God is sovereign and in complete control of all things. He is also immutable and unchanging. He is not affected by what happens in the world. While our ministry among teachers has been affected by the lockdown, God cannot be stopped or quarantined.
Teachers are among those badly hit by the new normal. Classes have been suspended, and they have had to endure a few months without salary. With firm conviction that God’s ministry cannot be confined, Crossroads attempted to hold an evangelistic webinar last 28 July 2020 entitled “Mental Health Care for Teachers and Their Students.”
The webinar went smoothly despite heavy rains in many areas, with speakers coming from Davao City, Puerto Princesa City, and Quezon City. Our pool of speakers and panelists included educators, medical doctors, pastors, and missionaries. About 500 participants joined the live webinar via Zoom and FB Live, and it has so far gained 2,800 views on Facebook. Over 400 indicated decision to receive Christ with over 300 interested to be involved for further follow up.
Three teacher-participants from Hope Horizon School for Giftedness in Bulacan shared their thoughts on the webinar.
Rey Ibasco, Team Leader of Crossroads Ministry, facilitating one of the breakout groups of the webinar on “Mental Health For Teachers and Students.”
“I realized that even though we are teaching online, students must feel that we care for them. We must help our students care for their emotional needs,” says Melford Estanol, a Grade 6 teacher.
Darius Africano, a Grade 7 teacher, said: “I realized that we don’t always have to give advices; sometimes, listening to our students is enough.”
A Grade 4 teacher, Perrine Gumafeliz, added: “I learned that we cannot give what we do not have. Simple. We cannot give to our students what we do not give to ourselves. We need to understand that we, too, need to love and care for ourselves before we can teach others to do the same.”
This initial webinar paved the way for five more evangelistic webinars for parents and teachers in Quezon City, Marikina, Calamba, and Alista in Ifugao with a combined live audience of about 1,000 via Zoom, FB Live, YouTube, and Google Meet. These have earned so far 11,000 views on Facebook.
The most recent webinars were entitled "Caring for Your Spiritual Well Being and Mental Health Amidst the Covid-19" and “Keep Connecting: Mental Health and Welfare Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic.”
To God alone, we give all the glory!
Interested to take part in God’s work in the workplace? Connect with us at https://www.facebook.com/crossroadsPhilippines/.
Crossroads is a character-based program and strategy to win, build, and send educators while addressing youth issues like teenage pregnancy, mental health, HIV infection, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other youth risky behaviors.
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