God Leads Us From Before The Beginning To Beyond The End

God Leads Us For His Glory
From Before The Beginning
Until After The End

Isaiah 46:8-11

”Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from the ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish my purpose,’
calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken and bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.’”

These verses speak truth to my heart and mind as I look back on our teaching careers, Becky’s and mine.  Always we have seen God as the foundation for everything involving our teaching. We have seen Him at our beginning and now, towards our ending. He stands alone as the One who has set and sustained our course. His wise counsel has blessed our students, for indeed, He has been the source of all their learning. Whether we have been teaching here in the U.S. or abroad, He has always been there, constant in His Provision and His Wisdom and most especially His Love. In each school we have taught His people have mentored and upheld us as we ministered. His Spirit has continually spoken into our lives and has brought His good to bear  because He has purposed to bless us and those we taught with His perfect knowledge and His clear wisdom. So, what can I say, but praise the Lord.

Calvary Baptist Church
Ludowici, Georgia
God began Mike’s teaching journey here.

So it all began when in 1974 God took me far away from home, or so it seemed at the time, from Glencoe, Alabama to Ludowici, Georgia and Long County High School, located about fifty minutes from Savannah. God provided housing for me graciously, though it seemed disappointing at the time. The only affordable and available place I could find was one room, with limited cooking privileges,  sharing a bath on the occasional nights when tourists from up North rented an adjacent room.  Mrs. Lawton Howard, a pillar of the town, and certainly, as it turned out,  provided me comfortable if simple accommodations. 

In Ludowici God blessed me with a loving church family at Calvary Baptist, and especially a strong Christian couple, Norman and Carolyn Mock and their son, Andy. Our Principal, Mr. Bill Owen, blessed me with his strong encouragement as I faced the realities of teaching and the rigors required in teaching ninth and tenth graders whose culture featured lots of time spent hunting in the swamps of Southeast Georgia. God taught me that wherever I am, He has already been there. He remains there with me daily and provides for my every need to sustain my service under His guidance and for His Purpose.

As it turns out, He had purposed to have me settled comfortably among the wonderful folks at Calvary so I could clearly hear His call into missions service. So, He called and I answered and after two years I returned home to study for my Master’s degree in English as a first step toward appointment as a teacher with the International Mission Board. 

God continued Mike’s teaching journey in St. Marys on the coast south of Ludowici.

After a year’s interval I found myself teaching at the St. Marys Elementary School, teaching sevenths graders. In the interim I had been put on hold with the IMB until I gained more experience. St. Mary was located south of Ludowici, on the coast, about forty minutes from Jacksonville, Florida.  Here God arranged for me to take a graduate reading course where I learned to use positive reinforcement to build strong classroom control. Under the Christian professor of this class, I discovered the use of tickets, the use of  which have delighted American, Nigerian, Nigerien, and countless other nationalities of students down through the years. 

In St. Marys I was surrounded by a loving community of First Baptist families and students in the Heaven-Bound youth group. I was shepherded in my teaching by a wonderful Christian gentleman, Mr. Charles Estes, our principal. My colleagues among the seventh grade students, Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Stephens, and Coach Stewart, made teaching a joy and privilege. At first I had arrived in St. Marys disappointed, but before I left in 1981, four years later, I loved the people and the place, and still do. God had known His Purpose as he used your great years in St. Marys as He prepared me for service in Nigeria.

Becky attended Ball State University’s
Teachers College,
earning both a B.S. and and an M.A.E.

In the meantime Becky, living in Yorktown, Indiana, had been attending Ball State University in Muncie; and had worked at the Huffer Daycare Canter each summer, from 1976-79. This prepared her well for her first full-time teaching as a Journeyman Missionary assigned for two years to the First Baptist Nursery School in Port Harcourt where she served as the Advisor under the director, Mrs. Margaret David George as she assisted the Nigerian teachers while they taught three hundred students.  Even today she remembers having to take her turn catching and putting back into their classroom, pre-schoolers who had escaped through the open windows. Becky also discipled the teachers and worked with university students. Becky had the privilege of serving under long-time, IMB missionaries, Dale Moore and Earl and Roberta Fine. Through Becky’s time in Port Harcourt, God was definitely giving her a love for Nigeria, and for Nigeria’s open-hearted and friendly people.

When she returned to the U.S,, she began her Master’s Degree at Ball State University. She also began teaching at Christian Haven Boys Home, where she taught from 1983-87. There she taught a classroom of boys who had been placed there due to their struggles at home and/or with the law. She discovered they were all broken inside, and that they would never learn until that brokenness was addressed. They had to heal before they could deal with the school work they also needed to do. Her experience with them grabbed Becky’s attention, as God used this experience to shape and mold a stssrong foundation for her teaching career—always concentrating on both  the potential and on the challenges wrapped up inside each individual child.

Baptist High School in Jos, Nigeria continued Mike’s God-led journey in teaching.

 Back in St. Marys, Mike had found such fulfillment in teaching and ministering through his church, God had to give him a wake-up call in the form of pointed questions from some of his dear friends. They basically asked; “Just when are you going to get serious about God ‘s call to missions?” Mike responded positively and before he knew it, found himself in Jos, Nigeria at Baptist High School where he spent eighteen years (1982-2000) as a teacher and then as Principal. God richly blessed his time there, mentoring him through missionaries Ward and LouAnn Nicholson, Jane Ellen Gaines and Sandy Achenbach. God also challenged him to grow in his faith, through the inspiring lives of Nigerian teachers such as Mrs. Ekaete Ettang, Rev. Bulus Aplakah, and many others. God inspired Mike as He stretched him to feed the extraordinary spiritual hunger of many, many students, including Michael Tosan, Ayuba Iliya, and Samson Adedokun.

In 1985, on Mike’s first furlough, his high school friends, Randy and Pattie McCollum, introduced Becky and Mike, After Mike returned to Nigeria in January 1986, God worked, and they got engaged, carrying on their courtship long distance through old fashioned air grams. They were married in 1988 and after Hausa study, were both back to Baptist High in 1989. In 1990 Mike was asked to serve as Principal. As Principal he found great wisdom working alongside Nigerian colleagues and fellow missionaries. Indeed, he learned to understand how the Body of Christ operates through the God-given talents of various members working cooperatively as God leads.

Married in 1988, Mike and Becky returned to Jos and Baptist High School to continue teaching together.

At Baptist High School Becky discovered a great need when she considered the difficulty of enrolling village pastors’ children, due to the difficulty of sourcing well-trained teachers for rural schools. For this reason such students could never pass the entrance exam. So she began with two such students, worked with them throughout a school year, concentrating on basics in English and reading, while a Nigerian teacher taught them math. These two students both passed the entrance exam that year, did well at the high school, and went on for university level studies. One became a lecturer at the university level and the other became a veterinarian. Others followed in their footsteps in this pilot program for special education in Nigerian schools.

When missionary children needed similar supportive help in the basics, at Hillcrest School, also in Jos; Becky was asked to  do specialized training in the National Institute for Learning Difficulties. To be honest, the two of us were skeptical, having seen no evidence of any other such program actually working with such students. However, the structured and foundational one-on-one teaching did prove effective in most cases. Actually some missionary families were able to stay on the field due to the progress their students made under this training. Over the years Becky did extensive training in serving such students, and in Teaching English as a Second Language. In this way she was able to support students at both Hillcrest School from 1993 until 2011, and then when we left Nigeria to address needs in Sahel Academy in Niamey, Niger.

Becky led the way to Hillcrest School, also in Jos, where she helped introduce a program for students with specific learning disabilities. Mike later joined her, filling various administrative positions.

At Hillcrest Becky worked closely with an SIM (Serving In Missions) worker, Lorraine Foute, as they basically introduced and expanded a program for the students there. They were blessed to be joined by missionary mothers and Nigerian educators who committed themselves to the extensive training required, and to the intensive one-on-one sessions required. These dedicated teachers can relate many success stories today, reflected in the lives of successful students who have gone on to serve in a wide range of careers.

Throughout Mike’s time at Baptist High School he continuously found opportunities to disciple both students and teachers. These Nigerians had a keen appetite for studying the Bible and how it applied to living out their Christian lives day-to-day. At this time Southern Baptists were introducing excellent discipleship materials, including Master Life, Survival Kit, Experiencing God, The Mind of Christ and Fresh Encounter. So, Mike had the privilege of feeding really hungry hearts in depth training which made them strong and fruitful leaders for Nigerian Christians.

Baptist work had begun in Nigeria in 1850. Nigerians had accepted and grown strong in the Gospel Message of Christ throughout those years. So, progressively they took over responsibilities for the work of sharing the Gospel and making disciples. As a result the number of expatriate missionaries reduced throughout Mike and Becky’s time in Nigeria. So, the time came when there were no longer any Baptist missionary students at Hillcrest. Mike and Becky were asked to transfer to Niger where Sahel Academy had a strong need for teachers and administrators and special educators.

Mike and Becky moved to Sahel Academy in Niamey, Niger in 2012, where they finished the African portion of their teaching journey.

So in 2012 Mike and Becky arrived in Niamey to do some French language study before beginning to serve at Sahel Academy. Mike would become the Secondary School Principal and teach some English classes. Becky would teach special education. They continued their ministry there until returning to the U.S. for retirement at the end of 2018. During those years Becky effectively worked hard to do research and furnish well-targeted strategies for a wide range of students with particular learning challenges. She did training in teaching English as a Second Language, since many of her younger students spoke very little English. Again, she was able to facilitate families in their various ministries as she met their children and youth’s particular learning challenges. 

Teaching kindergarteners to read and speak English gave Becky a new challenge at Sahel Academy.

Mike was able to work on an administrative team which in their first school year at Sahel, dealt with the flooding of the main campus, moving to separate temporary campuses for the elementary and high school. In the midst of this natural disaster Mike saw the best in the people as the Sahel Academy pulled together to endure the flood and get the school running after just one month’s incredibly hard work. Then staff and students performed continuous difficult tasks to overcome the inadequacies of water and electric supply at both temporary campuses. Actually the camaraderie of students, staff and parents made the 2012-2013 a highly successful school year one to remember with praise to God.

Mike will never forget Friday morning chapel services on the roof of the secondary school, overlooking Niamey even as the sun rose. Students and staff carried their folding chairs from their classrooms up to the roof for those wonderful times of worship, and then back down to their classes afterward. There was such a “with God we can do anything” spirit about this year Mike will never forget. During this “year of the flood” Becky found the opportunity to introduce her services to wonderful, resilient elementary teachers, including Kathy Miller and Anisa Blomquist. Mike found joy in working along-side the Director, Brian Bliss, along with the Guidance Counselor, Mickey Schmidt, and others deeply committed Christian teachers as well.

Upon returning to the U.S., Becky eventually begin teaching with Dyslexia Connect, an on-line one-on-one teaching with students from across the country, and even from overseas. Always a determined and efficient learner, she overcame the challenges of handling computer and on-line technology and continues to support students and their families with her characteristic carefully crafted lessons suited perfectly to their individual needs. 

Mike actually had the privilege of spending about three years teaching in Westbrook School in the greater Gadsden community. In teaching there he met dedicated, deeply concerned administrators and teachers working hard to provide the best education possible with Christ as their essential foundation for learning.

First Baptist Church Glencoe, our home church, warmly welcomed both Becky and Mike home. Both have the joy of teaching senior adult Sunday School classes (Life Groups), participating with the Prayer Team, and enjoying the fellowship and learning together with others in D-Life Groups.

Now, if you aren’t too exhausted to read just a bit further, look back with me and see how God has always been leading and directing in our lives apart and then together, using every bit of experience from one opportunity of service to another to fill our lives with joy and a sense of fulfillment. While learning to live in a very different place, yet filled with wonderful, godly people, in Ludowici, Mike heard God’s Call to Mission. Then, by God’s perfect plan, he was delayed in getting to the field, and redirected to the next perfect place in building his dependence on God, in St. Marys. Here God grew and refined Mike’s teaching and leadership skills—and His faith in God and his trust in God’s people. In the meantime Becky had spent two wonderful years working with three hundred pre-schoolers in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Only then was he ready for Nigeria, Nigerians and Baptist High School, the sweet spot for his soul. While discipling students and staff, godly and spirt-filled Nigerians and missionary models drew Mike deeper and deeper into the life of complete faith. In the midst of this blessed time, God brought Mike and Becky together through their mutual love of Nigeria and Nigerians. They returned together to Jos where they served together at Baptist High School and Hillcrest School. During this time God planted in Becky’s heart a desire to give students with unique learning paths the very best of opportunities to learn and achieve. 

This calling and commitment led to a Sprit-filled sensitivity to those students’ challenges and their potential—and then to a determination to give them the very best. God enabled her to do so, and countless students live today blessed by the hard work she has done on their behalf. At Baptist High God opened this path for Becky, which then led to Hillcrest, Sahel and now Dyslexia Connect.

We do not consider ourselves to be at the end of this wonderful journey yet—but we do know the delights, the challenges, the glories of the path—all of them, are for God’s Glory. We are so blessed to just be His servants. 

In every teaching opportunity, literally all over the world, Mike and Becky have always arrived to find God there, eager to lead, guide and inspire.
All glory to His Name! Amen!