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How an International Teacher Exchange works


How can resources in one location be effectively channeled to places of need in another location? A story shows how.

Alfred Neufeld and Victor Wall from Asuncion, Paraguay were sharing their dreams in summer 1999 with several guests brought together in a Fresno, California home. The dream was to establish a Christian university in Paraguay in which Mennonites, Baptists and Anglicans would be major participants, each with focused programs: theology (Mennonites), nursing (Baptists), psychology and teacher training (Anglicans). One of the Paraguayan guests remarked, “What we really need is someone to help us with the organization and administration of this project.”

Among the listeners was Elmer Martens, recently appointed by MBMS International to a newly created volunteer position. His job was to facilitate international teacher exchange among Mennonite Brethren schools of higher education operating on five continents. Martens had in his file information about Abe Konrad, a retired professor at the University of Alberta, who had listed his expertise as “instructional evaluation and improvement” and whose experience included consultation for universities in China and Thailand.

The Paraguayan leaders made contact with professor Konrad at the North American MB Conference convention in Wichita, Kansas in July 1999. That fall, Konrad spent four weeks in Paraguay, listening, making evaluations and offering recommendations. In a later letter, Neufeld described Konrad’s visit as “extraordinarily valuable”. There have been follow-up meetings, and Konrad has been invited for a return visit this fall. Konrad, on his part, commented: “It was an invigorating experience for me, and I was most grateful for the acceptance and response I received from the denominational leaders, governing board and academic council of the new university.” He observed that to bring together the two parties was important, but “the Lord did the rest.”

This kind of story is one of an increasing number. This entire endeavour is an intentional program of bringing together persons who are available with institutions which issue calls for help. Files are set up for volunteers willing to lend their expertise, and also for schools wanting a specific kind of aid. One file, for example, is the resumé of a Zairian teacher prepared to teach Old Testament. Another file contains the repeated appeals from Bogotá, both from Miguel Forero, the regional MBMSI director, and from missionaries Trever and Joan Godard, for teachers to serve a group of 10 leaders who desire advanced, anabaptist-oriented training. The school in Angola has also listed its needs.

The hope of MBMSI is that traffic between schools will be reciprocal before too long – that the educator exchange will move both ways. For instance, the Zairian teacher above might be called to a school in Canada or the US. North American schools are called upon, not only to invite teachers from overseas, but to fund a major portion of their travel and stay. The rewards will most surely exceed the costs.

The role of the “Facilitator for International Teacher Exchange” is to collect the names of persons who would be available for teaching abroad. These are often (but not only) retirees. Bible teachers are needed, but also persons with expertise in business, law, etc. to assist universities such as the one in Kinshasa. Since MBMSI does not have a budget for this endeavour, the hope is that volunteers will be able to self-fund their travel. Room and board is to be provided by the host country.

There are 21 Mennonite Brethren-related institutions of higher education. Three are in Asia: MB Centenary Bible College (India), MB Bible Institute (India), Evangelical Biblical Seminary (Japan). Four are in Europe: Bibelseminar Bonn (Germany), Theologisches Seminary Bienenberg (Switzerland), Bishkek Bible School (Kyrgyzstan) and St. Petersburg Christian University (Russia). Three are in Latin America: Instituto Biblico Asuncion (IBA) (Paraguay), ISBIM (Brazil), Semilla (Guatemala). Three are in Africa: Kikwit Bible School (Congo), Instituto Biblico E de Missiologia de Angola (IBMA) (Angola), Kinshasa School of Missiology (Congo). Seven North American schools are on the facilitator’s mailing list.

A newsletter is published twice a year, in January and July, to promote awareness of the needs which various schools have and to carry a list of volunteers (24 are on the list at present). How soon will a volunteer be matched up with a school abroad? It depends. Just now the list of schools appealing for help is rather short, and the expertise of a given volunteer may not be in immediate demand.

 – Elmer A. Martens

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Last modified October 20, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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