Erdene

I had three students for two weeks but now I'm down to one student named Erdene. I tutor her for two hours a day, Monday through Friday. Erdene is from Mongolia but she is here in Bangkok learning English so she can study Pharmacy Administration. Erdene speaks both Mongol and Russian but her English is very limited and my ability to teach English is limited by my inexperience. However, my ability to teach English is all but irrelevant. The fact that I am a native English speaker is the only fact that was considered in placing me with Erdene.

Thinking back to my commissioning service, I said then that my only qualifications are that I speak English and love Jesus. Somehow, maybe on the flight from the US to Thailand, I forgot that. I thought I knew a thing or two about TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). During that flight, in my mind, I became a TEFL professional.

Sitting in the classroom with Erdene has helped me to realize how very, very wrong I was. I grew frustrated with my inability to help her become a fluent English speaker in two weeks. I forgot my second qualification, the one that brought me to the BSC, to Thailand--that I love Jesus and am here to proclaim His name, His love, His power.

In effect, I let my expectations dictate my attitude. I expected my students to be more proficient in English because I don't speak Thai. Erdene doesn't speak Thai either. No one at the BSC speaks either Mongol or Russian but I speak English, Erdene's target language.

During our tutoring session on Friday, I was feeling very discouraged by her lack of progress--blaming myself, doubting myself, doubting that God had called me to Thailand. Something compelled me to start an "Easy English" booklet with her that tells the story of how Jesus fed the 5,000 with the lunch of a small boy in the crowd. I told her to highlight the words she didn't know and so she did--she highlighted "the One True God" and asked me to explain what it means.

Wow, God. How to explain who you are to someone who is most likely a Tibetan Buddhist? I said, He is "Yahweh," the God of the Bible, the "I AM." What I loved about this particular booklet is how it points to Jesus' identity as God. I told Erdene about the miracles that Jesus performed that were things only God could do like raise the dead, make the lame walk and the blind see.

In telling Erdene these things, I had this energy that was missing before when I made English proficiency the end goal. It's not. While I want to teach English with excellence, I would rather my students know Jesus and have a relationship with Him.

I let my sin nature dictate my attitude. I didn't want something challenging for my first couple of months here but that's exactly what God had in mind. Though the process of being sifted is not a comfortable one, it's a necessary one if my faith is to be strengthened during this time in Thailand.

Please pray that I can love Erdene and be a faithful minister of the gospel toward her during the time that I have with her.