Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Lessons Learned

Well...10 months of 2020 have passed in the world, on our island, and in our respective little worlds. Each of us has learned something new. Personally, I learned how much I needed to learn. God is gracious like that, because everyday I’m immersed in a world where I’m surrounded by 4th - 6th graders. A world where both the students and I have the freedom of creativity in communicating: facial expressions, hand motions, and random words we possess of each other’s languages. It’s comical how much time we spend “preparing” when nothing can prepare us for the unknown, except the One who knows the end from the beginning. I learn something new from my students every week and I think to myself, “Wow, this is a milestone! How’ve I just now realized this…?” That is until the next week when a whole new troop rolls in on the Monday morning bus(es), and I learn another invaluable life lesson from God’s purest form of communication. Children. They are unfiltered conduits of His voice. His tiny messengers. I wish I could tell you that every Friday a group of students leave the campus with an arsenal of English vocabulary to rival poets and philosophers of old. However, the truth is the English they leave with is simple yet God breathed. Phrases like “I can do it. You can do it. Try again.” My personal favorite is “I love you,” because those three words bear the love of the Father. Every morning and every night I drench each student in my prayers. As they go through life may they remember the English teacher who taught them, “It’s okay. Don’t give up. I love you.” As they face discouragement, life decisions, and the lies of the enemy may these simple phrases echo in their minds even after they’re adults. I pray that seeds are planted, and others will cross their paths watering those seeds. That not one is lost to the enemy, but each one finds their way to Jesus- the Way, the Truth, and the Life. A piece of my heart goes with each bus that drives away every Friday. Each window filled with tiny faces I may never see again (this side of eternity), waving hands, and shouts of “Bye, bye Teacher Alissa. I love you!” These are those shining moments you live for as a missionary teacher, and the purpose I came here to fulfill. To convey the love of Christ, and witness it translated through a simple smile, laughter shared, and games played...moments where language barriers don’t exist. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alissa Workman is a lover of Jesus, food, and travel. It’s her desire to travel the world being the hands and feet of Jesus while carrying the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world. It is that desire that brought her to Taiwan. She grew up in a large family, and as the oldest has always loved helping and caring for others. She currently lives and teaches in Taitung, Taiwan, where she enjoys learning about the culture and different aboriginal tribes, trying new foods, and singing with her students. 


"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." -James 1:27 NKJV