We’re still using the acronym TMS, but we are no longer The Mission Society.  We have changed our name to TMS Global.  This name change was an important and strategic move for many reasons.  One of the biggest ones being security.  In this ever-changing world with rapidly changing views, using the word “mission” or “missionary” is actually quite damaging and dangerous for us.  In many countries, this is reason enough to be arrested or to have your visa revoked and be deported, or worse.  In our case in Spain, the term “missionary” carries a lot of baggage… from the Inquisition to the Conquest of the New World.  It’s not really a term that carries warm and fuzzy feelings to people!  So, to keep it safe and simple, The Mission Society is now called TMS Global (Training, Mobilization, and Service).  No worries… we’re still the same people doing the same work, just under a better name for all of us.  To learn more about the name change, go to the Unfinished Magazine page 2
 

​We have been concerned by the numbers of youth that we know who are struggling in school.  Struggling to the point of failing subjects and at risk of repeating the school year.  The school system is quite different here.  The subject load is rigorous and the pressure is extreme.  In many ways, I really like the system.  I feel that our own daughter is getting a great education and the level of competence is high. But in others, I am saddened as a teacher. It is very much a system of ’cans and cannots’, and if you cannot… you’re pretty much sunk.    There is no real system for helping students who are failing.  Outside of school, there are ’academies’ where you can go to pay for outside tutoring, but it isn’t cheap.  And best practices for teaching and learning styles are not the norm. Every year, several of Sarah’s classmates fail and are held back.  Every year, there are fewer and fewer students in her class. 

Over the past few months, Billy has been putting his teacher face back on and helping out youth who are in danger of being left behind by the system.  He has been dusting off those Algebra books, pulling the Physics formulas out of hiding, and throwing his hat in the Chemistry ring.  He has even been doing a little English tutoring. 
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Why does this matter?  How does this transform lives?  One of Billy’s students is an immigrant, working in his second language, and has already repeated a year.  He is one of the thousands in Spain who are at high risk of dropping out and becoming part of the 30+% unemployment rate for young adults.  He  lives in the region of Spain with the highest rate of young male suicide.   He has very few male role models in his life.  Time with Billy is not only time for tutoring, but time for connection and relationship and a loving father-figure. It’s time invested in a young life, time giving hope.