Sharing Hope in the Classroom

“Teacher, what makes you happy?”

Evan* was glad to answer. A Christar worker serving through the Global English Project in the Middle East, Evan seeks to build relationships with his students and share the gospel with them. When one of his students asked this question during English conversation class, he had the perfect opportunity.

Evan recalls, “I answered by talking about how my family and friends make me happy, but even they cannot be trusted with all of my happiness. Friends and family have disappointed me in the past, but God is always with me and never disappoints me. He can be trusted with all of my happiness.”

For Evan and his co-workers at the Global English Project, conversation classes can be prime times to connect with their students and convey the hope and joy they have in Christ. Each 2½-hour class is designed to keep students talking, and sometimes the discussion turns toward spiritual topics, giving these workers open doors to share.

When the conversation in Evan’s class turned to the topic of servant leadership, Evan told his students that the best leaders are those who are humble and desire to serve others. “My students all agreed that this was true,” shares Evan. “I then shared the story of Christ washing His disciples’ feet, and how He came to serve rather than to be served.”

The Global English Project was born from summer English classes that Christar workers began holding in 2007. As these workers taught a language that many in the area wanted to learn, they made it their goal to share the gospel with a people group that’s nearly 100 percent Muslim.

In 2015 workers opened a school that offers English instruction year-round. Through these classes, workers are able to connect with people who’ve never heard the good news. Sometimes, these relationships lead to Bible studies and, by God’s grace, will lead to fellowships of believers worshiping together.

Workers serving as teachers have seen the Lord soften their students’ hearts in a place where the idea of God as a loving Father is a foreign concept. Marcy and her student Sirvan connected through their shared love of music, and he eventually revealed to her that he’d been struggling with deep depression for the past year. For two hours Marcy just listened. As he finished sharing, Marcy’s mind filled with advice she could give him; but she sensed the Holy Spirit leading her to simply pray for him. She told Sirvan she was going to begin praying for him more often and that she wanted to write out her prayers for him and send them to him on Facebook.

After sending Sirvan her prayer that first night, Marcy received a phone call. It was Sirvan, in tears. “He was touched by my words,” shared Marcy. “But, most of all, he was shocked that I called God my Father, and approached Him in the loving way a small child would run to her father. I shared that God is a good Father who we can trust with all the burdens we have. … Pray for Sirvan as he tries to connect to God through music, and that He would come to know God as loving Father.”

In 2017, the Global English project welcomed nearly 50 students to its summer English program—a record number since the school began offering classes year-round. Workers there are praying that by God’s grace, many of these students will come to know Him as a loving Father and the source of true joy.

Participate by Praying:

• Praise God for bringing a record number of students to the Global English Project’s summer English class outreach.
• Ask God to bring more least-reached people with open hearts to language classes held by Christar workers.
• Pray that many English students will place their faith in Christ.
• Ask God to provide the ongoing funds needed to run the Global English Project.