Being A Teacher

As I woke up in the morning, I managed to get up and adjust my mindset. Yes, I was in Taipei, and this would be my last week of the CI trip.

“Cherish!” I told myself.

So there the day began. We had wisdom search in the morning and we went to a beef noodles place for lunch. Yum! We met Hannah’s parents at the restaurant. Finally I got to meet them after I have been befriending one of their wonderful daughters for more than two years!

After being staff for two weeks, I knew that I was going to be a team leader this week. I have to admit that it wasn’t easy for me since I hadn’t been teaching kids for a while. However, even though I felt unprepared, God had prepared everything I needed. He even provided me with two of the most awesome assistants—Juliana and Jordan! I knew that it would be a fun week being with them and with the kids, but the hardship of transitioning my mindset was still going to be my struggle.

Anyhow, I found myself in the battle field when the first kid arrived.

Indeed it wasn’t a super good day for me, since I was having a hard time adjusting myself to the new role as a team leader for the first time. Looking back on the first day of teaching among the whole week, I realized that the difficulties and the frustrations I experienced at first were to prepare me for the rest of the week. That night in the lessons, just like how I taught the kids about the character of humility, God was teaching me the same lesson, as well. It was right then that I found myself lacking of the patience, the love, and the enthusiasm required of a teacher. As I saw my shortcomings, God reminded me that I should depend on Him totally. Ever since then, God just let me make it through the week victoriously. Starting from the next day, I re-discovered my love toward the kids, and my long-lost teaching groove. I could proudly say that God made my last week filled with joy and victory!


I always thought that I should have fulfilled the requirement of the training of being a team leader earlier on the trip. However, as I’m writing this right now, I’m really thankful that God made this arrangement because He led me back to the very basic of the CI ministry in the last week: it’s not just about the funny stories, it’s not just about the cultural exchanges, it’s not just about the cool things I’ve been experiencing in the past years. Instead, it’s about ministering to and serving the children, and, ultimately, it’s about serving the Lord. On the team working with my kids, I could understand where they are right now more, and I could impact them more deeply. There I reviewed the reason why I came for the first time, before I knew those other cool stuff about this ministry.

I extremely thank God for letting me cherish my last week in this firstly considered not-so-cherish-able way. I know I’m not any better than anyone else, but I’ll just be His instrument, waiting for Him to work through me.


Soli Deo Gloria!

Tiffany Yeh