Part 1: Understanding where our Chinese students are at
God has called me to go on two mission trips. One to Istanbul (Merhaba arkadaşlar) and another to Guatemala (Hola, amigos). Those of us who have gone on trips know the cross-cultural beauty of these experiences: the depth of human connectedness, the tragedy of spiritual darkness, the hope in the Gospel, the power of the name of Jesus / Isa / Jesús / יֵשׁוּ הַנוֹצרִי / యేసు.
Sorry, I got a little Chris Tomlin-y on that last part.
Most of us only go for a week or two. Perhaps a month. Rarely do most Christians enter into long-term global missions. My wife and I have prayed about whether God is calling us to leave our home and go abroad, but I wonder if I’m not being called to long-term global mission here in America.
Like many smaller Christian schools in California, and maybe the nation, we have a large international student population. At our school, the international student population is probably 97.4% Chinese. I’m just estimating.
So I will be focusing on this demographic, and the uniqueness of teaching them since it comes with all the joys and pains of global missions. For this first post, I want to focus on who they are when they are here before I talk later about how to teacher and minister to them.
1 They are experiencing freedom for the first time.
Not economic freedom. Most of them come from affluence, which is part of what has afforded them this American excursion. The real freedom is when they aren’t in our classrooms and find themselves with as much as six more hours than they had after finishing school in China. Some students had school until 5, 6, 7pm in China. Others attended boarding schools.
In theory, this extra time in America means more time for studies, socializing with friends, and connecting with their host families. More commonly, though, it means six hours of screen time. More on that in a second.
We’ve had problems with our students fighting at the gym by our school. Some of our students have used their freedom to gamble. Some have used it to join us in ministering with Laundry Love. Some have used it to travel on the weekends.
But most spend their free time on their devices. With video games and the need to communicate with friends and family 12 hours away, sleep deprivation is real, as is the emotional swings and attention deficits that come from overuse of technology. [1]This is part of the reason, proportionally, our international students have problems with anxiety, depression, emotional regulation, and suicidal ideation.
Imagine the dark rooms, dimly lit by the artificial glow of their screens: the benighted souls begging for the light of the world[2].
2 They are experiencing profound loneliness and are incredibly vulnerable.
It makes sense now, having interacted with them these past few years. Though they are incredibly connected via social media, they are thousands of miles away from all that they knew and loved. In addition, over half of their school speaks a different language, so if they don’t mesh with the handful of other international students in their class, they will find themselves friendless in America (and susceptible to bullying, which happens with international students as well as American).
Imagine leaving your parents and friends behind during those transformative years marked by the shedding of the old identity and the desperate quest for a new one. Imagine being vulnerable to the influence of your peers without the support of your parents should the arrows of adolescence leave you wounded. Imagine an undiagnosed and previously latent (or nonexistent) mental disorder begins to assail your mind and body[3].
I have found my affluent international students need me in similar ways as my students in Chicago, who often came from trauma and fatherless homes. Beyond the distance from their families, our Chinese students are also dealing with the scars of adverse childhood experiences. A high number of their parents are divorced. They often faced Harry Chapin-esque[4] isolation at home. And, unfortunately, there are hints of far more detrimental abuses in our students’ histories.
To top it off, there’s a hesitancy for, if not out-right hostility against, therapy. As our wonderful ISP counselor explained to me recently, some families carry a distrust of outsiders, and they believe problems should remain in the family. There’s also a real negative perception should it get out that their progeny needs socio-emotional or mental support.
3 They are experiencing radical challenges to their worldview, as well as modes of learning and thinking.
Just in the classroom, there is a big difference between our teaching styles, management philosophies, and school organization. If you came searching for this information, you’ll have to wait for a future post. 对不起(Duìbùqǐ) (I’m sorry).
Beyond that, though, Chinese students are in a country that does not censor websites or, to our knowledge, warrantlessly surveil its citizens. They are also encountering the Bible for the first time, and (we hope) solid Christ followers.
Our Bible classes challenge the worldviews of our students, which fall into two primary categories: materialism and science. Though many of our students don’t give themselves to Christ, and many don’t even manifest a vague interest in our Faith, there are seeds being planted, and the students in whom the Word takes hold, there is incredible turmoil.
One student expressed a sincere dismay that what he had known his entire life was, in his words, “a lie.” Think of how jarring this can be: to think that their culture, including their parents, were complicit in withholding this Truth they were discovering for the first time.
And should they fully give their lives to Christ, they face uncertainty as to their family’s reaction during those summers they return home.
It can be easy to view our international students as greedy opportunists, spoiled rich kids, lost causes. To dismiss them as such would be a travesty. They are immensely talented and resilient. They are incredibly loyal and loving. They are goofy and endearing.
As hard as it may be some days, we should view our students with compassion and joy since God has grown this fruitful, foreign harvest for us in our own communities. I just pray I will be effective at my work in this field. [5]
Part II: Teaching ELL-Chinese Students
[1]https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/5-ways-digital-media-impacts-brain/
[2]John 8:12
[3]https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-6-things-to-know/index.shtml
[4]Chapin, Harry. “Cats in the Cradle” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c
[5]Matthew 9: 36-38
Author: Jon Bennett
Jon is in his 9th year of teaching. He has taught in Belize, in the city of Chicago, and now, at a wonderful Christian school in Southern California. His wife Nicole is way more talented, intelligent, and attractive than he is, and his two-year old daughter Charlotte is way cooler. At least he is potty-trained though.
His debut novel, Reading Blue Devils, came out in February, so you know, check-it out or whatever….I mean…no pressure…it’s just his heart, poured out onto the pages for your enjoyment. But you don’t have to read it.