All People to All Places

For three days, on July 22-24, 11 individuals logged in on their computers, from different parts of the world, to join the TeachBeyond family. This Global Orientation saw participation from the Philippines, the Bahamas, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa, Kenya, the UK, and the US.

“We realized that if we wanted to do a global orientation, it would need to be online, since we really can’t get people from halfway across the global, like the Philippines, to come to where we are,” said Cindy Lucas, Global Mobilization Coordinator, based in South Dakota, USA. Cindy has been a part of the TeachBeyond family for the last 11 years and has been involved in 7 orientations to date.

The orientation gave the participants an introduction to TeachBeyond, an understanding of calling, cultural adaptation, Transformational Education, TCK care, and other aspects that they would need as they joined the organization to serve where God is calling them.

“We also helped them understand the North American School systems. This is quite critical, as many of our teachers go to North American schools in Asia and Africa, expecting to have to adapt to the local cultures there. And while this is true, they also face the need to understand the culture of their schools,” said Cindy.

The 11 new members will serve in 8 different countries across Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Pastor Prosper Ruvusha was one of the participants at the orientation. He is a Congolese refugee who has spent half his life on the road, forced to move between 6 countries. Due to his own experiences, he has always been a champion for the cause of refugees, and has served them for many years in different countries. He will be serving with TeachBeyond’s Beyond Borders project.

His association with TeachBeyond started in 2018. “We have always longed to belong to a family, a place where we are valued, and where people listen to us. I saw TeachBeyond as a family that was open to listen to my inner heart,” he shared. “It was really good to be able to join the Global Orientation and connect with others in TeachBeyond from my couch. However, I did miss connecting with people face-to-face.”

“One of our big challenges online was building community. We tried to do this by organizing the participants into 2 smaller groups, based on their countries of service, where they would be able to share with each other. We also divided them into smaller core groups for discussions,” said Cindy. “God has helped TeachBeyond grow over the last 10 years. We have gone from serving just in Germany, to now bringing on board people like Pastor Prosper. God is sending all people to all places, and enabling us to catch that vision and come alongside Him. That’s really exciting!”