Journey to Jordan Reflection 4 – Real Teachers

Real Teachers

Teacher Workshop

Imagine you are a language teacher.  Your students come from all over the world.  Places like Australia, the US, Germany, Holland, England, Latin America, and South Korea.  Their ages range between 17 to 55.  Some have college degrees, others have never studied beyond high school.  Some are single, others are married, others are married with children living at home, and others are empty nesters.

Some have studied and speak numerous foreign languages, for others this is the first language (other than their native tongue) they’ve studied in an academic setting.

Some of your students have chosen to come and study your language on their own freewill; others are being required to do so by their employer and didn’t have a choice in the matter.

No matter the age or experience of the student, every single one of them are living way outside their cultural comfort zone.  They are living in a new place with new norms, new patterns, new customs, and new ways of fitting in.

Now mix one final ingredient in this educational stew:  the language you are teaching is one of the most difficult languages to read, write and speak on the planet. Some say it takes at least 10 years of diligent study to be even close to fluent.

Teacher Workshop

In my humble opinion, this is real teaching. This is higher education at a whole other level.  This is the setting for the teachers I recently worked with.

They are working under extraordinary circumstances and parameters.  Their student base is as diverse as any I have ever witnessed.  But year after year, they pump out graduates who are exceptionally capable at speaking Arabic.  For nearly 60 years, the  program has graduated thousands of students who are ready for continued work and service in the middle east and in the Arabic-speaking world.

They are truly dedicated teachers who make my job look VERY EASY!

Journey to Jordan Reflection 2 – The Other Holy Land

The Other Holy Land

In the past 12 months, I’ve had the honor of traveling to both Holy Lands.  Back in March 2010, I spent 10 days is Israel with our CU Holy Land study tour.  And then somewhat unexpectedly over the fall, I was invited to Amman, Jordan to visit the “other Holy land.”  Seeing both in one year is an eye-opener to say the least.

Overlook at Mt. Nebo

Jordan has several key biblical sites: Mt. Nebo where Moses viewed the promised land for the final time (Deu 34), Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan where Jesus was baptized by John (see John 1:28 for exact location), Macchareus where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded by Herod (Matt. 14:1-12), and many other cities with important ties to the Canaanite peoples, such as the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, etc.

There are also the cities of Pella and Gadara (Umm Qais) which were part of the Roman Decapolis which Jesus traveled in and around during his ministry.  And who could forget Petra, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world which was a functioning city of the Nabaeteans long before the Romans took it over and made it a capital of the south.

Today, Jordan is ethically diverse.  The majority group are former Palestinian refugees who have fled Israel over the past 50 years to live in a moderate Islamic state.  So you have a mixture of Palestinian Arabs and Jordanian Arabs along with the Bedouin nomads living out in the rural areas.

But the cultural mosaic doesn’t stop there.  There are a large number of Iraqi refugees living within Jordan’s borders, along with groups from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and immigrants from Yemen and the UAE.  But that’s not all, Amman itself is a significant international city.  There are Brits, all sorts of Europeans, Americans, Australians, and Filipinos constantly roaming the streets, filling cafes for the coffee and free wi-fi.

This other Holy Land, however, is starkly different from the original holy land.  Israel has spent millions making its biblical sites attractive to charter tour groups.  The tourism industry is a 4 million per year business.  Jordan, not so much.

Israel is constantly pushing Palestinian Arab and the Islamic culture further and further toward its outer borders (Gaza Strip and West Bank).  While in Jordan, you know that you are in an Islamic country.  There are going to see plenty of mosques and you will hear the call to prayer 5 times daily.

In Israel, they take US dollars because they love American currency.  Don’t try that stuff in Jordan.  Jordanian Dinars are all you are going to spend.

The other Holy Land is different.  Not better.  Definitely not worst.  Just remarkably different from its Jewish counterpart across the Jordan River.  Both Holy Lands need to be visited by Christian pilgrims and biblical tourists.  But beware, you are going to receive very different experiences.

Journey to Jordan Reflection 1

The Teacher Workshop

My profession calls me to teach future Christian educators who will one day work in church, para-church or other ministry fields.  I spend a majority of my time training students who will one day teach others the Christian faith through Sunday school classes and small groups, from pulpits or possibly even on the college campus.

My mission is simple: teach future Christian educators how to be great teachers one day.

And then I was invited to Amman, Jordan to lead a 3-day teacher training workshop.  Again, my mission was simple:  Teach current Christian educators how to be great teachers in their work with language students from around the world.

In the end, I received the real training. I sat and discussed principles of education and learning with men and women who teach Arabic as a second language.  Their students come from numerous backgrounds with the intent of learning one of the hardest languages known to man.

These teachers are dedicated to their students and to their craft.  They have put their lives on the line for their work.  They firmly believe the more students they equip in Arabic, the more the Gospel will reach out.

These teachers have become my personal heroes.  Many of these teachers teach in spite of the fact they are paid less than other Arabic instructors.  Many suffer mild persecution for their faith and involvement in training others to serve in the Middle East.  And yet they show up semester after semester, putting their hearts and souls into their classes knowing it is for God’s greater mission.

In the end, I came away with the most benefit from the conference.  I came away knowing that if these teachers in Amman, Jordan are counting the cost and giving their all to Jesus in a moderate Islamic country with limited religious freedom, I can give my all in Campbellsville, KY teaching in a private Christian school in a land of absolute religious liberty.  I learned that Christian education, no matter the location or language, is a high calling of God.  Teaching others is a gift and a great stewardship of a sacred trust between teacher and learner.

I am honored to serve these wonderful men and women.  I pray for them, for their students, and for their work in Amman.

(More Journey to Jordan Reflections are soon coming.)

Journey to Jordan

Petra

I get the amazing opportunity in January to travel to Amman, Jordan to train the teachers and administrators of the an Arabic language program.  I will be leading multiple workshops for the teachers and discussing curriculum and instruction design with the administration.  This is truly a ministry dream come true!

Back when I was in seminary at Southwestern, one of my heroes Dr. Rick Yount shared how he had been able to train Bible teachers all over Russia.  I was enthralled at how he took his gift of teaching teachers to the nations.  I have been praying that God would be so gracious to allow me to do the same one day.  And now it’s happening.

I will be providing continuing education for Arab Christian teachers who teach Arabic to Christian workers all over the Middle East. I will be investing in those who invest in others. I am blessed!

Here is the workshop schedule