Job or Mission

I submitted this to be published in a newsletter for Christian ESL educators but thought it

might be inspiring for anyone who may be working from home or serving at their local

church.

Praying God uses this to inspire, encourage and 'light' your mission wherever you are during

this pandemic.

The pandemic has turn all our worlds upside down.  My students are not immune to it.

  I am thankful I kept my job (I was expecting to be laid off) but this meant being given

about 7 days to learn everything I needed to set up, organize, design and execute a full

online learning program.

It was all very overwhelming and challenging.  I’d have to be a fast student first.  I’d have

to be patient and forgiving of myself - I’d be making countless mistakes.  I’d be challenged

to schedule my time as a mother, daughter, wife and teacher.  Many days, it felt easier to just

take things easy “until things go back to normal.” “It’s just a job”, I told myself.

But I noticed my students were missing school.  This was a chance to turn my job into a mission.  This was an opportunity God was giving me to

s-t-r-e-t-c-h my thinking and find ways to touch their lives when the traditional

ways I had relied on in the past were no longer available.  

Teaching ESL online asynchronously sounded like a great opportunity for me to take a

break from direct face to face teaching, but instead of ‘let’s take a break’, God said

‘let’s get to work!' 

But, where do I start, even if I wanted to?

Mission

Why am I teaching? Reviewing the why helped me digest and adjust to the new normal.

I made a conscious decision not to focus our classes on topics like “covid19”, or “health”

or “pandemics”.  Yes, they were real in our lives, but students were already emotionally

distressed.  Our ESL classes would be a safe place; a place to smile, have fun and a

place to remember are are not alone.  

Interaction

My students are quite isolated here in Canada on a good day.  Many have never met

"real Canadian friends'. Now imagine how much more isolated they are now.  I use Google

Classroom as our main platform to learn and I encourage them to share and comment. 

Commenting and sharing, even online, feels scary. I am asking them to be vulnerable.  So I realize I have to show by example.  I introduced stickers and emojis

so that even those with lower level proficiency could participate.  The more participation,

the more positive the experience for all.  

Live meets

We have live sessions with the class every morning too.  Those who can, join.  I record

them too.   Many shared they were so happy to ‘see’ their classmates’ faces.  Simple

connections throughout the day makes the class special, and reminds them

they matter.  It is often the highlight of our days in isolation.

Patience

It took weeks and weeks of work to get here.  I answered the same questions hundreds

of times.  I had extra sessions with those needing help.  There were days I would have to

literally leave my desk and breathe.  In those ‘low moments’ when I said, ‘I’ve had it!’

God reminded me about the mission, not the job.  This is when I drew from His strength because all the patience I had wasn’t

enough to help my students.  Breathe. This is bigger than what you can see.

Listen (beyond ‘Zoom’)

I did not restrict my listening to my students to our live sessions (I use Google Meets).  I

chat with my students on social media platforms.  Take the initiative and check on them. 

“How are things going?”, “Do you have enough masks?”, “Are you still working?”,

“Did you apply for the subsidy offered by the government?”, “Do you need help with groceries?”

.  Frequent check-ins are treasures for many.

On these check ins, I found out a student had run out of money and had to break her kids’

piggy bank to get groceries.  Another one had no way to go to the groceries because she

had 2 kindergartners.  A couple of students lost parents in China and were unable to go to

the funerals because of the travel restrictions.  A student’s son was stranded in Iran and

couldn’t get back.  Many others confided that they were feeling guilty because they were

yelling a lot more to their kids.  We may all seem fine, but not all is fine.

The mission was not to fix their problems but to remind them they were not alone. 

This week, my son shared with me, "Mom, I really need to talk to someone". I am glad he

shared. As I reflect on it, I realize he was ALSO saying, "I need someone to

listen to me and remind me I am someone to someone else"  

Tangible Reminders

Sometimes we have to touch something for it to seem real.  I dropped off a pot of flowers

to a student who was struggling with her family.  On Mother’s Day weekend, I wrote and

sent notes to all my students via snail mail.   I did not know if the addresses I had were

accurate, but I just prayed.  I told the Lord, “whoever needs to receive these, let them get

them”.  

*****

Additional notes:

Outside of the classroom, I also started a Bible study. Plan less and do more. We started the week the lock down began and before I knew if I

was going to still have a job. Some of my old and current students had been interested in the

Bible, so I just asked if some of them might be interested to read the Bible together. We just

simply read one chapter from the book of Psalms together every time. We are on chapter 40

today. We started meeting every day on week one and then moved to 3 days a week. We are

meeting online 4 times a week now. It has been so refreshing not just for them, but for me.

**********

I don’t think anyone knows how long we may be separated from our students, but this can be

a great opportunity for us to be on mission to show our students how God’s love surpasses

all our understanding. 

We don’t love when it’s convenient. 

We don’t love when they come to us. 

If the mission is so that they know God is love,

let’s try to push through the ordinary and find extraordinary ways to continue our mission.