21st century Adventist educational institutions render a service to the community in their enrollment of students from both Adventist and non-Adventist backgrounds. As Adventist educators, we can be excited about the opportunities this scenario presents for our integration of faith into classroom learning especially for the salvation of each student with whom we come into contact. At least, it is my conviction that God their Father sends them to His schools to meet Him, accept Him and be saved now for eternity. What a sacred responsibility placed upon all Adventist educators at all levels of our church’s educational levels.
In over two decades of teaching tertiary students, nothing has excited me more than to witness on many occasions evidences of the working of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of young non-Adventist students. Many topics about the environment and society in my geography discipline can be easily turned from lectures into Bible studies for explaining and encouraging students to accept truths about a personal God, of Creation, against the sin problem, for the ten commandments, of the Sabbath, of the God of the world’s political actors and systems, in the person of Jesus and His loving ministry on earth, for their salvation, their sanctification, and their glorification in a perfect world again. Students learn from the origin of geography that God-their creator and Lord of the Seventh-day Sabbath made each of them, He owns their lives, by virtue of His breath keeps them alive, and He desires more for them than just living their literal lives —to accept him and be saved in eternity. Students are challenged to exercise their freedom of choice to accept this different teaching for some or to reaffirm their commitment for others.
Recently, when we were learning in class about the origin of geography from Creation, I observed that a final year secondary education degree non-Adventist female student seated at the front row of the classroom appeared highly captivated and spell-bound with her eyes fixed up front. At the end of class, I noticed that she rose from her seat and restlessly paced back and forth in the room. As I exited the classroom, she abruptly turned to me and said, “This is amazing stuff about God and the things you said.”
I sat to talk with her and she sat too. A group of her classmate friends, mostly non-Adventists, stood around. I told them that this God, Creator of the Seventh-day Sabbath, is a personal God and what He says in His word, He means. He can fulfill and bless each of their lives. She nodded in affirmation to these points. Something about her nodding inspired me that the Holy Spirit had used the topic and faith that I did not know.
My prayer at the beginning of the lesson was for the Holy Spirit to convict, convince, and convert all students who heard the lesson. I later praised God in Trinity for this personal revelation to His precious daughter. Personal transformation is gradual but sure: external adornments are disappearing, peaceful radiance on her face, worship attendance visible now. This child and every other child who attends an Adventist school is a child of God who needs to be saved for eternity. My prayer continues for her and each and every non-Adventist student of mine that God will use every opportunity of their encounter with others and me to commit their lives to Jesus, who only can preserve this transaction for eternity. My prayer is that each Adventist educator can catch this vision of the true meaning for working with each student in Adventist schools.
Author
Jennifer Litau
Dr Jennifer Litau, Academic Quality Assurance Manager, Pacific Adventist University, Papua New Guinea.