My year as a RI teacher

I have taught Religious Instruction lessons to two Year 3 classes at my children's school this year.  When I started, it was because I felt I had run out of excuses NOT to teach.  I have always thought that RI is very important at state schools, and I had always said that I would do it when my youngest child started school.  Well this year was THAT year!

With a feeling of trepidation, I embarked on what has turned out to be a totally amazing experience.  Some weeks I have felt like slapping a couple of children up the side of the head (thankfully I never actually did that, although I did raise my voice a couple of times...).  But mostly I have walked out of the last class quietly saying "Thank you, God".

Just like having children is a way that God can teach you things by looking at stuff from their eyes, teaching RI is a way that you can teach and learn at the same time.

The highlight of my year was handing out 28 New Testament Bibles to children whose parents had signed permission slips for them to receive one.  These kids are hungry for the truth, and where better to get it than from the Word of God?

I've sat at home some days waiting for a parent to ring me, email me, or have a go at me in some other way.... but never once have I received any negative feedback.  The teachers in both my classes have been so supportive, they have made it easy for me to WANT to keep teaching!

Have you heard the old saying "God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called" - well that couldn't be more true in my case.  I've never thought I had a teaching gift, although lots of people have thought I was a teacher over the years because I have a "teacher's voice" apparently!  12 months ago I can remember screaming at Jesus over the kitchen sink "WHY DO YOU LOVE CHILDREN???" (on a particularly trying day with my own kids).  But over the course of this year, I can see why He loves kids, and I have grown to love these kids too.  Some of them put on a performance today for their last ever assembly at their school, and I couldn't have been more proud of them if they were my own kids.

It's hard to put into words what this year has meant to me.  So many times I have struggled with the set lesson, wondering how to tailor it to my classes.  But every time God has stepped in and laid on my heart the central theme he wants me to get across to the kids, together with some ideas on how to present it.

I've been blessed so many times during the year - hugs from the kids, words of affirmation from the class teachers, YWAM showing up to do an awesome class on "joy" (when I wasn't feeling at all joyful), opportunities to talk about heaven, and the privilege of praying for and with the children each week.

I would highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to lead a RI class give it a go for 12 months.  You will be amazed at how it stretches you, encourages you, challenges you, and blesses you.  And how awesome will it be when I meet these kids in heaven, and are able to say, "I remember you!!!!"