U n ex p ec
te
Ripples
d
By Rachel Coleman,
Theological Education Team,
One Mission Society
I was an elementary education major once—for
about a week! That’s how long it took for God to show
me that, while I had not misread my teaching vocation, he
had definitely not wired me for maximum effectiveness in a
classroom of children.
My diploma from Asbury College way back in 1984 read, “Spanish/English,
Secondary Education,” but other than a couple years of substitute teaching
in a middle/high school before we went to Ecuador, my pedagogical path has
been almost exclusively with adult learners in a variety of settings—university
and seminary classrooms, ESL classes, married couples’ studies, training sessions for new missionaries, and small groups. I feel most keenly aware of the
Spirit’s empowering when watching adult learners experience God in new ways
through transformative encounters with his Word.
On a recent teaching trip to Ecuador, I was strongly reminded of the unexpected “ripples” that flow out from theological education. While teaching an
intensive course on Psalms at two seminaries, a surprising thing happened.
The students who developed the most detailed action plans in response to the
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course were people who are deeply involved in children’s ministry. One is OMS missionary Susan Stiles,
who works with children both in Sunday school and
in the open-air market of Cuenca. She wrote, “I want
to explore how to teach Psalms to children. I’ve just
recently had the children at church memorize Psalm
23, and I see how it ca