“Are you ready?” my colleague asked me, eyebrows raised, as we waited by our classroom doors and watched our teenage students coming down the hallway toward us. It was the first day of English classes for a summer exchange program for students from Brazil.

“As ready as I’ll ever be!” I took a deep breath, grinned at the other teacher, and stepped into my classroom. Fifteen young faces stared at me, their expressions reflecting the same mix of anxiety and eagerness that I was feeling. “Good morning, everyone!” I felt a surge of genuine excitement begin to animate me. “My name is Lynette. I’m looking forward to teaching you for the next couple of weeks and getting to know you all better.” Let the fun begin!

As the days progressed, I enjoyed discovering commonalities with my students and encouraging them to practice English. Sometimes I joined them for lunch in the cafeteria where they peppered me with questions about everything from my hobbies to my faith. We laughed and gestured through conversations in mixed Portuguese and English until we could understand each other, and I watched their confidence in using English grow.

One of the most exciting things for me about teaching was that it was not just a chance to help my students improve their grammar and vocabulary, but it was also an opportunity to spark discussion about some of life’s deeper issues. During one class, we watched a video about a man who wanted to play basketball. He was tall, lanky and not exactly handsome. His job as a janitor belied his true intelligence. After seeing a cocky security guard shooting baskets, this janitor tried again and again to get a ball through the hoop. Again and again he failed. Eventually, however, he calculated the exact mathematics behind the perfect throw. My students laughed and cheered for him as they watched him shoot three perfect baskets in a row, to the amazement of his antagonist, the security guard.

“What did you think about the video?” I asked my class. “Did it have a message?”

“That was a great video!” one of my students volunteered shyly. “It reminded me that it doesn’t matter what I look like. The most important thing is what is inside of me.” We continued to talk about the importance of not giving up during difficult times, trying until we succeed, and not judging people based on what we see on the outside. I loved seeing their eyes light up when they understood a new concept or connected with something we were discussing. I felt privileged to have the chance to influence their lives for good, even if it was just for a short time.

Four years ago, I would never have pictured myself teaching or trying to connect meaningfully with strangers. Four years ago, I was a nervous, shy teenager embarking on an enormous adventure: I was going to be a student-missionary English teacher in Southeast Asia. I had never taught before. In fact, I preferred sitting quietly in a corner to being the center of attention up front, and I was afraid that my shyness would be crippling. The first morning I had to teach, I felt so nauseous I could hardly eat. Taking refuge in the bathroom, I dropped to my knees. “Oh God, please be with me! I don’t know how I can do this. Please help me!” He did.

The six months I had planned to spend as a missionary turned into 18 months, and I blossomed. The shyness I felt in connecting with others seemed to dissipate as I practiced the local language, destroying its tones and pronunciation! My neighbors laughed my mistakes away and encouraged me, which warmed my heart. As I got used to my new environment and responsibilities, instead of hiding myself away in the teachers’ room with the excuse of having too much work to do, I would arrive at my classroom a few minutes before starting time so I could talk with my students. Little by little, I learned to think beyond myself and focus more on others. I learned to be flexible and patient. I learned that people were more important than tasks. I discovered that when I was at the end of my rope, God would always come through for me. When I had no more energy or creativity to tackle my responsibilities, somehow things would always come together if I turned my stresses over to Him. “Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good” (Rom. 8:28, J.B. Phillips).

I continue to see this happen over and over in my present life—in my relationships, in my current summer teaching job, in my school responsibilities. The skills I developed and the lessons I learned in Southeast Asia have stayed with me. As I teach during the summer, I am reminded how those skills and lessons are a tremendous blessing to me even now. I can earn money toward my college fees, make new friends, connect with my students and add lots of experience to my résumé. These are just a few of the good things that have resulted from my student-missionary experience, and there are so many more, both tangible and intangible. Looking back over my time in Asia and how it has impacted my current life, I believe God tailors each student-missionary experience to bring the most good not only to the host culture, but also to the student missionary if they follow His leading.

Thank you to each one of you who has supported me and the many other student missionaries over the past years, and thank-you to all of you who will support future student missionaries. You are not only enabling amazing spiritual adventures that last a year or two, you are enabling young people to develop skills and traits that will bless and impact them for the rest of their lives.

If you are a student, please consider dedicating a year of your life to being a missionary. It is one of the most challenging, exciting and life-changing experiences you could ever have. Who knows what good things are waiting for you, both in the mission field and in all your life to come?

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