Kingdom Class

"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God’s mercy, now you have received his mercy."  1 Peter 2:9-10

Kingdom Class 
We have had the amazing opportunity to come together with 12 other countries in Latin America for professional development as International Christian Educators this past week.  The conference was put on by ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) and they brought in amazing speakers and college professors to talk with us.  This is the first time the conference has come to Colombia.  Before, Colombia was thought to be too dangerous and they said they would not bring the conference to our school.  Praise God that the work he is doing in this country has allowed us to welcome in our Latin America friends to El Camino.  Below is a picture of me and my roommates with some of our new friends who are missionary teachers in Bolivia.

Our conference theme was "Empowered" and we were encouraged to keep striving to be the best teachers we can be because we are making an eternal impact on our students.  Our speaker on the last night said why settle for being world class educators when we are called to be "Kingdom Class" educators for our students!!  He used Jesus as our example and reminded us that what Jesus calls us to is higher and his plans for his people are greater that we we could ever imagine.  He doesn't want us to be great - he wants us to be the perfect representation of himself as his chosen people for his kingdom. 

My brain is still processing all that I have learned about being a teacher, how to serve these third culture kids, and the importance of Christian education to positively impact the lives of these young people for Christ.  I have so many new ideas, have learned so much, have been challenged, and have met so many wonderful new friends.  Stories from other schools (especially one in Suriname) have inspired me and given me renewed hope in what God is doing not only here in Colombia, but all over South America.  Please pray for me as I begin to sift through what the Lord wants me to take away from this amazing time of being refreshed and energized to keep serving him through teaching.

Encouragement from Alumni - Nataly Arenas, a 2013 graduate of ECA, came and spoke at the ICEC conference to encourage teachers on their mission and how they are impacting the lives of their students.  I want to share part of what Nataly talked about to encourage you and allow you the opportunity to surround a sister in Christ in prayer.

Nataly is in college here in Bogota studying international relations.  Her desire is to become a diplomat here in Colombia.  Right now, she is getting to know some of her fellow classmates and their views in life.  Stories of her being the only one to hold the belief that abortion is wrong or that creation is true over Darwin's theory of evolution - and her ability to defend her beliefs because of strong biblical arguments that she learned from her time at ECA - are the first time her classmates are encountering anyone in this way.

In one of her classes, her fellow Colombians who also want to become diplomats and work for the government openly discussed their desire to launder money as soon as they are able to.  Corruption is already on their mind.  The faith that Nataly has in Jesus Christ is a light in a dark place right now.  I am amazed at how God is using her and am praying that she would be encouraged and to know that she is not alone in fighting against the corruption in this country.  She misses ECA a lot and the support she received from this community of believers.  Please pray for her and that the Lord would be her strength during this time :-)  I am so excited to hear how He will use Nataly so mightily for the advance of His Kingdom!!

Thankful Hearts: This past week, elementary celebrated Thanksgiving by looking at how how the Pilgrims and Indians lived, trusted, and served God.  Here are a few picture of our celebration :-)  We enjoyed eating cornbread, apple crisp, and playing Pilgrim and Indians games!

Prayers and Praises:

Please pray for Nataly - mentioned above - because the Lord has plans to use her to change Colombia!! 

For a great end to the first semester.  We only have two weeks left and are preparing for our yearly Christmas Program that is coming up this Friday :-)

Processing of the information learned at the ICEC conference this past week.  Such great encouragement from the Lord - Please pray that I would apply and use what the Lord has put on my heart :-)

Safe flight home for the holidays - I fly home December 19th and will be around until January 6th.  I hope to see you while I am in town visiting and would love to catch up and talk with you.  That my time at home would be refreshing and relaxing as I soak up as much time with family and friends as I can.

Un abrazo! (Hugs!)
Carrie

 

Reading Struggles and Serving Friends Even When It's Hard

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?"  And the king will answer them, "I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me."  Matthew 25:37-40

Reading Struggles: With the many needs that are in my class this year, it takes teamwork and sacrifice to provide an excellent education for them.  When one of my students was behind in reading that we felt like they needed extra help, it was hard to figure out when this could happen and who was available to be his teacher.  With the working of the Holy Spirit, my colleagues and I worked out a plan that I would work with this student because I am familiar with students who need special education services for reading while our Literacy Coach (who used to teach a classroom at ECA) would take over teaching science class for me.  During this science time would allow me to work on reading with the other student.

Well, it has been a few weeks and the Lord has been so gracious in increasing this student's confidence in reading already.  Seeing the areas this student was struggling in the most, I was able to target right away his weak areas using techniques from our CAFE reading menu.  One of them includes blending and stretching sounds using ... a rubber band!!  This causes him to look at the whole word when reading because I noticed that he was looking at the first few letters and then guessing on the rest of the word.  This strategy, and a few others, have been really helpful to teach this student in a one-on-one situation.  A few days after he had practiced using the rubber band, he came up to me during our Language Arts centers with a really big smile on his face and said, "Miss, Bergmann, thank you so much for the rubber band!  It has helped so much." 

The following week, I was sending my reading group to read a chapter of Charlotte's Web by themselves when I went to remind my friend that he should use his rubber band.  I turned around to tell him and before I could get a word out, he was smiling at me with the rubber band already in his hand.  :-)

I'm so thankful to the Lord that the needs of this student are being met.  He is the master of putting all the pieces of a puzzle together :-)  Praising God that this extra time will continue to help this student grow in confidence and his love for reading.




When Friendships Are Hard: Relationships are always hard and my 3rd Graders are experiencing and learning all about how challenging they can be.  One of students has ADHD and has been having difficulty with friendships.  Needing socials skills to figure out how to make friends has been a difficulty for this student.  For the rest of the class, it's a challenge to be patient and loving to this friend back when he does different things that they are not used to.  At times, this has caused aggressive behavior on both sides.

Last week, the student with ADHD kicked two students while playing soccer.  I didn't notice what was going on until this student was on the ground saying he was hurt.  None of his classmates went to check on him or tell me that he was hurt (probably due to that he was kicking them earlier).  This made me really sad and I prayed for wisdom from the Lord to help me deal with what was going on in their hearts.

I sent the student with ADHD to talk with Principal about kicking the other students (it turned out that it was an accident when he got hurt, so we needed to deal with why he had kicked the other students) while I talked to the rest of the class.

I started by asking the class why they thought their friend was kicking them.  Many students started in with stories of mean words or aggressive things their friend had done to them.  I encouraged them that being patient and loving is sometimes really hard, but that Jesus would help them do that.  They all know that their friend has ADHD and has trouble controlling himself.  The day before in Chapel, we had watched a video on service about people passing on random acts of kindness to others.  I asked them how they were showing kindness to their friend?

They continued to complain (and I encouraged them to tell me all the other student had done to them) because I then told them - "Wow, that sounds like Jesus on the cross!  You must really understand."  I then reminded them that Jesus went WILLINGLY and GRACIOUSLY to the cross to save us from a life without God.  At a time when he needed friends the most, he had no one.  He was spit on, mocked, and beaten TO DEATH for each and every one of us.  This is our example - not to sit there and be spit on or kicked - but to see Jesus in our friend and be their friend even when it is hard.

I left them with this challenge - "You have a friend who is hurting.  What are you going to do about it?"  Praying that these truths will grow in their heart to be Jesus to each other.

"Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13


Prayers/Praises:
That the seeds the Lord planted would take root - and that genuine friendships would be established with a student who is really lonely and seeking friends.

For the upcoming ICEC conference that ECA is hosting!  We will have teachers from all over South America coming to our school to learn about Christian Education.  The seminars look amazing.  Please pray that the Lord would use this time to refresh us and draw us closer to him.  Also, this conference will be held over Thanksgiving - which means we will not have the day off.  This will be hard to not be celebrating on this day - so please pray for comfort as the holiday will have a different feel this year.

For my decision for next year  - yes, I am already starting to pray where God is leading me and what plans he has for me for next year!  Wisdom and guidance to really seek if it is his will that I stay another year.  That my decision would be based on glorifying God and not based on what is comfortable or easier for me :-0

So grateful for you partnership in ministry!
Blessings,
Carrie