As our church has entered its 22nd year and the Tree of Life is growing and maturing, God is leading us into a new stage – even a new realm – the Tree of Life education.
In fact, we had the prompting to do education at an early stage but the timing was not right. Six years ago, the Tree of Life Kindergarten started. Over these years, its Tree of Life vibe is getting stronger and stronger, bringing forth love among teachers, students and their parents. Meanwhile the discipleship and capacity of our church are expanding. We know that now is the time to go on to set up a primary school.
In order to build a school, besides looking for campus and gathering resources, I realise that teachers are important. They are not merely passing knowledge, rather, they are passing their lives. If their lives are crooked, the knowledge they pass will make their students even more deviated. So right at this point, we need Levite-teachers.
It is known that many schools in Hong Kong were founded by churches, amounting to more than 30%. However, there are only 3% of Christians in Hong Kong. What happened to the purpose of a church school reaching out to the lost? It’s because these schools have turned secular gradually and made themselves like social services. The Godly values they are supposed to pass on to the next generation have been lost. On the other hand, their students seem to be immune to the gospel, having the reaction of “I know it already”. It’s even harder to remove their presumptions. In this case, we need to pave a new way. We need Levite-teachers who are passionate about education so as to influence other people’s lives with their own.
Among my disciples, Joey, SW and Joash were teachers in primary and secondary schools. They were zealous to evangelize and have brought lots of students to church. However, they were helpless in dealing with the pressure of having good results and performance. Only until they become full-time Levites – they are discipled and discipling others, they have witnessed how lives and families are changed by God, then they realize that Tree of Life education is the only way out. And the team of Levite-teachers is working closely with the church to establish and nurture the godly next generation as well as to influence the whole generation.
Levite-teachers are different from other teachers in that they regard education as a divine vocation. Moreover, they are serving God. They do not find contentment in pursuing a stable and comfortable life – good pay and long holiday. They are to come out from their own desires, worldly fame and fortune. Instead, they consider the Lord to be their sole inheritance. They are like full-time co-workers who offer themselves to serve God. Furthermore, they educate children on behalf of God, passing on the Truth and their lives.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you feel deeply moved upon hearing this calling, I encourage you to pray to God seriously and join the team of Levite-teachers, entering your destiny.【2022.12.04】