere" (The Light), because that is what we are: a light in a dark place, a witness for the gospel in a place with few witnesses. And we plan to spread the light one candle at a time, one teacher at a time, one child at a time.

Next year we would like for some teachers from the States to come as guest speakers. If you are interested or know someone who may be interested then contact me at andrewandmary@abwe.cc.

If you are interested in future conferences or other ways you can assist the ministry here in Togo please see our "Special Projects" tab above.

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