Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2021

Louise “LuLu” Cecilia Fleming was a teacher, physician, graduate of Shaw University, and faithful member of Bethel Baptist Church. She was also a missionary to the Republic of the Congo. The Women’s American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society sent her, and she went on to spend years teaching and shepherding there, touching lives with practical reading and writing skills. She served her local church and blessed the nation with the Gospel of Christ. When I think of our students’ futures, I hope their lives reflect LuLu’s. Here at Cedarville, one vision for the School of Education is to have Cedarville graduates serving in all 192 countries around the globe. We see clear directives for this in Matthew 5:13–16, where in verse 14 Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." He doesn't say we are the light of a single city, or our hometown, or a nation. But we are the light of the entire world. The Psalmist proclaims, “The whole earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 24:1) and “The Lord is exalted above all the nations, his glory above the heavens” (Ps.113:4). Therefore, we have a responsibility as God’s people to steward the gifts that the Lord has given us. Matthew 5 gives us clear imperatives, and so does Matthew 28, where the Lord says, "Go ye therefore and make disciples," again, "of all nations." In short, we are the salt and light of the world, and we are to go to all nations. WHERE AND HOW As we pray about the areas in which we desire our students to serve globally, our prayer is threefold. We want students to: § Work in already established schools in open countries. § Serve alongside missionary families and church plants. § Establish schools in open, closed, and developing countries. Having traveled to various countries, I see the need clearly. And in each country, the need is different. In Venezuela there is one need, in Zimbabwe a different need, and the Middle East has its own unique needs. The opportunities for service are countless. As the Lord observed, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:27). We see this call as complementary to our efforts to send teachers to every city and church in the U.S., where we are called to be light as well. SERVING ESTABLISHED SCHOOLS In many countries around the world, schools are already established, and we have ongoing partnerships with many of them. We understand that some students desire to serve in pre-established schools with set curriculums and teachers who are trained in a well-established system. They desire stability, and we want to send those students to those places. Currently, we have graduates serving in those kinds of areas. SUPPORTING MISSIONARY FAMILIES We also want our students to consider serving alongside missionary families. Mission organizations are constantly sending families to serve the Lord and establish churches in unreached places. Many families go to areas without pre- established schools. Without a doubt, parents love their children and want the best for them educationally, but some don't have the time, bandwidth, or pedagogical capacity to teach their children. Our students are primed to serve the nations by serving these families short- and long-term. They can consider assisting with homeschooling or teaching Sunday schools for those families. FOUNDING NEW SCHOOLS The third aspect of our prayer is for Cedarville graduates to establish schools in countries that lack the infrastructure for systemic learning. Lack of ability (or even desire) to read weakens the chance to cling to God’s Word. What an awesome responsibility it is to build a new school, a new system, new process, and new procedure to train up the nations. The desire here is not to take a Western way of thinking and duplicate it, but to organically shape education in a place where it is sparse. We want our teachers to obey God’s command to be “salt and light” and “go.” Cedarville Magazine | 3