Teaching
One of the ways we minister in Spain is via teaching. In Texas, we were teachers. It has always been our passion. While we held other roles through the years, worked in various fields, and even spent a while as small business entrepreneurs, the first love was and always will be teaching. I (Laurie) have always said that it was, in many ways, more difficult to leave my career and my classroom than it was to sell my cherished Victorian farmhouse and possessions and say goodbye to Texas. In fact, to this day, I still grieve the loss of that part of my life… my classroom and my students and my passion for learning and leading.
What do you do when your passion is for education? What do you do when it is part of your very soul? When every test you take regarding personality and strengths and spiritual gifts comes back with the same answer… “you are a teacher and your passion is for learning and helping others grow into their potential”? No surprise to me! But I’m a Care Coordinator, a counselor, a coach, and a mission worker to Spain… what do I do with that?
I use every available possibility to teach and to learn.
What do you do when your passion is for education? What do you do when it is part of your very soul? When every test you take regarding personality and strengths and spiritual gifts comes back with the same answer… “you are a teacher and your passion is for learning and helping others grow into their potential”? No surprise to me! But I’m a Care Coordinator, a counselor, a coach, and a mission worker to Spain… what do I do with that?
I use every available possibility to teach and to learn.
- In Spain, we work with a small local congregation of believers.
- We teach an adult class of Inductive Bible Study each week.
- We teach the youth Sunday School class.
- We are the Sunday School Coordinators, which means that we teach and train teachers in best practices for Christian education and child development.
- We each have several cell groups that we teach and facilitate in bible study and discipleship.
- We help immigrants and Spaniards to learn about cultural differences and how to see and value the worldview of others.
- We teach and train other CCWs (cross‐cultural workers) in coaching skills and cross-cultural ministry practices.
- We teach marriage enrichment classes.
- We even turn visits in to teachable moments… people who come to Spain for retreat or vacation or even short‐term teams end up learning about Spanish history and culture.
