空缺岗位

“In 1995, I came to the Philippines with a group of nine other of my college mates and one of our professors. It was to be a three week trip. For me it turned into nine and a half weeks. Faith Academy’s Middle School needed a Social Studies teacher, as the teacher that was coming still needed to raise support. I had just graduated college a few months earlier so I stayed and taught Middle School Social Studies. God used my time here to burden my heart for teaching at Faith Academy. I left here saying, “I will be coming back!” And in August 2000, I was back at Faith Academy.

I love teaching in Middle School. Middle School students are a mixture of crazy, fun, creativity, and energy. I love how our students will engage in creative thinking and be self-directed learners. There are many times I am just blown away with the work that my students produce or the deep conversations we have during discussions or debates. Middle Schoolers can “rise up to a challenge”. In one activity, I had assigned students in my Philippine Social Studies class a president that they had to defend in a debate as a being the better president. One the students that had a more challenging president to defend came back and said, “Thank you for assigning me this president. It really made think about the good things he did for the Philippines.” It is moments like this make me love my job.

The other thing I really love about my job is being able to build into their spiritual lives and seeing their love for Christ increase. I had the opportunity during Outdoor Education to pray with a student as she received Jesus as her Savior. This still stands as my most favorite memory. And I can still see all of the Middle Schoolers in our traveling group cheering when she announced her salvation at a bonfire. I have also had times to disciple other Middle Schoolers. It blesses my heart to see them long for Christ.

Middle Schoolers have a lot they can teach us. Middle Schoolers respond the best when you show them that you care, when you are willing to sacrifice for them. The more that you can show how much you care, the more they will respond back to you.”

“My most memorable experience while working in Middle School was my first time attending Outdoor Ed at Taal, Volcano for a hike. I had the chance to be on the island, not only that but they let me be involved in the ministry aside from working in the office. I loved being around the kids in the school ministry, singing praise songs, and sharing the word of God through storytelling.”

“The first six weeks of first grade are not easy for me or my students. The kids are adjusting to the ‘big kid class’ – struggling to find their stamina and learning that reading and writing is actually really hard work. But as the year moves along it is unbelievable how much they grow, not only as readers and writers but as little human beings. They start to think about things on such a deeper level and by the end of the year I don’t want to see them go.

When I look back on how far they have come from the beginning of the year, I see that this is the year in kid’s lives where they get into their little rockets and take off for the moon. Even though I am the teacher, here are a few things that I have learned from first graders:

1.万事开头难。但只要你继续努力，尽自己最大力量。最终你的付出不会白费，你会获得丰沛的收成。

2.摇晃的牙齿分散注意力，但为终于长出来的牙齿庆祝也很有必要（即使只是生活中的小事，我们也应该为此庆祝。）

3.上帝对我们生活的每一个小小细节都很有兴趣。即使是我们的小狗抽动鼻子，或是我们的父母正飞往地球的其它地方，上帝也能呵护好这一切。

4.我们要像一年级学生那样去祈祷。他们满怀信心地祈祷，全心全意地相信上帝必会回应。（我们每天开始时的祷告时间是我一天中绝对的亮点）。

5. A little band aid and just some words to acknowledge their ‘owie’ can make such a difference. We need to remember that we don’t have to have all the answers but just a kind word to one another can make such a difference.

6.一年级的学生对一切都饶有兴致，并总能从小事中找到快乐，比如从大理石罐里抓满满一把大理石。哪些小事让我们充满感恩并找到喜乐？

7. Life is an adventure . . . there is so much to learn. Let’s always be lifelong learners.”

“Faith Academy is home to me because I have spent the majority of my life here. I went to Faith Academy K-12, and now I have the amazing opportunity to serve here as a teacher. Initially my wife and I were open to serving anywhere in the world, but God opened and closed doors to have us end up here in the Philippines. At first I loved that I had the opportunity to teach at the school that helped me grow so much. However, since teaching here, I have grown to love even more how my ministry is helping missionary families by teaching their children so they can do their ministry with ease.”

Caleb spent his childhood years in the Philippines.