How do you follow-up teachers in 60+ cities?

By the end of 1996, ISP had conducted 136 Convocations in 116 cities in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. CoMission teams had gone to 53 of these “Convocation cities” where they were building relationships with teachers. But 60+ cities still had not had a visit from a follow-up team.

This was a large number to reach in the short amount of time that had been allotted, so ISP was granted a one-year extension. Key ISP leaders developed the “Character Development Seminars” with the plan of bringing teachers together to further equip and encourage them.

Our Russian team was in charge of setting up the outreaches in the cities. They sent out letters to the teachers based on the addresses that had been collected at the Convocations and invited them to a reunion event.

The average attendance for a CDS was 110 (about half the number of teachers who attended Convocations in each city). During the reunion, we invited teachers to attend seminars the following weekend, where teams would introduce the expanded curriculum. During the seminars, the teams also introduced the teachers to the inductive Bible study method. Our focus was to equip the teachers to study the Word on their own and build community by connecting with each other.

Worn-out Curriculum

“I remember teachers coming up to me with worn-out Bibles, asking us for another Bible,” recalls Blair. “Teachers came up to us holding curriculum books that were literally falling apart because they had used them so much. It was beautiful and so humbling to see the work of God beyond our little piece in a four-day Convocation.”

It was obvious that God had continued to work in the hearts of the teachers after we finished the initial Convocations. We planted the seed; His Spirit multiplied the seed for continued growth and a hunger for more of God’s Word. Stories continued to roll in. Teachers were showing the JESUS film to 1,000 students in a year. Some teachers told us how they came to know the Lord just by teaching the curriculum!

Hands Created for Kindness

Then there was the story of the kindergarten teacher who taught her students to draw a picture of their hands and then discussed the topic of who made their hands. “Your hands were created for kindness,” the teacher explained.

One little boy went home that evening. His father came home drunk and started beating the little boy’s mother. So the little boy ran up to him, “Daddy, daddy, please stop hitting Mommy. Your hands were made for kindness,” he exclaimed, referring to the picture he had drawn at school.

The next day the father went to the school and stormed up to the kindergarten teacher. “What are you teaching my son?” he demanded. She was scared to death, but explained the assignment to the father.

“It was very humbling for me to be told by my little son how to treat his mom,” said the father. “You keep teaching him this.”

The one-year extension stretched into eight years as ISP teams continued to visit “Convocation cities” and see the work of God in the lives of teachers and students everywhere we went. In addition, during this time, God expanded our borders and began opening doors to different countries and different continents.

Next stop:  How ISP was launched into the Far East.