Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Written by Karyn Dancy, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

There are many different styles of teaching. What I’ve found most effective, though, is intentional teaching through relationships. Paul gives us examples of this, especially in his relationship with Timothy.

I used to be a classroom teacher at the elementary level. I worked in two low-performing schools and I was told from the beginning by other teachers that these children were worthless. It was appalling to me that anyone would say such a thing. As a new teacher, I went in, excited to share some of the resources I’d learned about in school with the other teachers, and the response was actually that these children weren’t worth the effort. This started my determination to show those children and their families that they were very valuable and capable. I wanted them to know they weren’t limited by the expectations of others, not even teachers.

I set out to show the students and their families that they were important to me by building relationships with them. I learned about their cultures and invited them to share things in the classroom that were important to them. Many of them came from immigrant families, so we had a great opportunity to share the diversity of their cultures in the classroom.

Each month we featured a language of the month. The quiet signal for that month would be counting to five in that language and I would teach the kids common words. They would earn points for good behavior, and then at the end of the month, we would have a cultural celebration. (We weren’t allowed to have “parties.”) I invited parents to share about their cultures and bring food for the kids to sample. One particular family was a great example of how that relationship benefited their student. Our language of the month was Samoan. When I asked the student’s mother to help me with the basics of the language, she not only did so but also became active in the classroom in many other ways. Previously her son had not been the best student, but once his mom took an interest in the class, so did he. It was like they were invested in the learning process once they felt valued. It turned out that the student’s grandfather was a tribal chief back in Samoa and had made a video of how to harvest coconut. The student’s mom brought the video in to share with the whole class.

The way it all worked out, once I’d built a foundation of relationship with these children and their families, they came alongside me and cared about what I had to share with them. I was able to teach more effectively because they trusted me. When there was any particular difficulty, for example, math with fractions, we’d explore different activities that would help them until we found what worked best for them.

These students were sixth graders at the time. It’s been about 18 years now, and I still keep in touch with some of those families. It was a very rewarding experience.

Similarly, Paul built a relationship with Timothy. Then Paul mentored and equipped Timothy to follow him as he followed Christ, and Timothy was then able to do the same with his students. Paul didn’t only want his students to learn information; he wanted them to act on that knowledge. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19 that he became like the people he was teaching so that those people could relate to him and believe. Paul shows us through his example how a teacher positively reinforces through encouragement, modeling, and monitoring. The relationship didn’t end when he handed things over to a student to become a teacher. He followed up because it was a true relationship, not simply a means to an end.

Since you’re reading this, I know you care about relationships with your sisters in Christ. Keep building and nurturing those. Let’s follow Paul’s example. We can be the students. We can find mentors to trust and build relationships with. Then we can pass on what we’ve learned to others, with our own added flavor, and keep the process going to win as many as possible and build each other up.

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Written by Liliana Henriquez, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Colombia

In the world of immediacy, like the one we are living in now, we love that everything happens quickly and without waiting. But if this happened, we would skip the transformation process. And God is more interested in the process than the end result.

Today I’d like to invite you to review the story of Zechariah in Luke 1:5-25. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth "Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly" (vs. 6 NIV). They were a couple that served God faithfully. One day, when Zechariah was in the sanctuary offering incense to God as part of his work as a priest, an angel appeared to him and said:

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (vs. 13-18 NIV)

The angel lets us know something that Zechariah's heart yearned for and surely his wife's as well: to have a child. How do we know that? Because the angel told him that his prayer had been heard and that Elizabeth would have a son.

Have a son at this age? – Zechariah and Elizabeth might have wondered.

We might think that Zechariah's prayer was a prayer answered out of time. But despite the fact that it seems that the answer came delayed in time, Solomon reminds us that God "made everything beautiful in his time" (Eccl. 3:11a).

The surprise of that promise for Zechariah was so great that the angel left him speechless. What could have happened during that time? How did Zechariah experience that time of silence? The Bible does not recount the specific time during which Zechariah was unable to speak, but it does say what he did after John's birth: “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God” (Luke 1:64).

In my personal opinion, I believe that the time Zechariah spent in silence processing the fulfillment of a promise helped him get to know God more and have a closer relationship with Him. Otherwise, Zechariah would not have blessed God after he could speak.

As I read the story of Zechariah, I learn how powerful it is to persevere in prayer, to continue fulfilling the ministry God has given us, even when there are still unanswered prayers, and to wait quietly with the firm confidence that He will be glorified in our lives, at the right time.

If today your story is similar to Zechariah’s, I invite you not to lose heart in prayer, to remain firm in the ways of the Lord and to remember this great promise: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46.10).

Trust God, He has already heard your prayer.

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