April 2006

Mother Teresa once said, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time.”

“Just one, one, one.”

At the end of last term, I was feeling flush with success. Many of my students had told me that they were enjoying my classes, I had received many cards and gifts from them to thank me for helping them, and best of all, I could hear the differences in my students’ spoken English. I knew that they had improved a lot.

Of course, something had to happen to keep me from getting too arrogant about my success, and God in His mercy sent it, in the form of a student’s letter. One of my best students sent me a thank-you and Christmas card on the next-to-last day of the term. Since I was in a hurry and she was leaving, I politely thanked her and put it in my purse to read later. When I opened the card that evening, I found pieces of paper tucked into it. Upon reading them, I discovered that my sweet, brilliant student who always had a smile on her face in class had not truly felt happy for a long time, and wanted to know if I knew how she could be happy again. From the tone of her letter, I made the best guess that I could, and assumed that she was depressed, but probably not suicidal. I hurriedly wrote a reply, basically telling her that if she wanted someone to talk to, I would be happy to listen. I managed to find her and give her the letter before she left for the break, and I kept her in my prayers, not knowing what else I could do for her.

One evening not long ago, she stopped by my flat. For the next hour, I stayed in my “counselor mode,” and tried hard not to cry as she recalled that during the past three years she had lost first her father, then the grandmother who raised her until she was ten years old, and finally her boyfriend, whom she loved very much. Since she was raised by her grandmother, she did not feel very close to her mother or sister, and consequently did not feel comfortable sharing her “bad feelings” with them. When she finished, she asked me about my experiences with depression and my faith, both of which I had mentioned in my letter. I spoke frankly about both, and recommended that she at least try talking to another person about her feelings, and that she was always welcome to talk to me as well. She seemed more relaxed when she left, and was even smiling again.

So far, this story seems to have a happy ending. She is still doing well in my class, and has said that she has spoken to one of her friends about her feelings. More than any other experience to date, that encounter has made me aware of how my day-to-day interactions with my students affects them. I do not want to be one of the people of whom it is said, “They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:11).

Certainly, my students’ lives are not peaceful. Most are poor, all are attending a less-than-prestigious college, and in the eyes of most prospective employers, that puts them at the bottom of the ladder when applying for jobs. In this sort of environment, I have found that a message of concern and support is even more necessary. The letter and meeting with my student has pushed me to praise students individually more often, and to make time to assist students who are clearly having difficulties. With so many students who are struggling, it can be difficult occasionally to find the time (or to even want to make the time) but once again, I come back to the words of Mother Teresa:

“You get closer to Christ by coming closer to each other. As Jesus said ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.’

“So you begin … I begin.

“I picked up one person—maybe if I didn’t pick up that one person I wouldn’t have picked up any of the others.

“The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if we don’t put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less.

“Same thing for you. Same thing in your family. Same thing in the church where you go. Just being...one, one, one.”

Each day, I begin again, encouraging, being concerned, assisting, loving one student at a time. May each of you also begin to show Christ’s love, one person at a time.

Rachel

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 246