Educator Sunday 2013

This Sunday, September 22nd, is Educator Sunday! It is a special Sunday in churches across America to honor educators in their high calling. Even if you never heard of Educator Sunday before, why not mention this opportunity to pray for the educators in your congregation. It doesn’t take money. It doesn’t take preparation. It doesn’t even take a lot of time. All you need is love and honor for those who are serving children in the public, private, charter and home school settings.  When educators feel the support of their church community, it releases them to minister to the children God called them to serve.  Did you realize that the public schools are the largest mission field in the world? There are millions of students and parents whose lives we touch that do not know the Lord. Educators are in a godly position to influence and though we always pray that every child has the opportunity to be positively influenced by our teachers, we know that is not always true. Praying for the teachers in the school where your children attend is a covering needed. Honoring the educators who attend your church speaks volumes to those who are “in the trenches.”

A simple suggestion for Educator Sunday is for the pastor to ask all the educators (administrators, paraprofessionals, and teachers) to stand and be recognized. The pastor and congregation can then pray over them and for them in a manner and style that is customary to their church. The pastor can briefly explain to the congregation the incredible role that teachers play as missionaries in all settings, public/private or home school. Finally, the pastor can commission these educators to be Jesus in their schools. You see, we all know, particularly in the public schools, that we cannot establish a religion, but every educator can “Be Jesus” to those children and treat them as He would have. What an impact our Christian educators can make in a school district when they are empowered by their church to be missional in their high calling and legal and graceful in their approach. Please check out this video from Grace Church in Eden Prairie, WI for an awesome example of commissioning the educators in their church.

Christian Educators Association International, CEAI, since 1985, has named the Sunday before See You At The Pole, as Educator Sunday. It does not have to be that particular Sunday, especially if you want to prepare a special Sunday for all the educators in your church, but that pattern has helped congregations honor both the teachers and prepare the students for the incredible honor of praying for our schools. CEAI has downloadable resources to help you plan and celebrate Educators Sunday on our website.  It includes a brochure describing the event and bulletin inserts in a couple forms so you don’t have to recreate the wheel.

Educators are in a position to be the most influential people in the world. They teach and prepare us for all the other jobs and positions we may hold in life. National Teacher Day in May is a great way to celebrate educators, but Educator Sunday is a much more spiritual and empowering way to recognize how our teachers must answer to God first for all they do and be reminded of how important it is to guard every word, every lesson and hold up their position as the high calling it is. May God bless the educators of our great nation and in our congregations across America.

Prayerfully dependent,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Prayer Foundation

I love this time of year because so many Christians around the nation gather to pray for our schools. It takes many different forms: church groups, Moms in Touch, teachers and staff prayerwalking their campuses, individual teachers praying over the desks of their students and more.  Prayer is vital to the success of any school year and is such a natural part of being a Christian educator. Do you have a unique way of praying for the school year? Do you have a group of educators who pray for the schools in your community? Please let us know so we can share the stories.  You can comment here on this blog or our Facebook page or by email.

One of our most successful Christian Educator networks in St. Johns County Florida has a very doable and effective plan for the year. They gather for a prayer breakfast in the first month of school. In fact, yesterday was their annual prayer breakfast provided by Calvary Baptist (the above church). The participants pay $10, which is reserved for their 3^rd event of the year – Honor the Grads. This ceremony gives 14 students in their district (2 from each high school) the distinct honor (from their peers) of walking their walk with integrity. The students come to a formal ceremony are given sashes for graduation, an integrity medal and $100 scholarship.  The St. Johns CEAI group also meets in January for a luncheon provided pot luck style by the members, collects another $10 toward Honor the Grads and pray again for the St. Johns County schools.

This pattern is very effective, not overwhelming and allows local churches to assist educators in their quest to bless their schools with educators and students who are legal and graceful Christians in the public schools. If you are considering building a network of praying educators who can make a difference, I would encourage you to consider this simple and incredibly effective model:

·      Prayer Breakfast in the beginning of the school year.

·      Luncheon with guest speaker in January.

·      A ceremony of honor of the students of integrity in your community in May.

Please consider asking different churches in your community to assist you with any initiative. The youth of Calvary Baptist served us the breakfast and joined our tables during prayer time. It’s a model worthy of replication.  Please let us know if you need any help. We are more than willing to serve.

Prayerfully dependent,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement.

•      Go to www.one16pray.com for more information

•      Go to www.ceai.org for more information (which will point you to the above address!)

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 (we have 205!)

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

•      Look for the prayer prompts on the 1:16 PM website or Facebook page.

May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

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.  

Back To School

Ready or not, here they come! Schools are opening up at so many different times across the nation. Our northeast friends typically begin after Labor Day and our southwest and southeast friends are beginning this week or have already started. No matter when you start, let’s commit to a year of prayer. Let’s be intentional in our focused prayer for our students, colleagues, administrators, parents and school community. To have an audience with the God of Creation is an unbelievable privilege. To not call out to Him for wisdom, protection, grace, mercy, peace and more is a sad loss.

Pray the minute your eyes open. Pray when you start getting ready and ask God to give you words that are soothing to the children. Pray the minute you take your first step on your campus. One of my prayer friends taught me to do the “First Step Prayer.” The minute I take the first step onto any campus, I pray and ask God for favor for that particular school. Pray as soon as you get in your classroom. Consider sitting in the desk of a difficult child or quiet child and pray specific prayers on their behalf. Praying FOR your school and FOR your students was never removed from schools. Praying in front of the class and leading the children is what was disallowed.

One of the most effective prayers for this school year is the 1:16PM Prayer Movement. It begins tomorrow on Monday, Aug. 12^th and will continue through Friday, June 20^th.  Can you imagine if every Christian in the public and private schools across the nation petitioned God daily? I can only imagine.  Please consider copying and pasting the message below and sending it to your church community and your closest prayer friends.

Help us spread the word in any of these ways below:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com for more information

•      Go to www.ceai.org for more information (which will point you to the above address!)

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 (we have 205!)

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

•      Look for the prayer prompts on the 1:16 PM website or Facebook page.

May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.

Prayerfully dependent,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

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.  

Hill Country Educators for Christ

There are thousands upon thousands of Christian educators in our public schools who are quietly thinking they are alone. Many are scared that they will lose their jobs if there is any evidence of their Christianity while others feel like they are the only ones on their campus who love the Lord. Because there is so much misinformation about religion in the public schools, it is often a topic that no one wants to touch with a ten-foot pole. The reaction is typically, “You can’t talk about that here.” The good news is that we want our Christian educators to be Jesus in the public schools. There is no need to fear when you treat people that way Jesus would. Perhaps the best way to understand the power of walking your walk at school is to go on a retreat with other teachers. I had the privilege of bonding with the Hill Country Educators for Christ this weekend at a retreat at the Haven River Inn in Comfort, Texas.

The Hill Country Educators for Christ are a dedicated group of teachers who are reaching educators for Christ: to encourage them to recall and renew their passion and purpose; to help strengthen and support each other in our mission as educators.  We had a weekend long spiritual journey into prayer, the Word, creative projects, journaling, prayerwalking at the river’s edge and yummy food all wrapped in an environment of beauty and peace. Thank you so much to the planning team and the 19 new sisters I have who are pumped to go back to school with a renewed sense of grace.

Being a Christian educator in the private and public schools Is a high calling. If you are feeling like you are alone at your school, begin praying for a prayer partner. Consider inviting a few colleagues to form a prayer group before school starts or after school. This is a legal as gathering on your own time to plan a baby shower, a gathering for relaxation or any other opportunity to get together with those who share a common interest. I encourage you to take the high road and begin the process with the 1:16PM Prayer Movement for this school year. Learning to pray discreetly, reverently and silently for your school community is the foundation to growing relationships and the power of grace over your classroom and school.

Grace and peace to you as we close out summer vacation 2013 and gear up for the 2013-2014 school year.

Prayerfully dependent,

K

PS. We are asking you to practice 1:16PM this summer. For the 2013-2014 school year, we are asking every Christian in the public schools to stop and pray at 1:16PM. Based on Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile, we believe that this movement can be in every public school in America. The key is reverence and discretion. For more information, visit www.one16pray.com. Help us spread the word to your sphere of influence.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

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.  

Praying Outside

Summertime brings a new dimension to the things we do. The beauty of God’s creation in full bloom reminds us of His creative power. How did He make so many varieties of flowers and even insects? His manifold witness is spread before us each day in the magnificence of His creation. Come out and see! One of the greatest treats for me is to pray outside especially early in the morning when the birds are beginning to sing to His glory. I love the cacophony of His sounds vs. man’s sounds. I can hear the hum in the distance of cars and trucks moving on the highway, but blanketed by the morning dances of birds, frogs, squirrels and lizards. We used to play a game with our girls called “God Always Wins.” As we walked on a beach or any where outside, we would challenged them to find something that God made and something that man made. Next they had to compare them and we always concluded in a giggle, “God Wins!”

This summer I am attempting to create a Prayer Garden in my backyard with nine benches based on the 9 Fruit(s) of the Spirit.  Each bench is based on love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control and faithful will also have a favorite verse. The 1^st bench is completed with Ps. 118:24 – This is the day the Lord has made; Let us be glad and rejoice in it,” and the fruit of peace as it’s guidepost. My granddaughter is so cute because she is helping me design it and she says we will call it the Community Prayer Garden.  What a heart. You are all invited to come and pray in the prayer garden when we finish it.

Let me encourage you to pray outside this summer. Make it a goal to step outside and thank Him for His wondrous works and the beauty of His creation. Praying outside eliminates any tired eyes or sleeping heads that may happen on your knees and adds a sense of awe to this special time with God. May He bless you this summer with renewed joy for your high calling.

PS. We are asking you to practice being a part of the 1:16PM prayer movement this summer. For the 2013-2014 school year, we are asking every Christian in the public schools to stop and pray at 1:16PM. Based on Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile, we believe that this movement can be in every public school in America. The key is reverence and discretion. For more information, visit www.one16pray.com. Help us spread the word to your sphere of influence.

Prayerfully dependent,

K

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

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.