Entries by admin

Being There and Near

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“The people in the camps need you – to hold their hand and say – ‘I am here, near you,’” says Fatima* a former ESL student from Moria, Greece, on the island of Lesvos.

“I first met Fatima in the summer of 2018, as I was walking along the beach in Greece. I saw two women: one a Somali and the other Syrian,” remembers Liz Stegall-Lewis, Associate Director of Beyond Borders. “As I speak some Arabic, I struck up a conversation with these Muslim women. They were interested in learning English.” That led to Fatima being tutored for six weeks by Marg Lewis and Judith Lewis (Liz’s mom and aunt, respectively).

Boundaries for everyone

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I’m not sure what your daily life looks like right now. Maybe you are overwhelmed with suddenly homeschooling all of your children, adapting to teaching online, or leading your school into a new phase of learning. Maybe you have more free time since the virus has put a halt on what you can do in […]

From fear to faith

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We desire to help our learners through their transformation into who God has created them to be. When dealing with anxiety and trauma, our role in this transformation is to learn how to care for students, assist them in their healing and, in so doing, create a space for them to simply be children. As […]

See it. Say it. Sorted!

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I take the train often in our new home country. I enjoy hearing many of iconic statements—like the famous “Mind the gap.”— that are part of the train-riding experience. My favourite of these sayings plays over and over in stations and on the trains: “See It, Say It, Sorted.” I love these words of wisdom […]

Transformation from the Inside Out

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Trees fall. This one by our house collapsed and crushed the fence during a recent rainstorm. There was no outward sign of a weakness. Now, broken open, it lays across the fence and I can see the rottenness inside. Sometimes people are like trees. We can look good outside but won’t hold up over time […]

Sowing the Seeds of Transformation

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As we teach our students, what is the thing that will make the most transformative difference in their lives? Will it be the spiritual formation classes which we’ve laboured so hard to make relevant and practical? The opportunities to serve others in their school and greater community? The influence of godly teachers and school staff? […]

Knowing your destination

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I travel a lot. As a result I have become pretty good at navigating through airports. I know all the tricks—how to pack so that I can whip out my electronics and liquids at security, how to dress so that I don’t freeze in the waiting areas or on the plane, where to wait to […]

Excellent Educational Environments

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We are exploring four foundational pillars of what we mean by transformational education this year. A couple of months ago, we talked about step one: Becoming all that God intends. Now for step two: Excellent Educational Environments. As we pursue God’s intentions for each learner, how can we create excellent educational environments that bring transformational […]

Moving Towards an Inclusive Classroom

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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. That kid over there says weird stuff. This kid always needs the teacher’s help. The kid in the corner seems to overreact all the time. And that kid flaps his arms when he gets excited. How many times have we thought “My students make fun of the […]

Necessary Evils?

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Why did you go into teaching? I can guess that it was not because you like to grade papers, clean your classroom or make phone calls home to parents. In fact, you might say those tasks are necessary evils of our work as teachers. Have you ever stopped to consider how our Christian worldview informs […]