My Background (Pt. 2)
Excerpt from, “From social justice warrior to Gospel-centered servant of God:
An educator’s reflection on critical theory and Christianity” (Linkletter, 2021).
I would like to explain a bit about who I was before I moved to Whati and a pivotal learning experience I had about a year after we moved here. It will give perspective to where I am coming from and why I am passionate about critical theory and biblical theology.
When I was a teenager, I was an avid volunteer and was determined to help children with behavioral disabilities in any way I could. My determination is partly what took us so far north. I had heard that children in northern communities often had behavioral disabilities and I gallantly thought I could help them to improve their lives.
I had been working with children with behavioral disabilities since I was 15. I worked and volunteered at various hospitals, schools, and therapy/respite centres. I had also taken different trainings on ASD and completed my education degree.
You could say I had a healthy combination of naivety and training and experience.
I was ready for the challenge when we arrived in Whati. In many ways I was properly prepared; my training and experience was proving to be useful, and some things were going pretty well with my students in the classroom. What I was not prepared for was the pain and suffering I would witness my students experiencing.
I realized that I could provide a safe and stable environment for them in our classroom, and I could be a safe and stable adult for them, but once they left our little classroom there wasn’t much I could do for them. It was heartbreaking.
My first year teaching continued. There were definite ups and downs and lots of lessons learned both in and out of the classroom, but there was one defining lesson that forever changed my understanding of God.
One day it clicked: no matter how much I loved these children, how much I served them, how much I taught them to advocate for themselves, developed their God given gifts and made goals with them, only Jesus could truly bring them healing and peace.
My goal changed overnight. Whereas before I was trying to meet all their physical and emotional needs, I realized I needed to reach their spiritual needs. My primary goal became to share the Gospel.
Rebecca