BJU’s School of Education, in partnership with the University Educators Association, will host the Teach the World conference at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 in Seminary 113. The objective of the conference is to expose students from all programs to opportunities to teach and serve in international settings.
Dr. Jim Bennett will open the event with his keynote address “The Many Faces of Global Learning.”
After Bennett’s remarks, the conference will divide into five breakout sessions that will each be repeated three times, giving students the opportunity to attend more than one session. Each session will feature one of the following international ministries:
- Wuhan Yangtze International School, China
- MeySen Academy, Japan
- Harvest Christian Academy, Guam
- Genesis Preschool, Poland
- Faith Children’s Village, Amano Academy, Zambia
The sessions will begin with recorded video testimonies of BJU alumni who have served or are currently serving with the ministries. Then, a representative of each ministry will participate in a live virtual conversation. Students will hear about the ministries as well as be able to ask the representatives questions. Three of the five ministries (Wuhan Yangtze International School, MeySen Academy and Genesis Preschool) will also have representatives in attendance and available to talk with students.
Dr. Brian Carruthers, dean of the School of Education, said that he and the other education faculty “noticed in the last year or two that there’s an increasing number of students who are talking to us about international opportunities—teaching in international schools, Christian schools and missionary schools. … And this is not just limited to School of Education students.”
In order to expose all students to international opportunities and to help non-education students make informed decisions, the School of Education decided to host the Teach the World conference. The conference is open to all students and guests, no matter what they are studying.
“My prayer,” said Carruthers, “is that the Lord will use this to plant seeds in the minds of our students because many times they are narrowly focused. They’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to go back home’ or ‘I’m going to teach in a surrounding school.’ And there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s where the Lord calls them. But what we want to do is to expose our students to the incredible opportunities of international experience.”
