40 Days: Daniel Leadership Institute

For Paul and I, the 40 Days at Wilderness North meant 40 days of intense fellowship, serving, learning, discussing, speaking and being in the great outdoors! We learned so much during this time, it’s difficult to sum it all up. 

If I had to put it into a word I would say it was a time of renewal. The Lord was speaking to me about what was most important in life and calling me to return my focus to those things. The reason I went into ministry was to “love children to Jesus.” God had brought me to Minnesota to remind me of my original calling. During this time, I reviewed my most important commitments and had the opportunity to consider where I have come from and where I am going. Not only was this experience personally meaningful, but having my husband along for the 40 days was a blessing to our marriage.

We were asked to share devotionals and our life story with our new friends because we learned that “relationships are built when we reveal ourselves to others, and they reveal themselves to us.” These were key times when I got to further reflect on how the Lord had worked in my life. I was reminded that when the Lord called me into ministry, He had promised to give me as many children’s souls as I could see stars in the night sky. I have been taking Him up on His promise, and plan to continue by reaching children in public schools.

Playing guitar and leading worship through song reminded me of my original desire to use the gifts God had given me to minister to others. With a few exceptions, I had not picked up a guitar or lead worship vocally in the last several years. The “Daniel” environment of encouragement allowed me to ease back into this type of leadership with confidence. It was gratifying to hear how others were blessed by it as well.

I also learned a great deal from the lectures which focused on the practical steps of public relations, building into others, decision making, communicating with a purpose, recruiting, management and accountability. 

Before attending this training, I was asking how I could help others gain ownership of our vision for reaching out with the love of Christ. The session on “Building People” gave me the answer. We were taught that you cannot change people but the way you treat people can change their attitudes. These new attitudes can then cause people to change themselves! Now I realized I could motivate teachers by giving them evangelism tools and a chance to practice them; thereby building immediate confidence. They feel good about themselves when they accomplish their action plans and experience success. This gave me a new approach as I empower teachers to make a difference in the lives of students.

Unforgettable

Mario Martinez (right) and Gwen Blankenship (pictured with students on the left) are two “unforgettable” educators.

Mario has been a leader at an after school Good News Club for 5 years at the elementary school where he teaches in Murrieta. His former students, now in middle school and high school, come back to talk with Mario and ask questions about God. As a result, he has led many of them to Christ.

Gwen has been teaching for 23 years; long enough to teach the younger siblings of former students. Currently, she teaches Life Science at Ensign Middle School in Newport Beach. Right before graduation this year, Mrs. Blankenship got this letter, which brought tears to her eyes. “Your kind-spirited heart has really touched mine in a way you couldn’t imagine. I feel as though you have impacted my life for the better. The way you can change a student’s life, makes me dream of what a great person I hope to be. Thank you.”

Many educators don’t realize that students are saying “you have a place in my heart” or “I haven’t forgotten how important you are to me.” These teachers received them like Christ talks about in Matthew 18:5, and students continue to hold what their teacher said or did close to their hearts and minds. This special kindness is what makes a teacher truly unforgettable.

Making A Difference Through Prayer

Every Monday morning for the last year, Rod, Ben and Mario have met to pray. They are Christian teachers who currently make up part of the 4th- 5th grade teaching team at Avaxat Elementary. They are especially committed because this prayer time has helped them get through unexpected events in their personal lives during the school year. “The Guys” were praying when Ben’s wife went to the hospital with an attack of appendicitis just after delivering their third child. They were also involved in praying specifically for Mario’s Father, who accepted Christ, just before he died. Mario’s mother and brother accepted Christ at the same time as his Father. Through this, Mario got to see a few of his lifelong prayers answered! When I met up with them in May, one of them jokingly admitted that they “almost” look forward to Monday morning prayer times more than Friday afternoons! That’s saying a lot for a teacher.
This group of prayer warriors became known at the school as they invited others to join them. A principal visited one meeting and asked them to pray for the needs of his own children. One parent even requested these teachers to pray with her son and daughter during lunchtime the day they got the news about their grandfather’s passing. It was a great comfort to these students to know that God understood and was caring for them in their time of sadness. God has truly been honoring the efforts of these teachers who are making a difference through prayer.