About a decade ago, Art and Lisa combined their heart for teaching with their passion for missions by serving as teachers to the children on our SEND Russia field. Drawing on their years of experience, Art and Lisa share what it takes to be an MK teacher. Turns out, it’s mostly about love.
The ultimate purpose of this teaching job is to reach the unreached, to bring God more glory. “The places we work are among the least-reached peoples in Russia,” Art and Lisa said. “Knowing that we help keep families serving and reaching and sharing is very rewarding, but these can be challenging cultures to live in. If you don’t love the Lord with all your heart, you will never survive the ministry here.”
Art and Lisa strive to live out 1 Thessalonians 2:8
, “We were delighted to share with you not only the gospel but our lives as well.” With such a low teacher/student ratio, they are able to go far beyond simply imparting math facts or handwriting skills.
“It is our joy and privilege to invest in these children, to share in their emotional support as well as supply educational service,” they said. “We endeavor to help these children love the Jesus their parents choose to follow, so that in no way are they left behind in the process. We form strong and lasting bonds with these children; they are more than just students to us.”
Before joining SEND, Art taught science at a Christian school in Indiana for 17 year. Lisa homeschooled their four children. Both of these approaches provided excellent training for the work they now do. In their opinion, “Teaching experience is very helpful, but optional. If you love the Lord and love the kids, your heart will teach you and drive you to make sure they get all they need.”
In addition to teaching our team’s children and thereby enabling their parents’ ministries to flourish, Art and Lisa have learned another language, participated in community outreach, helped with church construction, sung in a Russian choir, spent the night in a yurt — and developed precious friendships along the way. “To think that we would have close friends in Russia would never have crossed our minds when we were younger, but now we cannot think of life without these dear friends!”
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