The World Awaits

by Elizabeth Sabins, Spanish Teacher

It is an honor to be a language teacher. At LCS, the World Language Department is not only privileged to teach Spanish, but to foster cultural appreciation and diversity among God’s people.

My deep hope for my students is that together we will discover our role in God’s story to recognize and appreciate the diversity in ourselves and others, and to serve those in need by sharing His love.

Speaking a person’s native language acknowledges their culture and is a way to show honor and hospitality. My eighth grade students will soon start a project in partnership with the Lansing Visitors Bureau to create a tourism brochure for the Lansing area highlighting local attractions and resources that would appeal to Spanish-speaking visitors. It is exciting to engage our local community through this learning experience and to create more awareness of the Spanish-speaking population right here in Lansing. My seventh grade students are currently learning how to talk about school in Spanish. They are in the developing phase of their service project to impact students at another school.

Our work with Teaching for Transformation has personally challenged me to create learning experiences on personal, local, and global levels.

During a Spanish III technology unit, we challenged ourselves to monitor our use of technology throughout the week and to experience a day without it. We discussed how our phone could become an idol and about the importance of creating space and protecting our time with God. We are currently working together to serve LCS fourth grade students by creating a presentation in which we will share technology safety tips to help students guard their minds and hearts when online. At a global level, this amazing group of Spanish III students also created storybooks to share with children that we will meet on our upcoming mission trip to the Dominican Republic in April. These Spanish storybooks were written with the purpose of revealing a piece of God’s heart to Dominican students.

It is exciting to work together to have an impact on the world around us! As I see my students growing in their language capabilities, I also see them growing in leadership and character. I pray that these students will be able to grow in community, identify and meet real needs through acts of service, and to enjoy and appreciate the diversity of God’s people and creation. There are so many people both here in Lansing and around the world just waiting for someone to reach out to them. With God’s help, we can have an impact for His kingdom. The world awaits!