My Sojourn with International School Project
Last month PPC sent me and my wife on a one-week mission trip to Albania, where I spoke in two different conferences for teachers hosted by members of Albania’s International School Project, a ministry of Cru.
The International School Project got its start in Moscow in the early 1990s.
Campus Crusade for Christ (as it was then known) showed the Jesus Film in a Moscow theater. High-ranking members of the Russian Education Department were in attendance and approached the Crusade staff after the film. “Can you help us? Can you develop a curriculum based on the Jesus Film for our students?”
The Education officials explained that with the fall of Communism, there was no real ethics curriculum in Russian schools. What passed for ethics under Communism was only Communistic propaganda: allegiance to the Party and its goals were all students ever learned about ethics and morality. The officials knew that with the demise of Communism they needed to reboot their ethics curriculum, and in the Jesus Film they saw something they wanted for their students.
But it was a big ask: they were talking about some 65,000 public schools across the vast expanse of the Russian Federation (spanning nine time zones!)
Crusade staff had no idea how to write a curriculum on ethics and morality for Russian students, but that, of course, didn’t stop them. But having written the curriculum, how could they deliver it to such a vast audience?
Evangelical organizations from around the world united to form the CoMission, an alliance of Christian groups mobilized to take the new curriculum into Russia’s schools. It was an enormous undertaking because it involved dozens of large groups going to Russian cities to convene Convocations for educators. Each convocation would feature plenary speakers in the morning (on topics like worldviews and professional development), then breaking into three tracks in the afternoon: elementary, secondary, and administrative. Each track then broke down into small groups, each with an American leader and a translator.
The work was gargantuan, not just because there were so many teachers in Russia but also because each convocation called for a team of 40-50 people plus translators for the small groups. The CoMission also included people who would live for a year in the Russian cities where the curriculum was introduced to help teachers implement it in their classrooms.
My first ISP trips
The Association for Christian Schools International (ACSI) was a partner in the CoMission; the school where I taught at the time – Dayton Christian High School (an ACSI school) – granted me leave time to go on my first ISP trip in 1993. A member of our PPC fellowship, Bob Clements (then a DC principal) also went on the same trip and roomed with me. We both served as small group leaders in two convocations in the Russian cities of Penza and Vladimir.
As ISP began to expand other countries, I got more opportunities to work with them.
About ten years later I learned that another DC administrator, Lee Reno, was leading ISP trips to Mongolia, where the work was just getting started. I signed up to go on the trip in 2003 and served again as a small group leader. Lee recruited me to deliver the worldview lectures the next year, and I went on several more trips to Mongolia delivering the worldview lectures in Convocations.
Another ISP trip leader recruited me to give the same worldview lectures in Convocations held in Guatemala and Honduras. (Nanette went on two of them with me and served as a small group leader.)
ISP in Albania
When we got involved with the summer camps in Albania in 2017, I discovered that ISP Albania was part of the leadership team that sponsored the camp. I approached the leader of ISP Albania to ask if he could use my help in their work outside the camps.
The conferences ISP Albania sponsors in the spring serve as a kind of precursor to the summer camp. ISP puts on professional development seminars that are recognized by the Albanian government for professional credentials, so teachers are eager to come to them. ISP staff then cultivate relationships with the teachers over the months that follow and then invite them to the summer camp in July.
For my seminars last month I was told to provide two lectures on each day of the conference: a personal development topic and a professional development topic. The first day I spoke on “The Art of the Apology” and the four types in the Book of Proverbs (wise, simple, foolish, scorner). The second day I spoke on the subject of emotional capital and three key principles of servant leadership.
I used the talk on emotional capital to introduce the Gospel: Jesus’ story of the prodigal son is such a vivid picture of the grace that God has shown us. It was at the lowest point of trust and loyalty that the father of the foolish, rebellious young man showed such kindness and grace.
We recently heard from Alma, one of the ISP staff members who worked with us last month: “Thank you for praying for the conference. There was one dear friend, Shqiponja, who wrote that she believes in Jesus, and there were several who said that they want to learn and commit more to God. I was surprised how many were touched by the topic on reacting to correction [the four types from Proverbs] and servant leadership. I've been encouraged to see seeds of growth in several of my teacher friends. Pray that God will help them get rooted in His truth and love! Thank you very much for your partnership!”
I want to echo her thanks.
I am so grateful for PPC’s vision and generosity in supporting so much gospel work over such a vast expanse of ministries both locally and around the world.
Thanks especially for sending me and Nanette to work with our dear friends in Albania!
Persevere, Paul Pyle Pastor of Discipleship