First Day Teaching

My first day of teaching is now under my belt; and I must say it feels pretty good. I arrived at 7:50am after my 15 minute motorbike ride from the compound. Thankfully a student saw me drive up and he opened the gate for me; I hadn't thought about exactly how I was going to get into the campus until I arrived. As I drove in and parked the bike under a tree a second student was on me in a flash to carry my backpack for me into the classroom. I'm glad he did because I had no idea which classroom I was to use.

Rev. John came over to greet me as class began at 8am. My first class had ten second and third-year students, all male, who are from four different people groups and speak as many different languages. Thankfully, all the students are required to speak English, but there were definitely still some communication issues. I introduced myself and then went over the syllabus I prepared for the class. Then we covered the first three parts of our outline: What is ethics? The language of ethics, and Why study ethics? I realized I was speaking too fast at first and that I needed to use the simplest word possible for any concept being discussed. The students were very patient with me (and I with them), so I think everything is going to be fine. Still, teaching theology cross-culturally is going to be a challenge, especially given the discipline's technical jargon. We worked for an hour, and then took a five-minute break followed by another hour of class. The students take their education very seriously here and are definitely eager to learn.

Between classes we had chapel which included prayer, singing and preaching. One of the students delivered an excellent message about Joseph being far from home when he was taken to Egypt, and believe me, I could relate! As the young man preached I realized that with all the resources they have seminaries in the US have many advantages, but preaching-wise I'd put these young Ghanaian preachers up against anyone anywhere anytime.

My second class is also all male and is comprised of four first-year students, many of whom are fresh from the Basic English class taught at the seminary. I was a little worried about having only four students, especially coupled with the fact that their English probably isn't as good, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they grasped the material (possibly even better than the more advanced class). One of the students in my second class is a young man named James who is currently leading Sognarigu-Kukuo, the church NewSong recently paid to have built. It was great to see him again.

Perhaps my greatest relief about today is that my ride to and from the seminary on my motorbike was uneventful. As they say in movies sometimes, "No women, children or small animals were injured" during my drive to and from school today – Yay! On Thursday I go back for another four hours of class, this time teaching Christian Family Living. Tonight I am addressing the Seedlings, a Bible Club here at Seed Ministry. Thanks for your continued prayers.