Transformed & Transformational TeachBeyond

Our guest this week shares from his personal experience with and research about the Indian church specifically, as well as the global Church as a whole.
To learn more about the International Day for the Unreached, listen to Episode 109: The Alliance for the Unreached. “The Church is influenced by society [...] and yet, we are also different because of the human-Divine meeting in the church. It is not just another human plane of belonging, but there is this coming together with the Divine in the church, which gives us another dimension of being.” “Ultimately, we are united through one Lord Jesus Christ [...] but we are also enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who is present everywhere, and He speaks to us all in our languages in our own spaces, and we are all adopted as sons and daughters of one Father.” “There is no other way for the Church to be but connected in the local and the global; if it’s not connected, then it’s not the Church because then there’s no one Jesus Christ, there’s no one Father, there’s no one Holy Spirit. And yet, we are also diverse and different also because of where we are.” “An ideal vision is that all would be equal - all would have equal opportunities, equal passports - but that is not the reality that we experience.” “If we are one Church, one people, one body of Christ, [we are called] to share and participate deeply in the needs, the pain, the joy of the other also.” “How does the Church reach out in mission? To be very simplistic, by being Church.” “If I were to point out one thing [that the global church could learn from the Indian church], it’s maybe the capacity to be okay with the knowledge that you will be persecuted. [...] Being okay with that does not mean that I am saying there is no pain, there is no suffering.” “Life has been difficult from a human perspective, but in the midst of all of this, I have experienced God in a new way.” What’s changing our lives:
Keane: A network of children’s museums Heather: Hard-boiled eggs Sonam: Watching his son grow and learning to be more flexible Weekly Spotlight: TeachBeyond Opportunity Board
We’d love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org
Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/ 

As the end of the school year approaches, listen in for tips from some of our Season 4 guests!
Linda Kardamis: Step back and consider what you want to accomplish before the end of the year. Christy Biscocho: End the year with a dance party! Jessica Moulding: Pay attention to student needs, stay focused on year-end goals, and give yourself grace. Savana Duke: Create space for all students to process upcoming transitions. Tami: Take time to enjoy your students, and write down everything you need to accomplish. Jacob Cavett: Plan well for the summer. Cesar Valdez: Spend time in the Word of God. Kelly Crandall: Take opportunities to identify feelings and encourage kindness. Clarence Yau: Enjoy each day, and say yes to being intentional with people. Lindsay Nimmon: Emphasize relationships with students. Bastiaen Norel: Make a check-list for final tasks. Then, enjoy your holiday! Tosca Nathan: Look back and celebrate where you saw the Lord at work. David Platt: Make the most of every moment, knowing that your impact is far more than you can see now! Sonam: Take time to slow down with God.  Brian Delamont: Ask yourself: What will you celebrate and how? What do you need to leave behind? What conversations do you want or need to have before the end of the year? Keane Fine: Savor the moment and appreciate the time you have. Heather Brown: Plan special activities to conclude the school year together. Weekly Spotlight: HopeSeed School
We’d love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org
Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/ 

What are the potential benefits and dangers of Artificial Intelligence? How can we approach AI through a Biblical worldview? Perhaps you’ve been asking these questions, too. Thorsten Marbach shares helpful insight in navigating the world of AI as humans created in the image of God.
“The further into the future we look, the more divergent the possible scenarios and predictions are.” “What does it actually understand? There’s a very clear answer to that, and the answer is nothing.” “We need to catch a wake-up; we can’t just let this thing slide. This stuff is developing very fast, and we need to be on top of our game to make sure that it’s going to a good place.” “Previous technologies were very good at disseminating existing ideas, whether that was the printing press or the radio or the Internet, but now here we have something that’s creating - or at least seems to create - new ideas. That’s new.” “Engaging with AI has everything to do with what it means for us to be human.” “If one just were to look at those three things in which we can understand our humanness - identity, dominion, relationship - or if you want, it’s basically just saying being, doing, relating [...] those are exacting the three areas we need to think through and work through when it comes to what we do with AI at an individual level and at a societal level.” Dominion questions: Is this pulling me to a place where I’m doing better at dominion, or is it actually pulling me into a space of domination or a space of abdication? Is this AI thing going to increase or mitigate inequality?  “Don’t abdicate your creativity to AI.” “AI might simulate moral agency, but it doesn’t have true moral agency.” Relationship questions: Is it helping me relate in a better, deeper, wider way, or is it actually shutting down my relational capacities? Is this helping me love God and neighbor more or less? “It’s not an AI world; it’s still God’s world.” Identity questions: What does it mean to be a human being, and what is consciousness? “We have a very valuable identity, but it’s a derived identity; it’s not a self-made identity.” “One of our key roles as Christians would be to challenge and perhaps give an alternative to some of the more reductionistic understandings of what it means to be a human being.” “We can know who we are. We can know whose we are. We can know that nothing is going to derail God’s big story of creation, fall, redemption, eternity. No matter what AI does, no matter what happens, it’s still God’s story.” What’s changing our lives:
Keane: Using the arc browser Heather: Getting a new duster Thorsten: Learning from others in a weekly gathering that he coordinates called TGIF Weekly Spotlight: International Christian School of Togo
We’d love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org
Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/ 

What does it look like to honor God and others while living in community? Brian Delamont returns to the podcast to share about the foundation of prayer, the path through problems, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Doing life together will connect you with prayer, with problems, and with power.” Philippians 1:3-7, 9-11 “When we do life together, that’s when God gives us this wonderful, awkward, uncomfortable opportunity to grow, to take what I see is lacking in someone else’s life and to pray about it, to thank God every time I remember them, to pray that their love for God will abound more and more.” Philippians 1:27, 29 “God grants, in His sovereignty, these problems so that on behalf of Christ we see the work of God moving forward towards the completion He intends for us.” Philippians 4:2 “Resolving conflict, forgiving, giving up our rights for the sake of another - that’s hard. And this is where God, by His Spirit, forms genuine community.” “The only way that we can live this out is when we connect our lives with the life and power of Christ.” Philippians 2:1-5 “Being united with Christ will lead us to be like-minded, to have the same love, to be one in spirit and one in mind.” Philippians 1:6 “He who began a good work in you, the One who has intentions for you, for those you are doing life together with, He will carry it on. He himself is the ‘how’ to lead you to transformation.” April Reflection: 
How will you strengthen your connection to doing life together?  How will the problems you’re facing strengthen your connection as you do life together?  How will you live confidently in the power of the One who began a good work in you and is still moving that work forward until the day when everything and everyone becomes all that God intends? What’s changing our lives:
Keane: Sons beginning extracurricular activities Heather: Sensible Shoes book series Brian: Getting a new coffee maker Weekly Spotlight: ENLACE LinGo Centre
We’d love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org
Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/ 

How has God gifted you to serve? Hear from a TeachBeyond member about his experience leaving Canada to teach English in Asia.
“[Teaching] a wide range of things means a lot of really great opportunities to hang out with the kids and give them the best of what I know, best of what I have and share with them as best I can what it means to know God and be a part of what He’s doing in the world.” “The stakes are really high. We can’t really afford to not care about this. We’ve got to go! If there are people who haven’t heard, then people need to go.” “It’s not me that really made the impact [...] it’s God’s Holy Spirit in them.” “My answer is pretty simple: I’m here for you.” “There’s real purpose in all the weird puzzle pieces that don’t seem to make sense at first.” What’s changing our lives:
Keane: Losing his wallet Heather: The new default Microsoft font, Aptos Jonathan: Road trip to visit former students Weekly Spotlight: English Teacher positions
We’d love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org
Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/ 

What’s your story, and why does that matter? Long-time educator Tosca Nathan shares about the significance of knowing your story and connecting to God’s bigger story, especially as teachers.
“Like any story, our life stories have a path, they have a trajectory, and it’s full of meaningful events, defining moments, key relationships, trials and disappointments, dreams and aspirations, passions and discoveries.” “How coherent your life story is and how coherently you can talk about your life story has been seen as a factor in well-being.” Coherence of time, thematic coherence, and contextual coherence “Your life story never exists in a vacuum. It is always part and parcel of a bigger story.” “In the telling itself, every time you tell it, there’s more meaning making that happens, so it’s important to tell your story.” “If teachers are not fully aware of who they are and have exercised all of the areas of coherence, they will not be as effective in their teaching.” “The teacher, with what they do or how they relate, helps the student understand how their story connects to bigger things.” “You can’t give what you don’t have.” “To realize that scholarship is part of that grand story completely changes why I even engage in research or why I engage in teaching and learning, and then on top of that, it elevates it to the level of worship.” What’s changing our lives:
Keane: Playing the board game, Sorry Heather: Reaction buttons on emails  Tosca: Reading the Bible through the lens of the grand story and watercolor painting Weekly Spotlight: Lingo
We’d love to hear from you! podcast@teachbeyond.org
Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/