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Fresno, Calif.
Educators take part in International Teachers Exchange


A growing number of Mennonite Brethren educators from North America are learning what it means to be part of the larger body of Christ by working alongside each other.

Since the summer of 1998, educators from North America have been working short terms in MB schools around the world as part of MBMS International’s International Teachers Exchange Program. Elmer Martens, a professor at MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif. and former MBMSI board member, facilitates the program.

“Teachers are interested in the exchange program for various reasons,” Martens notes. “Many have students in the country they wish to visit. Some are concerned that better international relations be built. And others have had experiences overseas in the secular fields of their expertise and are interested in making their expertise available to churches.”

The idea for the teacher exchange program came from Martens’s discussions with E.D. Solomon, a professor at Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College in Shamshabad, India. Solomon promoted the idea at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan. and Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C. Lynn Jost, a professor at Tabor, taught in Shamshabad last year.

Martens matches the needs of schools with abilities and availability of teachers. To date, seven individuals, including two husband and wife teams, have been on the exchange program.

In April, retired librarian Shirley Thieszen of Garden City, Kan., completed her third assignment assisting at the library at the Shamshabad schools. “The students’ warm friendships made my stay in India a delightful experience,” she says. “They welcomed me into their homes and hostels and made me a part of their lives and culture.”

Her length of stay grew from a first assignment of six weeks to a recent visit of five months. Her husband Marvin joined her on this assignment to teach Christian education courses at both the Institute and the College.

Martens has found the experiences to be times of invaluable interactions between members of the global church. He recalls one story of witnessing God’s mighty power during a recent two-month trip to India.

“Upon our arrival in the poorest village we visited, the wife of a village evangelist begged me to pray for her 16-year-old son who was dumb. All he was able to say was his name. I laid my hands on the shoulders of the boy and prayed for God’s healing touch.” When Martens said amen, his Indian colleague said to the boy: “Say amen.”

The boy did. Then Martens added, “Say Hallelujah.” The boy did.

“John Shankar Rao, my Indian host, plied him with words to say – each of which (the boy) repeated articulately,” Martens continues. “The mother was ecstatic; the father threw up his hands in delight. Onlookers said the obvious: ‘He can speak.’ I witnessed God’s power.”

Efforts are underway to bring teachers from other countries to North America and elsewhere. In June, P. Menno Joel, dean of Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College, will teach a course in evangelism at the Kinshasa School of Missiology in the Congo.

Volunteers interested in the exchange program are expected to pay for air travel, although some financial assistance may be possible. The host schools provide ground transportation, meals and lodging. Teaching terms may be as short as a few weeks or may extend over several semesters.

 – Lisa Alvey, MBMS International

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Last modified June 14, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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