Sydney's children are blessed to be able to hear the gospel through school Scripture, but finding workers for this harvest is no easy task.
In Tanzania, former St John's Kieraville member Sue Jaggar has taken on the challenge of finding teachers for each of the 25 primary schools in Tabora, where she now ministers as a CMS missionary.
Part of Ms. Jaggar's role is training Scripture teachers for primary and Sunday schools.
After visiting the area's schools, she found 23 primary schools without Protestant Scripture, which equates to at least 48 teacher vacancies for Years 3-4 and 5-7, or 73 vacancies if Years 1-2 are included.
“Currently only the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches provide teachers, although eight schools have Islamic religion teachers,” Ms. Jaggar says. “The next step is convincing each of Tabora's 42 Christian denominations to provide volunteers.”
The south coast resident turned missionary says Christians in Tanzania have a unique opportunity to reach children with the gospel.
"Schools must set aside two lessons a week for religious education " and any religion can take the opportunity to teach," she explains.
More than 21,000 children attend primary schools in Tabora.
Only a small fraction of these children attend church, and many Sunday Schools consist of singing only, or sermon-length talks.
"Through School Scripture we have an open door to reach children who would not otherwise hear the gospel. For the Christian children, Scripture class is an encouragement to be bold and grow in the depth of their faith," Ms Jaggar says.
Sue's own Scripture lessons at Cheyo A Primary School are a challenge in themselves.
Depending on class size, Sue may teach a story using puppets, flannel-graphs, or dolls made from sticks.
"Questions take the form of team quizzes; we also sing and learn memory verses. Interactive learning is very hard in a class of 200!" she says.
“Teaching Scripture requires effort, and some days I leave class thinking, "they learnt nothing today'. Other times the enthusiasm of some children and the growth in their understanding of God makes it worthwhile.”
But sustained effort is bearing long-term results.
“This is my sixth year teaching at Cheyo A School, so the children finishing Year 7 have been in my class right through,” Ms. Jaggar says.
“My relationship with them has grown, and for some of them, their relationship with Christ. However for me the highlight is seeing individual children and their walk with God.”
“A small group from my class are the ones chosen by the Principal for special jobs because they're trustworthy. When coloured pencils were taken from class by some older boys, one in the group went against peer pressure and returned them. These children are the future of Tanzania, how different will that future be if they are following Christ.”
