I’d really like prayer for both myself and the kids in my Yr 6 Scripture Class. I am a huge fan of scripture classes at school - especially as result of seeing God do amazing things in the lives of kids I have taught over the years. It is a privilege and joy to see him bringing kids into a relationship with Him.

However, my class this year are the most difficult and undiscplined bunch of kids I’ve ever come across and it makes teaching them very hard. After the class today I was reduced to tears of utter frustration and sadness as I saw Satan working at stopping these kids from learning about our great and loving God.

I’ve been slogging away at it for 8 months now and it is not getting any easier. In fact it is becoming very emotionally draining and I’m not sure whether the best thing to do is to continue teaching the class, send those who continually misbehave to non-Scripture so that the kids who do want to learn have the opportunity (there is about 5 of them in a class of around 17) or just to stop all together (which I don’t want to do).

Please pray for wisdom in making decisions regarding this matter (in conjunction with my church pastor), for patience, love and perserverance for me as I try to teach these kids and that God would bring each of them into a relationship with Him through His son. It would also be great if you pray similarily for all scripture teachers.

Thanks guys!
Dani

You have my prayers Dani, my wife used to do scripture (before Alanah came along) with year 3 and year 6.  It used to amaze me the stories she would tell of the abusive language and violent behaviour that came from the kids.  And the year 3 kids were worse than the year 6s!

Am I too young to start saying “Kids these days”?

Glenn

Praying for you and the children in the classes, Dani.

My prayers are definitely with you in this Dani. Over the past few years i’ve taught several different scripture classes from year 2 - year 6… and when you get a group that are misbehaving every week it’s really hard, not just while you’re there, but the emotional side for you afterwards can be huge. Scripture teachers really do need more prayer and support from the local churches, it’s a tough job and most of them stick at it for YEARS :)

Good on you… and just take heart and remember they may seem to be disinterested now.. but there has been many a story of young adults bumping into their primary scripture teacher and thanking them cause when they came across the question of what is life all about later in life they remembered what they’d been faithfully taught and the love they’d been shown back when they were little and checked out what it was all about.

Hi Dani,

I will definitely include you in my prayers. This is my first year of scripture teaching and I have discovered just how hard it is!  I doubt I would have survived at all if it weren’t for that sensational new ‘Connect’ material from Youthworks.

I cling very firmly to 2 Corinthians 4:7 - there is no ministry in which I am more conscious of my ‘clay jarness’, exactly the state through which God most delights to do his extraordinary work!

Keep at it, though, sometimes the unexpected happens. Just this week, suddenly, both my year 5 & 6 classes were struck by the gospel, several clearly grasping it for the first time, and asking questions left right and centre and listening to the answers (other teachers will know how extraordinary that is!) Normally I have to battle to get any information through.

So if I can add to people’s prayers under the same topic, please praise God for that and ask that these kids might taste and see that the Lord is good, and develop a thirst for him that will lead them to drink from the water of life.

Your brother because of Jesus

Matt

Thanks for all your prayer and encouragement guys :)

Matt, thats so exciting about some of your kids getting a handle on the gospel! What a praise point. Can we organise a swap or something? ;)

I think I have decided to put all the trouble makers in non-scripture for at least this coming week and see how it goes from there.  My pastor and my best friend have both, in the past, taught this class I have at the moment and maintain, with me, that they are the most difficult group of kids they have come across.

However, despite their terrible behaviour and lack of respect I can see God working through, and in some of them. On Tuesday when they could see I was really getting upset a couple of them told everyone else to be quite and close their eyes so that they could pray(completely unprompted by me)… and then one by one, a number of them began praying to God (for everything from giving food to the kids in Africa to asking Him to help them pay attention). In the end I think that was what put me over the edge emotionally- especially when they asked me to close in prayer for them.

Like you all I think scripture teaching in schools is such an awesome privilege (and one I doubt we will have in years to come) and there have been moments (like the one above) when I have seen God do amazing things for His glory.

Thanks be to God!

Dani

Dani, I want to honor you for the most awsome job you are doing.

Iworked as an assistant scripture teacher for a term and they were fairly rowdy, one day I said Guys if you really behave well today, I will do a head stand at the end of class”. (this is the one thing I can do that really impresses young kid’s) They were so obedient, that I did one, the next week they said “we will be good if you do one for us again today” I did and the teacher came in and busted us us big time” :-)

Any way this went on and off over the term, the kids would try and join in, some even practiced at home. A whole lot of fun, fun, fun.

I also prayed under my breath the whole time I was there and before whilst waiting for class.

Father God, your word says that we do not fight against the flesh but against spiritual forces, there are many spiritual forces that are against the Gospel in this school kids lives, from home, from family, from school, from tv, from things they are invovled with, father God I ask that you bind those spiritual forces that would prevent those children from coming to know you, I ask that you would bind those forces that blind the eyes of those children and cause them to be distruptive in class, I ask that you would bind all the work of the enemy in those scripture classes that in place you would loose upon those children honor for those who are teaching, that you would loose their hearts and open the hearts that they may know the hope to which they are called, that they may know the glorious inheritence of the saints an dwoul dknow the hope to which they have been called, I ask for the teachers including Dani father God that you would so fill them with your spirit of Joy that the classes they teach will be a whole lot of fun, that you bind those things that would normally cause them frustration and niggles and wear away their sense of joy and self control, I ask that you release upon them a real gift of teaching and fun, that they and the students will work togethe ras one eager for the things of you.

I thank you father for hearing my prayer, in which I have asked in your sons name, Jesus amen.

craig

Scripture Class

Dani, I’m adding my prayers to everyone else’s for you.

I once knew a very gentle and godly lady who persevered as a Scripture teacher for year after year with a class of ungrateful, loud mouthed rat bags. She always remembered their birthdays; they called her names. She quietly lived and spoke the Gospel to them; they made fun of her. She prayed regularly for them and their families; they imitated her speech impediment. They made that hour a torment for her each week, I’m sure.

Some years ago, I met her quite by chance. It was the first time I has seen her since I had left school, and she was now very elderly. I was able to apologise to her for being one of the biggest rat bags in that class, and to thank her for the part she had played in bringing me to Christ in adulthood. I had never forgotten her “grace under fire”.  We both ended up in tears and had to go and have a reviving cuppa in a cafe!

Keep on keeping on!!!

Love
Lydia

I wasn’t sure whether I should put this in a new thread with (ATP) or not.. but thought it was probably better keeping it all in the one thread.

I taught my scripture class again this morning- and God was very gracious! I had one of the best scripture lessons I have ever had… of course 2/3 of the class were in non-scripture!!

I think all the kids got the shock of their lives when I came in all business this morning- but it has certainly given them a new and healthy respect for me!  Please feel free to stop reading here… but I thought I would share just what happened.

I had them all sit down and then called three of their names out (those I think are really not going to reform this year in terms of their behaviour) and informed them that they would be going to non-scripture indefinitely as they had shown they had no interest in being in my class. Pppssstt- between you and me I’ll probably invite one or two of them back in coming weeks- but I wasn’t going to tell them that! Let them sweat it I say ;)

I then called out about another 8 names (kids who often cause trouble but I think also want to be in scripture) and told them they would be going to non-scripture today but I would consider allowing them back into my class on two conditions-
1) They were to write a note to me explaining why they want to come back to scripture
2) If they came back they were to be on their best behaviour or they too would go to non-scripture indefinitely.

That left me with the 6 kids (who, like the rest of their classmates were rather stunned at this point) whom I thought really wanted to be there… and they just so happened to be the 6 quitest kids in the class. I apologised to them all that I had had to be so firm and so much of their time had been wasted in the first 8 months of the year. I told them I thought they really wanted to learn about God and that I wanted them in my class because of that and then asked them to please contribute to discussion, to ask questions and to answer my questions (all the time thinking ‘Yeah right. There is going to be utter silence all lesson’).

Lo and behold every single one of them asked and answered questions. It was incredible! And I was astonished at just how much they had learnt this year! I also didn’t have to ask a single kid to please be quiet… to please sit down… to please stop fidgetting. Praise be to God!  Yay!

Anyway, at the end of the class three of the boys who were temporarily suspended came back to me with notes in hand, sincerely apologetic and earnestly wanting to rejoin the class (again praise be to God that they were the 3 kids I most wanted to come back!). I welcomed them back, told them I was so glad they wanted to learn about God and had a quite chuckle at one of their notes… which I just have to share with you - incorrect spelling included ;)

But before I do - thankyou for your prayers. Please give thanks to our loving and merciful God and continue asking that he would enable all scripture teachers to teach in truth and love and wisdom and that he would work in the kids lives to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus!

Dear Mis Treewok,

[their names accompanied by a little portrait of both of them]

Hehehe. Aren’t they adorable? (When they are behaving that is!)

Makin’ the Scriptue teacher cry.... That’s a paddlin’.

Misbehaving in Scripture… That’s a paddlin’.

Misspelling the Scripture teacher’s name… That’s a paddlin’.

Tryin’ to con the Scripture teacher in thinkin’ you’re adorable with a cute card… That’s a paddlin’.

The Scripture teacher belieiving that terrorists are adorable… That’s a paddlin’.

Ahh well… what can I say? I’m a pushover :)

Dani...how cute indeed!!!

Praying for you and your class: and all Scripture teachers.

Ian.