My Philosophy of Teaching
Ever since I became a Christian, I knew God wanted to use me for his work. Therefore, he has been preparing me for the task of teaching. Through my training and ministerial experience, I have discerned that I love teaching and training others for work in the church and for Christian missions. I have also come to understand that the traditional teaching and practice of mission leaves much to be desired. As a teacher of missiology, I not only keep myself abreast of the latest missiological trends but also want to see my students transformed by learning together. By aligning their lives with the Master Teacher and Missionary, Jesus Christ, they can become agents of transformation in their churches and communities to help the church become missionary at its very nature.
In order to achieve this goal, I try to make my classes like an incubator. With the help of interactive lectures presented with appropriate multimedia tools, reading together of relevant texts, telling stories from personal mission experience, learning from case studies of innovative missions in audio and/or video formats, field visits, and hands-on experience with a missionary, my students will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to be change agents.
I like to be intentionally relational with students and consider them as my fellow travelers on an exciting journey to be and to do what God wants us for his world. Being relational obviously goes beyond the classroom. Therefore, I try to make myself available to them as much as I can. I am also open to students’ suggestions about designing the class experience in order to be more holistic and inspirational. I strive to incorporate students’ practical experience in the church and mission into my class structure so that my teaching style and presentations are more effective. Every class experience teaches me to discard that which is not effective and integrate that works with most students. In assessing the progress of students—adult Christian men and women who are consciously willing to make their lives worthwhile by aligning them with God’s purposes—I keep in mind the progressive improvement in their interest and enthusiasm for the subject. I also take into account their class participation, presentations, written case studies, and creating innovative ideas on their own, for bringing transformation in the field of learning missiology and doing of missions.