Planted by the Stream

About to do a relay race, demonstrating the steps in the water cycle

Last week I had the joy of facilitating the third and final phase of teacher training for over twenty local primary school teachers.  Teacher training is one of the top reasons why I joined this team here in Mundri, and I have been planning and looking forward to it like it was Christmas.  The theme for this training was “The Water of Life,” which gave Bethany, Melissa, and me ample opportunity to integrate spiritual truths into our science lessons.  It was also a chance to focus practically on one particular unit, giving the teachers visual aids, model lessons, and science knowledge that they could bring into their own classrooms in the future.  What fun!

One of the perks of this training was that we got to see the same teachers who had attended the past two trainings.  We knew their faces, their unique personalities, their biographies, their strengths and weaknesses—and we could adjust our training to best meet their needs.  This week gave me another chance to observe these hard working adults and make further comparisons between education in the states and education in S. Sudan. 

Just like teachers in the states, the teachers in Mundri want advice on classroom management, lesson planning, and student-teacher relationships.  They want to grow professionally and be a blessing to their many students.  However, the teachers in Mundri also have the unique responsibility of being the face of a new nation to their students.  There is so much that South Sudan is working towards, and these primary school teachers are the ones planting the proverbial seeds into the minds of the country’s future leaders.  These teachers are the ones encouraging young women to stay in school and not get pregnant.  They are responsible for setting high standards so their students know what they’re capable of.  Every day they are modeling respect, hard work, and Godly character.  On top of this, they are speaking to an audience of around eighty distracted children and are given very little financial recompense for their work.  It is a job that I admit I could not do, which is why I’m so passionate about encouraging these teachers whenever possible!     

One of the biggest surprises of teacher training is the amount I end up learning.  There’s nothing like a little bit of primary school lesson planning to remind you of your own ignorance in the most basic science facts.  Last week I was reminded again and again of how the water cycle is truly everywhere, how it is a miraculous gift from God. I also learned the importance of humor in relating to the people here in Mundri.  Whenever I felt myself distanced from the participants in the training, I would watch how they interacted with one another.  They would sit in groups, laughing at each other in love and good fun.  It seems fitting for them to make humor a priority, when they are otherwise burdened with the heaviness of life in S. Sudan.  These adults taught me that community and relationships are more important than my reputation or my agenda.    

The most painful lesson I learned during this week was the reality that all my emotional baggage as a teacher has not been left behind in the states; I have brought it right here with me to Mundri and must learn to battle it appropriately.  Despite all of my joy in working this teacher training, I became hit with paralyzing anxiety, which put a dark cloud over the whole week.  I let myself believe that I had nothing to offer these teachers; that I should pack up my detailed lesson materials and visual aids and go home.  To stand up in front of the Sudanese participants and speak with conviction felt like a million little deaths, like a Herculean feat attempted by a mere mortal. But I stood up at the front of the classroom and, surely enough, God made learning happen.  Words came out of my mouth, the teachers earnestly listened, and connections were made.  Teachers even came back into the room early from lunch to finish copying what I had written on the board (in my ever shaky handwriting).  Praise God for reminding me again of His power in light of my weakness. 

On the final day of training we had a closing ceremony and gave out certificates of completion.  Just like the previous training, I got sentimental and started to wish the training would last another week.  The humor, passion, and humility in all of the teachers present had been such an encouragement to my anxious, striving self.  Their faith to go boldly into the classroom was a reminder of the power of the “living water” in even the driest of places.  I had failed to believe the very Biblical truth that this training was centered around.  It is my continued prayer, for myself, for the teachers in South Sudan, and for the teachers around the world, that we can be filled daily with the strength that only God can give-- that we can pour out joy and hope and wisdom onto our students so they can grow to produce plentiful fruit throughout the nations.            

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose fruit does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.  - Psalm 1:3