Another break in the Wall

Two weeks have passed since we left Beijing. Packed days of recouperation, reconnection, and recovery. A lifetime, almost. Two worlds that are connected by planes and email, but are as separate as different planets.

E-mails are flying across the ocean. Teacher after teacher from the team writes to tell of the notes they've received. For me, it is notes from the English teachers that bring me the greatest joy. Lin -- one of our best and brightest -- wrote this morning:

"I visited my grandma after the TESOL training. She lives in a remote village in Inner Mongolia where there is no internet available. I had a great time with her and her six cats, and came back to Beijing yesterday. This morning, when I opened my E-mail box and all your three letters popped out, I was so thrilled! It is so great to hear from you! All the wonderful memories of the past three weeks flashed back to me when I was reading every word of yours.

"You can never imagine how much you helped us with our teaching skills. As I told you the last day of the training program, thousands of students will benefit from it and we can never thank you enough. The inspirational thoughts, mini-lectures and exquisitely designed classroom activities that you gave us in the past few weeks will be treasured in my whole life. I took my notes with me when I was with my grandma and reviewed every page. I learned fast. I hope when you come back to Beijing next summer you will find me a more competent teacher.

Can you catch a glimpse of why we go back year after year? What could be more rewarding than investing time and life into teachers and students who want to do their very best?

We go to teach and we train the team to teach well. That's our ticket into the university and the reputation of the team grows each year as more teachers and students come through the program.

Our deeper goal, of course, is relationships that will result in journeys to Jesus. Three of the program participants made firm decisions during the program, but far more than three are walking on the path.

Lin wants to show us that she's a better teacher next year but I am looking at eternal teaching. Stay tuned. The 2011 wall comes to an end but this is never the end, just a hiatus, and a new beginning.

Results will only be measured in eternity.