Is the bible true?
Has God made mistakes?
How old is God?
Does God love me?
In New South Wales, there are more than 2000 schools with a quarter of a million children, exploring the answers to these life questions through special religious education or SRE.
This is an opportunity too good to miss, because public schools in our state are required to offer scripture, as it's often called, if there are teachers available. The challenge is, even though we have over 11,000 volunteer teachers, it's just not enough. So some kids whose parents choose SRE are still missing out.
Anita is a new volunteer SRE teacher.
“I happened to meet my daughter's SRE teacher, and I came to know that there is a shortage of SRE teachers. I didn't want any child to miss out on learning about Jesus. God has been so good to me. And I want to do something for the Lord, I think SRE is the right thing to do. But I don't know how to get started,” Anita said.
There were thousands of people like Anita, who for 139 years and put up their hand to say, “yes, I’ll do this”.
Here’s how it works. Getting a working with children check number is the first step. It costs nothing takes a matter of minutes, and is approved in a few weeks. The SRE training takes place over three days, and is provided through local churches, where classroom skills are taught by experienced trainers. Preparation also includes watching a class in action. Once the application form is done, the local church leader gives the new teacher the go-ahead. The exciting thing is that Anita is now part of something bigger, with SRE teachers often working in a team.
“For a few weeks now I've been observing the lessons of another person. Now suddenly my day had come. I was a bit excited and at the same time nervous about my accent, and how the kids would accept me, but by God’s grace I was able to do it well. I loved it. Especially teaching about Jesus to the kids was wonderful,” Anita said.
It’s real faith in action and by serving our school community, people who rarely encounter the Gospel can get to hear the good news about Jesus.
Many teachers love it so much they do it for decades.
Without volunteers like Anita there is no SRE, and we need more teachers.
Churches of all denominations are involved, and we're inviting you to join us influencing young lives for good.
You can also support SRE through prayer, childminding, and helping to cover costs of curriculum materials.
It's a real team ministry, that's having an impact outside the church walls throughout the week, and we need your help to keep it going.
Become a scripture teacher, and impact young lives with the good news of Jesus. Visit huntersre.org.au