Arise, my
people! Let your light shine for all the
nations to see! For the glory of the
Lord is streaming from you. (Isaiah 60:1) LB
Courage to Arise and
Shine
At the age of fourteen, shortly after making a commitment
to Jesus Christ, Virginia Kingston heard a foreign missionary speak at her
church. As he spoke, the Lord birthed a dream in Virginia’s heart that she too
would one day work in the foreign mission field. Within a challenging blended
family Virginia made her way through junior high and high school. She attended
a small Christian college where she majored in English and PE. Inquiring into the mission field at that
time, she discovered that single females were not being accepted for foreign
mission work unless they had nursing degrees.
Virginia spent the next thirteen yeas of her life
personally, professionally, and spiritually maturing while working at four
different private Christian schools. During this time she earned her master’s
degree in education while teaching and coaching all grade levels from 5th
to 12th grade. Finally, at a
teacher’s conference in 1984, twenty one years after the birth of her dream,
Virginia discovered a mission society looking for American English teachers to
send to China. Recalling this time in her life Virginia states, “The Lord used the twenty- one years of
spiritual, personal and professional maturing through many different trials and
experiences to prepare me for the foreign mission field. I would not have
survived in China if I would have gone there straight out of college.” Virginia sold almost all of what she
owned, gave away her old car, and set out on the adventure of a lifetime,
moving into one of the most religiously repressive communist nations of the
modern world. After being in China for
two months she knew she had been transplanted right where God wanted her, where
she could work for Him.
Twenty-five years later, Virginia has served in three
different public Chinese universities.
God has given her immense favor with the students and her
administrators. She not only teaches English but several American culture
studies including a course, The Bible as
Literature, which she proposed to her director several years ago. She holds a low key Bible study class for
students on Sunday evenings. She has “loaned” hundreds of Bibles to students
during her many years of service. (It is against the law to give them away.)
Some of the students she serves have made life transforming decisions to follow
and serve Jesus Christ because of her quiet unassuming witness.
In addition to her work overseas, Virginia has also
become a foundation stone of the Christian Educators Association International
network in the Houston area. Every summer Virginia returns from China for
several months. During these months she is actively collecting books from the
local used book stores to send to different ministries in Southeast Asia. Through her sponsoring churches, she has
collected hundreds of shoes to send to Honduras so the children there can
attend public schools. She has purchased and collected backpacks and school
supplies for students which were donated to Common Threads, an organization serving
the clothing and school supply needs of students in poverty. Virginia is also
an advisor for this group and has written devotions for publication.
When asked about the courage it took for her, as a single
woman, to leave her culture and family behind to serve Christ in a communist
nation, Virginia humbly shrugged it off saying, “It’s not courage. It’s just obedience.”
Virginia is a large
lighthouse courageously shining out over a dark landscape, sweeping the land
fearlessly while standing for Christ. In contrast, think of all the Christian educators here in
America, the home of the free and the brave, and we see lamppost after lamppost
lining packed urban highways but few are fully illuminated. Most are shaded
with fear, timidity, and busyness. The
students, the vehicles, rushing beneath them and around them must use their own
headlights for illumination. Some vehicles have no headlights and there are
some stretches where there are no lampposts.
In these areas there are many accidents and injuries.
God’s message today is, “Fear not and get connected. Arise and shine in the darkness.”
Regularly pray alone in your classroom and also with other believers where you
work. Jesus told us to pray using both of these methods. Many of us are
operating at only half power. Get on
God’s grid. Watts up!!! Arise and shine!!!
Prayer: Lord, arise in
us. Get us connected to you and one another in public schools. Shine forth your
glory!
Application: Make prayer a priority in your professional life.
Sharing: The times I am
committing to pray alone and with other believers at work are...
CLASSROOM
LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: TEACHER! TAKE COURAGE!
(For inquiries contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) #13
K
PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement.
• Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray
May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.
Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools. CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.
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