7 Ways to Pray for Teaching and Education Ministries [September Prayer Focus]

TEAM – The Evangelical Alliance Mission • Sep 05, 2017

Education is one of the most powerful tools you can offer another person. Not only does it prepare someone to live a more fulfilling life, rise above poverty and avoid exploitation, but also, education empowers people to live up to their highest potential as followers of Christ.

This September, will you pray with us for teaching and education ministries around the world?

Click here to get a printable version of these requests, and sign up here to get the new prayer focus in your inbox each month.

1. Pray for increased faith in students’ hearts.

Hai* enrolled at a TEAM -affiliated European school two years ago when her father was sent by the Korean government to study Spanish. She didn’t know anything about Spanish, English, Jesus or the Bible.

But over the next two years, Hai grew in leaps and bounds in her knowledge of the Word, as well as in her English and Spanish skills. Sadly, Hai is returning to her South Korean home this year, but her teachers pray that she will continue to grow!

1 Corinthians 3:7 says that God is the One who gives growth to the seeds of faith that have been planted in our hearts.

Pray with us for students — like Hai — who have had seeds of faith planted in their hearts. Pray that they in grow in the Lord and share Him with others.

2. Pray for more teachers.


teaching and education ministries

Many missionary teachers raise their own support, which means it can take years to fill the role they were recruited for. Photo by TEAM


When it comes to teaching and education ministries, this is the most common prayer request we receive from the field.

“This year has been particularly challenging and we are beginning the school year short-staffed,” says TEAM missionary Sarie Anderson, who serves as director of Evangelical Christian Academy (ECA). “In fact, we don’t have a first-grade teacher … and we are at the point of needing to put students on a waiting list for most elementary grades due to the lack of staff.”

Please pray that the Lord will lead the right staff members to schools like ECA. Pray for an outpouring of gifted, Christlike teachers. And please ask God for funding, as many teachers raise their own support.

3. Pray that students will be able to afford school fees.

The ultimate goal of any teaching and education ministry is to teach students that we all have the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ.

However, in order to fulfill this goal, these schools must operate as private Christian institutions. That means they must charge some kind of tuition fee in order to keep the facilities running.

“Currently, our center has difficulty meeting expenses, but we desire to offer these services at a minimal cost so as not to deter people from joining,” says one TEAM worker who teaches at an English club in the Middle East.

Pray that students will be able to pay school fees so they can not only receive an education but also hear about our hope of salvation. Pray that funds for facility costs and teacher salaries will be provided in abundance so that tuition prices can be decreased.

4. Pray that faculty and staff will lead students well.


teaching and education ministries

Teachers have the opportunity to make a significant impact on their students’ lives, but the added challenges of teaching abroad may quickly lead to fatigue or discouragement. Photo by TEAM


Anyone who has worked in education knows that teaching in a classroom every day is taxing — even in your home country.

Missionaries who teach abroad deal with a multitude of challenges on top of the challenges home-based educators face. They must navigate cultural differences and expectations, perhaps learn a new language and overcome the potential loneliness of working in a foreign field.

Pray that the Lord will give teachers and staff members strength when they feel fatigued. Pray that they will be quick to remember the reason they are there and the eternal difference they are making.

5. Pray for good relationships with local governments.

Running a credible, accredited school is nearly impossible to do without the support — or at least acknowledgment — of the host government.

For TEAM missionary Carey Owens, having the local government behind Seville Christian School in Spain is essential: “We need God to give us good favor with the government officials who grant the legal paperwork,” he says. “For instance, in June 2016, we requested a building permit, which wasn’t granted until April 2017. Currently, we have a couple of other legal documents being processed that will allow us to proceed with developing our [school].”

Pray that schools like SCS will be such a bright light in their communities that local governments will be glad to welcome them and even work alongside them. Pray also that the Lord will soften hearts where softening is needed.

6. Pray for missionary kids to thrive.

A majority of students who attend international Christian schools are children of missionaries, and each one comes with their own set of daily challenges.

“It’s not always easy being an MK,” says TEAM missionary Marie Blanchard, a teacher at ECA. “I was an MK from France and loved my experience, but there were still challenges, such as having to always say goodbye to friends or teachers, or not always fitting into either culture. MKs sometimes also feel pressure to act a certain way or to ‘be Christians’ when they may actually be struggling with deep doubts or rebellion.”

Pray for missionary kids this month as they navigate the uniqueness of their situation. Pray that they will draw close to the Lord in all things, especially during times when they feel pressured or don’t quite fit in. And ask God to send them friends and teachers who will guide them in good directions.

7. Pray for academic success.


teaching and education ministries

Access to technological resources and encouraging learning environments is much needed to further students’ academic growth. Photo by TEAM


Even if the students of international schools aren’t missionary kids, many are children of global businessmen or foreign service workers and have already lived in several places. Because of this constant moving, many of them tend to have gaps in their learning.

In addition to academic challenges, TEAM missionary Stephanie Steffens says, “the [global] students sometimes arrive with more insecurities than normal.”

Students who come from international families often have a hard time discerning where “home” is. This gives missionary teachers a tremendous opportunity to offer security and belonging in Christ.

Pray for academic success for these students as they struggle with questions of nationality and purpose. Pray that they will find their ultimate identity in Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer! Click the image below to get a printable version of these requests to remember how to pray all month long.

*Name changed.

By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. Q: What do you love most about being a part of TEAM? Why TEAM rather than other organizations or job opportunities? A: The TEAM community is full of people who have faithfully served God’s mission and have given up a lot to do so. It is a privilege to know many of our global workers and be counted among them. I am also fascinated by the fact that TEAM has existed now for more than 130 years! There is something to be said about the resilience and faithfulness of an organization that has continued to impact the world for so long. The rest of our conversation with Justin will be coming soon on blog! We’ll hear more about how God called Justin to the role of International Director, and what Justin sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church.
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