I grew up in the Bible Belt, down in the West Georgia region. From Kindergarten through tenth grade, I attended Georgia’s public school system. Within that environment, I had many Christian teachers who did what they could to have an impact on my character development. I am forever indebted and grateful for their touch on my life.
My eleventh and twelfth grade years were at a Christian school. Needless to say, it was a different environment. I went from a public school with roughly two thousand students to an entire school body of around two hundred students. It was a culture shock, to say the least.
The Christian school taught math, science, English, and the other core classes. Yet, while these classes may have shared a similar content, the worldview in which the content was delivered was different. Application was constantly being made to point me to the Source of all this truth. An additional difference was that my Christian school had chapel services each week, along with a Bible class!
Being constantly under that influence affected me, my direction in life, my desires – my perspective on life. In that Christian school, God first dealt with me about serving Him. I began to preach in fine arts competitions, in other churches, on the radio, and any where I was given a chance. These Christian educators had left their mark.
In my senior year, my teachers all knew I had surrendered my life to serve God as a preacher. One teacher took me aside and asked me about where I was going to go to college to study the Bible. Frankly, I had never heard of a Christian college or Bible college up to that point. I genuinely thought he was referencing a program at the University of Georgia. Yet, God used that Christian educator to point me to a Bible college.
Under a new set of Christian educators, God continued to work in my life. I met my wife, made some life-long friends, and heard in a Bible conference a preacher that I would eventually end up working alongside of (almost 24 years now!).
Today, I have one daughter who has graduated from a Christian school, and now in Bible college. I have another daughter graduating from a Christian school in May. My other three daughters are in the same Christian school – being influenced by Christian educators. I am humbled and grateful.
Oh yeah…Today, I’m a Christian educator who has enjoyed teaching at West Coast Baptist College since 1995. To all those Christian educators who have served in the past and who serve faithfully today – Thank you! You are making a difference. For those who will teach in the future, we need you!