Back in April I had the huge privilege of attending an
educator's conference in Turkey. It was a wonderful time of connecting and
networking with other Christian educators from around the world and hearing
stories of God's faithfulness. Unfortunately due to safety concerns I can't
share any more details about the conference with you, but there is one thought
I have been turning over and over in my head ever since the speaker shared it
in one of the general sessions.
While talking about the potential of our students, the speaker quoted Robert H.
Schuller as saying, "Any fool can count the seeds in an apple.
Only God can count all the apples in one seed."
This struck me as I thought about my own students. I am a
"numbers person" so I am always counting up my students - doing head
counts for attendance, making lab partners, or arranging teams for a game or
group project. While I have an exact number to define the number of students in
my class, I have no way of knowing how many people's lives they will touch when
they leave my classroom. According to Schuller my classroom is an apple full of
seeds, each one bearing infinite potential.
Over the years I have watched my students move up to the
high school and take on leadership roles, find their niches, and develop the gifts
and talents with which God has blessed them. Many of my proudest moments are
when I see my former students serve on the annual BFA spring break service
trips. So a few weeks after my conference in Turkey, there I sat at Black
Forest Christian Fellowship's Sunday service listening to the high schoolers
give reports on their weeks spent in places such as Romania, Bulgaria,
Tanzania, and Burkina Faso. As I scanned the faces of the students on each team
while they stood before the church, I couldn't help but count. I counted every
student who had ever been in one of my classes in the middle school. Out of the
100+ students who had given up half of their spring break to serve, 43 of them
had darkened the doorway of my classroom in the last five years. As I listened
to their stories and testimonies, I went back to the quote about apples and
seeds.
Imagine, if you will, one possible chain of events that
starts with you being one of my monthly supporters. Thanks to you and the rest
of my team, I am able to teach science in the middle school at BFA. A student
takes my class and begins to enjoy science for the first time in his life.
Student moves up to high school and attends a service trip to work with orphans
in Africa. Student's love for Jesus radiates from him and attracts the
attention of many of the young boys. Because of student's affection for the
young boys, they come to know the love of Jesus and decide that they have
worth. Young boys grow up confident in Christ's love and work hard to attend
school so that they, too, can share God's word with others. One young boy
becomes the man who cures cancer. Another young boy becomes the next president
of his nation. Another young boy becomes a famous athlete who uses his fame to
tell the next generation of young boys about Jesus. The possibilities really
are endless.
Don't you want to be a part of this awesome opportunity?
Wouldn't you like to plant a seed that could sprout into an orchard of apples,
each one filled with more seeds to sow? This is not something that can be
accomplished by just one person, but instead requires every
person! This can only happen when a network of people come together towards a
common goal - to make disciples of all nations. One person can not disciple the
entire world, but one person can disciple another person, who can disciple
another, and so on. We know that this is also due to the work of God, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."
So because this theme of planting seeds has been on my mind
so much lately, I will be using an apple tree to track my support levels this
summer. Each apple represents $100/month. The red apples are for the support
and pledges already received, and the white apples represent the current need.
For every $100 monthly pledge that is given, one of the six white apples on the tree will turn
red. The goal is to fill the tree with red apples before the end of July!
You may also notice five white apples on the ground - these are the "bonus apples." You can read this post to get the full explanation of the 1- and 2-year goals and hear more details about my upcoming transition to Evangelical Christian Academy in Madrid, Spain.
Maybe you can't commit to $100 a month, but instead $20,
$40, or even $60. That's perfectly ok and just as helpful! When you cut open an
apple you will often find five seeds. Just think of your $20 pledge as one
single seed - with infinite potential - that together with four other "seeds" you can help me turn
another apple red!
If you'd like to discuss the possibility of monthly support, please email me at bertschirae@gmail.com or send me a message on Facebook and we can set up a time to chat.
If you have already decided you're ready to help fill the apple tree, visit TeachBeyond's website for options and detailed instructions on how to set up monthly giving or make a special one-time gift.
If you are already on my support team, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your faithful generosity. If you will be joining my support team soon I thank you in advance for letting God use you to help plant seeds in the lives of some very special students.
