IICS EARNS
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by Laura Savage-Rains, EdD

Deciding to go teach overseas may result in a variety of reactions from friends and family. I found that it was helpful to know the path that had helped me reach my decision. That knowledge solidified my resolve–in spite of negative or skeptical reactions from those around me.

For me, the path began with leading a college girls’ Bible study and getting a new understanding of 1 Peter 1:13 where it says, “Prepare your minds for action,” which God used to remind me of the unfinished doctorate I had begun years earlier. Then a prayerwalking trip to a North African country allowed me to visit an international university where I discovered that most international universities teach in English. My “excuse” to God up until that point had been that I didn’t have time to earn a doctorate and learn a foreign language well enough to be able to teach in it. That excuse was no longer plausible.

So, a year after my encounter with 1 Peter, I started my doctoral work with a dream of teaching overseas someday. Some friends tried to tell me there were easier ways to go overseas than getting a doctorate. I was undeterred. I knew I wanted to teach and I knew God wanted me overseas.

Two years later, halfway through my doctoral program, I “happened” to meet the faculty recruiter for IICS at a conference. When she told me that the purpose of IICS is to place Christian professors in secular universities overseas to teach their disciplines from a Christian worldview, I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea there was a whole organization that had my same dream. I spent the next three years getting to know IICS, finishing my doctorate, and preparing to move overseas.

When the time was right, IICS was able to place me in a former Communist country in Eastern Europe. I spent the next three years having the experience of a lifetime watching God bring students and faculty across my path that God had meticulously and patiently been preparing me to meet so I could introduce them to my Jesus. What an amazing privilege!

by Laura Savage-Rains, EdD

When I first arrived in the country where I would begin teaching, I had high hopes that the great training IICS had provided me as a new professor would soon pay off. I had learned from other IICS professors’ experiences how to be creative in earning opportunities to share the gospel with my students. Ethically, I knew it was never appropriate to use my lectern as a pulpit, yet I also knew that my presence in any classroom was a chance to demonstrate Christ’s attitude and love toward my students. It was challenging both academically and spiritually.

The country where I served was slowly coming out of more than a generation of communist philosophy and government. The educational system was still greatly influenced by that philosophy. I realized just how much this philosophy had permeated my students’ personalities early in my first semester.

A habit of IICS professors–wherever they are teaching–is to learn the names of their students. They will invest class time and personal time in learning how to pronounce their students’ names correctly and then addressing their students by name in class and outside of class when they see them in the halls or in town. So, my first couple of class periods for each group included taking photos of my students to help me learn their names. My students were amazed that I would do this.

One of my most treasured memories is about the time when Cosmina Iulia, a third-year university student, said to me after class early in the semester, “You’re the first teacher who has ever called me by my name.” Over the coming weeks, other students confirmed that had been their experience as well. I began to understand that under communism, the state is supreme and individuals are only instruments of the state, so there’s no need to make any personal connection with people.

An IICS professor’s philosophy of teaching includes the fact that each and every one of our students is created in the image of God and deserves love and respect for that. I had the privilege of watching several students be literally transformed in the classroom simply by my effort to call them by their names and affirm them as valuable individuals.

When I saw my students in the halls of the university or in the library, I would speak to them and use their names whenever possible. Oftentimes, the response would simply be a nervous little smile or just a quick glance. As that first semester progressed, the students eventually began to have the confidence to speak up in class. One day, a student sheepishly confessed, “I hope you don’t think we don’t want to talk to you when we see you in the halls. It’s just that we’re so surprised that you would speak to us, we don’t know what to say.” By the end of the semester, I had not only learned their names, but they had learned each others’ names and how good it feels to hear your name being called.

For the first year of our life overseas, I watched my husband work 12 to 15 hours, day after day, overloaded with lesson preparation and grading, committee work, and efforts to build a research program. Sleeping, eating and family time were all de-prioritized. What troubled me most was how hard it was for him to find time for prayer, devotion, and rest in the midst of work demands. And the progress, or lack of it, at the university was very disappointing for him. Although we live in a wealthy nation that is modern in many ways, the people here don’t have a long history of scholarship or even literacy. My husband found many of his students woefully underprepared, especially as they were being taught in a second language. On top of these challenges, officials at the university lacked a clear vision for healthy management and growth. They often went back on promises made to faculty, and seemed to value flashy displays more than real quality and consistency.

So what does all this mean for me as a professor’s wife? It means having to learn patience and initiative: patience with my husband’s long absences, tiredness, and discouragement; patience with our two rambunctious boys; and patience with myself as I struggle to adapt. But I’m also pushed forward to action by our hope in Christ and by our daily, small victories. I’ve needed initiative to encourage and exhort my husband, to seek out friends and activities for myself and the boys, and to work for domestic stability. And there are numerous benefits to being a professor’s wife here, such as material blessings and the natural beauty of this exotic—if hot!—land. I’m thankful for meetings with students through my husband and opportunities to use the library and hear accomplished speakers. Whereas many workers come to this country and leave their families at home, I’m extremely grateful my husband can return to us each night. Finally, I’m thankful for our Father’s promise to complete the good work he started in us, and I’m hopeful that our on-the-job training here will grow into good work for Him and His kingdom.

by Laura Savage-Rains, EdD

In my first overseas teaching assignment, had a modest apartment on the top floor of a five-story-with-no-elevator, communist-style apartment building just a few blocks from campus. If you stepped out onto my tiny balcony on a clear day and looked eastward, you could see snow-capped peaks in the Carpathian Mountain range.

Since the university’s video equipment could not play American videos, I got permission to hold my American Studies graduate course in my living room so I could use the videos I had brought from the US for class. Each week, 6-10 young women would come to my home for our two-hour course. The three young women who were most faithful to the class–Amelita, Cristina, and Consuela–began to come early and stay later. This was a special joy for me. I had my Bible and other Christian literature laying out in obvious view on the coffee table when they would arrive. I had told them about my background as a minister and had casually mentioned that if they ever wanted to talk about faith issues, I’d be happy to do that. For the first six weeks of class, they never took my “bait,” and I was getting discouraged.

As the Christmas season approached, I told them that I would be doing a lot of baking to prepare for my Christmas Open House for all my students. They were intrigued that I would be inviting all my students to my home. (That was unheard of in their culture!) They even volunteered to help me with the preparations. I was thrilled!

One snowy day, Cristina was helping me make banana bread, a recipe–and concept–unknown to her. While I was sitting at the small kitchen table preparing the flour mixture of dry ingredients, Cristina was standing at the sink by the window mashing the ripened bananas. We were chatting away and suddenly she said rather seriously, “Laura, can I ask you something?” Her tone made me glad I was already sitting down. I couldn’t imagine what she wanted to talk about. Then, as if she had rehearsed it many times, she said, “Amelita and I were wondering if you’d do a Bible study with us.” WOW!!! When I least expected it, she said the words I had longed to hear! Of course I would do a Bible study with them! When did they want to start? My heart was dancing on the inside while I pretended to be calm on the outside. What began with mashing bananas continued for the next year as I met with these three young women each week to study the book of Luke and help them discover God’s love and message just for them. Today, I can’t mash bananas without thinking about how on one cold, winter day, God’s Spirit entered my little kitchen on the other side of the world.

Professor in a Muslim Country
“Several Muslim colleagues and I spend time discussing matters of faith. I have been using some ministry strategies gained from attending a small group of Christians here. What I have been doing is using the Quran to lead them to the cross. I have been pushed and challenged in many ways.”

Granville Pillar (PhD, linguistics), Hungary
“Recently, I sang and spoke in a city-wide crusade presenting the Gospel for three nights in our city here in Hungary. More than 600 people attended each night. Praise God! God’s presence was deeply felt.”

Angela DiCostanzo (MA, TESL), Cambodia
“This week I had the opportunity to visit the notorious neighborhood of Svay Pak, once a center of child prostitution. A former brothel has been transformed into a community center called Rahab’s House, and a Cambodian pastor and his family now live and minister there. At the kids club at Rahab’s House, we led over 100 children in praise songs and translated the story of the lost sheep. It was a beautiful sight. Yet the pastor informed us that a few of the little girls at the kids club are being sold for prostitution. Their protection was his only prayer request. I’m also writing the curriculum materials for English classes training young women rescued from the horrors of being trafficked. It is a great joy to see these young women receiving the gifts of education and dignified labor.”

Bill Clark (PhD, forestry), Bulgaria
“I shared my office last year with a new faculty who had received his PhD in the States. As is usual during first meetings, he asked me what brought me to Bulgaria. I told him that part of the reason I was in Bulgaria was to help people who are interested in knowing God better. He told me he had met some Christians when he was in the US and was impressed by their lives. He had never read the Bible and had lots of questions. We started meeting regularly to read and discuss the Bible. We also talked about many other things. By the middle of the spring semester, he was identifying himself as a follower of Christ!”

Roger Conaway (PhD, business communication), Mexico
Recently, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a business law student and she received Christ. Here’s how it happened. Maria was a student in my international negotiations course. The subject of religion came up in a conversation one day after class and she asked me about “my religion.” To help answer some of her questions, I gave her a copy of Tim Keller’s excellent book, The Reason for God, in English. She connected with it a bit, but about a month later, I gave her Billy Graham’s booklet, Steps to Peace with God in Spanish. We talked about it the next couple of days and I addressed many of her questions. I could tell she was under conviction by the Holy Spirit. Later in my office, after we prayed, Maria received Christ into her heart. We rejoiced, and we now are working on follow-up.

In Mexico, we live in a culture beset with corruption and violence. So we identify with what Dana Cole, a former Christian school teacher who now teaches in the Watts district of Los Angeles, said, “It is so much more fun to be light in the darkness than to be light in the light.”

All of the people in our country of service seem to want good luck.  Some of our students are even named “Lucky” and the word appears on billboards and wall hangings.

On my early morning walk around campus I met a sophomore student (I will call him “Mike”) who struck up a conversation with me.  He wanted my help with an English speech he was preparing.  That conversation has turned into a close friendship.

On another morning walk together Mike shared with me about his difficult past.  His parents are poor farmers—very poor.  They struggle to afford college for their son, and he is entering a speech contest hoping to win a scholarship (last year he took first place and got the scholarship).  As he described the sacrifices his parents have made for his schooling, he said “I am lucky.”

While I know what he meant, I responded: “I think you are ‘blessed’, not ‘lucky’. “ He didn’t understand my comment at that time, but we have talked about it since: his luck was not “luck” as in accidental but a “blessing”, a gift from his parents.  Mike agreed that he has been blessed.  Now we are talking about other ways that he has been blessed and he is beginning to understand those as well.

Featured photo by kaibara87.