Christian Educational Work — classes for new and growing Christians
- Ideas from JH, 2003
Excerpts from interview with Professor F:
– They used English tutoring to build relationships reach people with the bible
– He was there to set up the religion department
– The school he worked at was set up an opportunity to share Jesus
– He set up small groups and trained leaders to lead groups
– Used small groups to get to know the other teachers through intriguing topics
– The use of English teaching allowed the opportunity for the teachers to teach the stories of Jesus in English
– Each week an English bible study
– Chapel weekly opportunity
– Wed. morning small group bible study
– Christmas time – a contest to decorate a tree that showed the true meaning of Christmas
- – Christmas song contest – presenting a Christmas choral
- Christmas Program
– No religion class but used the English class to teach Christianity
– The students didn’t effect there families greatly – there was no relationship with the parents that allowed for getting them the message of Christ
Excerpts from the video Ee-Taow:
– Transferring the bible message into the correct terminology is a key place to start before proceeding with an education. Basically educate yourself before you plan on educating the natives.
– Don’t start preaching the bible before you understand the people.
– When starting Christian education in New Guinea the approach was giving an idea to the natives of the location as in tribal location to island location to continent to the location they occupy in the world. Then the creation story was taught and the account of Adam and Eve and how the concept of sin entered the world. For two months the Old Testament was taught before any introduction of Jesus. And as a result excitement of hearing the gospel and a response of belief ran through the village where the word was shared.
– The approaches that have been effective in the rural villages of the unchurched world have not been proven effective in the city presenting a challenge for ministry in urban areas.
- Ideas from BP, 2003
From Interview with Jim Found: Jim’s job in Taiwan was to set up the religion program at the school he was placed at. He was not assigned to a class though. There were 2,300 students, grades 7-12 while he was there. Of the 350 7th graders accepted each year, only a handful of them had ever heard the Gospel. Of the 90 teachers he worked with, only 30 were teachers.
He used small groups as his main strategy. Every semester he would come up with intriguing topics, and talk to all of the teachers one on one to ask them if they wanted to join the small group. Year after year, about 15% of the students became Christians. Most of the students went to University, and then became leaders on their campuses.
There was a weekly chapel service at 7:30 on Saturdays (they had school on Saturdays). Many of the students came to the chapel services because of the music. The students could sign up for a small group- Wednesday at 7:30 am. He organized the teaching of Bible stories in English classes. The parents were happy because they’re children we’re learning English from Native English speakers.
The school couldn’t have religion class because they would have had to take out another class, and then the students would not pass their university entrance exams, and no one would come to their school. He had youth group for the on-campus students on Friday nights — Interview, Jim F
Becky’s husband teaches English in a middle school
It is difficult to build relationships with the students because they are so busy
The students go to school for most of the week
They do come over to play games sometimes
He teaches a conversational English class at the middle school
He is in a volunteer position there
There is a lot of pressure for kids to do well and be successful
He has a large class, 80 students
He has them write sentences or play games
He does not have a teaching or ESL degree- he’s winging it! – Interview with Becky O, 3-24-03
“Comparative studies of global education abound, but there are some new participants in this vast and complicated enterprise who may surprise even some of its more careful observers…New universities are arising, and they are coming from an unexpected source, the varied expressions of revivalist Christianity
…When stating the purposes for their institutions, leaders of the new evangelical universities frequently mention two. They want to help students fulfill their aspirations, and the aim to serve the common good of their home societies. ‘A new generation is seeking reality in their faith in the context of a revived and developing society,’ states Stephen Noll, the vice-chancellor of Uganda Christian University. ‘Discipleship for them includes a tremendous hunger for education,’ he continues, and in equipping them for service, the new university is poised to ‘become the seedbed for the development of a stable, godly nation.’
Saving souls has become routine in many cases and there is a significant contribution to the surrounding context…The rise of evangelical universities thus marks the emergence of an important second chapter in the story of revivalist Christianity’s growth in the non-western world.”
The New Evangelical Universities – Joel Carpenter, Mission Frontiers, March-April 2003. BP
In Taiwan, there have been a few challenges in theological education. The first is the tension between the charismatic movement and traditional evangelicalism. The second is the fact that churches have not been successful in spreading the gospel among the grassroots people of Taiwan. A third is the establishment of graduate departments and schools of religion, collectively referred to as religious studies establishments.
-Challenges of Theological Education, by Peter K. Chow Taiwan Mission Quarterly, Volume 10, Number 2, Fall 2000. BP