This letter was sent to all the teachers at YISS. It is sent from a young lady who is a senior at our school, and is preparing to leave for college. She, along with another student (who will be going to Wheaton with Joey!) led morning praise and devotions last week. This is her testimony of being here at YISS, and reminds all of us here, that what we do does make a difference, and it is defiantly worth living so far away from family. Anyways, I'll let you read it...
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"Dear Teachers,
Some of you know me, but most of you don't. For those of you who do not know me, I'm *********, a Singaporean senior who has been blessed by the teachers and who wants to send out a word of encouragement to the teachers. I was going to share this during the teachers' devotions on Monday of last week, but **** and I spent all of the devotion time praising, instead of sharing. So anyway, I still wanted to encourage the teachers with what I had prepared for that day. I'll try to keep this short and simple, as I know teachers are crazy busy with grading, lesson planning, praying, and waiting on the Lord. I ask that the teachers, who have an excellent eye for catching bad grammar and punctuation, forgive any errors that I have made in this letter.
Four years ago, my family moved to Seoul. I entered YISS as a freshman, bitter and mad at God for bringing my family here. He had taken me away from my friends and my comfort zone in Shenzhen, China. My family had lived there for 3 years, and it was the longest we had ever stayed put in one country. And then, God had to move us out. I remained mad at God for at least the first couple of years here at YISS. I felt out of place, and I felt like I didn't fit in with the other students here.
I'll rewind really quickly and then tie it back into my story. I've always grown up in the church, coming from both Christian parents. The very first verse I memorized for Sunday school quickly became my favorite verse -- Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This was my problem as a freshman and a sophomore here at YISS. I was doing the exact opposite. Instead of trusting God and leaning on Him, I was trusting myself and leaning on my own strength and capabilities. Through the years here, God has taught me that although the path I was traveling on did not seem straight in my eyes, it was straight in His. Although I felt like I didn't fit in based on the worldly definition of fitting in, I fitted in exactly where God wants me, in His definition.
Here's where you, as teachers, come in. Your hearts for Christ and for the students you minister to is evident in everything you do. It is through the encouragement, support, and testimonies of the teachers here that God helped me pull focus away from ME and more to GOD. I honestly couldn't have survived high school without you teachers. God has taught me so much through you, whether or not I know you personally, the fact that you are here in a foreign country, teaching students, many of whom seem to not care about the work you are doing for God, illustrates your heart for Christ. That in itself is encouraging to me. It teaches me that Christ is worth it. No matter what I go through, Christ is worth fighting for. And you teachers have taught me that.
I'd like to end this note with a few verses that will hopefully serve as an encouragement to you.
In Acts 18:9-10, God says to Paul, "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you."
In John 14:21, Jesus says to his disciples, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love Him and show myself to him."
And finally, Paul writes to all believers in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
Take heart, dear teachers, in knowing that your love and heart for Christ is evident.
Remember also, that your labor in God is not in vain. I am so blessed to have been able to learn under such amazing teachers and mentors.
May God continue to bless each of you for being a blessing to the students at YISS. May He give you the strength, wisdom, discernment, patience, and courage you need as you teach in the classrooms.
As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
Blessings to you all.
in Him
*********** "
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"And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
(Matthew 18:2-6 ESV)
(Matthew 18:2-6 ESV)
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