Elimu ya Kikristo — Sehemu ya 3: Yesu — Mwalimu MkuuChristian Education — Unit 3: Jesus — The Master Teacher

Yesu alijiita Mwalimu Mkuu. "Ninyi mwaniita, Mwalimu, na, Bwana; nanyi mwanena vema, maana ndivyo nilivyo" (Yohana 13:13). Hakulikwepa cheo hicho. Alikidai. Kisha akawapa wanafunzi maana pekee ya neno "Mwalimu" ambayo Agano Jipya litaikubali: "Kwa kuwa nimewapa kielelezo, ili kama mimi nilivyowatendea ninyi, nanyi mtende vivyo" (Yohana 13:15).Jesus called himself the Master Teacher. "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am" (John 13:13). He did not flinch from the title. He claimed it. And then he gave the disciples the only definition of "Teacher" that the New Testament will accept: "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15).

Mwalimu Mkuu haelei juu ya wanafunzi wake. Anawapa kielelezo. Anafanya kile anachowaomba wafanye, na anawaomba wafanye kile ambacho yeye mwenyewe amekwisha kukifanya. Anafundisha kwa jinsi alivyo.The Master Teacher does not float above his students. He gives them an example. He does what he asks them to do, and he asks them to do what he has already done. He teaches by being.

Katika Sehemu ya 2 tuliorodhesha sifa sita za mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo. Katika Sehemu ya 3 tutaziona sifa hizo hizo sita ndani ya Mwalimu pekee aliyekuwa nazo zote bila kasoro hata moja. Yesu alikuwa mtu wa Mungu. Yesu alikuwa mwanafunzi wa Neno. Yesu alikuwa mtumishi. Yesu alikuwa mwanafunzi wa wanafunzi wake. Yesu alikuwa bingwa wa mchakato wa kufundisha. Yesu alikuwa mtu wa maombi. Chukua yoyote kati ya sifa hizo sita na uifuatilie katika Injili, nawe utamkuta Yesu katika kila ukurasa.In Unit 2 we listed six characteristics of the Christian Education teacher. In Unit 3 we will see those same six characteristics in the only Teacher who possessed them all without exception. Jesus was a person of God. Jesus was a student of the Word. Jesus was a servant. Jesus was a student of his students. Jesus was a master of the teaching process. Jesus was a person of prayer. Take any of those six and trace it through the Gospels, and you will find Jesus on every page.

Sehemu hii inazishughulikia kwa mpangilio ule ule. Tutamalizia pale tulipoanzia — si nyuma ya mimbari ya kufundishia, bali miguuni pa Bwana, mahali ambapo kila mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo hujifunza kufundisha.This unit takes them in the same order. We will end where we began — not behind a lectern, but at the feet of the Master, where every Christian Education teacher learns to teach.

Luka anatupa dirisha moja tu la kutazama utoto wa Yesu, nalo linatuambia kila tunachohitaji kujua kuhusu maandalizi yake kwa huduma ya kufundisha. Yesu alikuwa na umri wa miaka kumi na miwili. Familia ilikuwa imepanda kwenda Yerusalemu kwa sikukuu ya Pasaka. Wazazi wake walipoanza safari ya kurudi nyumbani, Yesu alibaki nyuma hekaluni. Siku tatu baadaye walimkuta — "ameketi katikati ya waalimu, akiwasikiliza na kuwauliza maswali" (Luka 2:46). Mariamu alipomkaripia, alijibu kwa maneno yake ya kwanza yaliyoandikwa katika Maandiko: "Kwani kunitafuta? Hamkujua ya kuwa imenipasa kuwamo katika nyumba ya Baba yangu?" (Luka 2:49).Luke gives us only one window into the boyhood of Jesus, and it tells us everything we need to know about his preparation for the teaching ministry. Jesus was twelve years old. The family had gone up to Jerusalem for the Passover. When his parents began the journey home, Jesus stayed behind in the temple. Three days later they found him — "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions" (Luke 2:46). When Mary scolded him, he answered with his first recorded words in Scripture: "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" (Luke 2:49).

Miaka kumi na minane ingepita kabla Yesu hajasimama kufundisha hadharani. Miaka kumi na minane kati ya swali hekaluni na mahubiri huko Nazareti. Hatujui hasa Yesu alifanya nini katika miaka hiyo kumi na minane. Tunajua kwamba alifanya kazi katika karakana ya useremala. Tunajua kwamba aliwatii wazazi wake wa duniani. Tunajua kwamba "akazidi kuendelea katika hekima na kimo, akimpendeza Mungu na wanadamu" (Luka 2:52). Mwalimu Mkuu hakuanza huduma yake ya hadharani mpaka miaka thelathini ya ushirika wa faragha na Baba ilipokuwa imeijaza nafsi yake hata ikafurika.Eighteen years would pass before Jesus stood up to teach in public. Eighteen years between the question in the temple and the sermon in Nazareth. We do not know exactly what Jesus did during those eighteen years. We know he worked in the carpenter shop. We know he was subject to his earthly parents. We know he "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52). The Master Teacher did not begin his public ministry until thirty years of private fellowship with the Father had filled his soul to overflowing.

Funzo kwa mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo liko wazi. Yesu hakuharakisha. Yesu hakubuni mambo papo kwa papo. Yesu hakufundisha kutoka katika kikombe kitupu. Alitumia miaka thelathini kukijaza kikombe kabla hajamimina hata tone moja katika kikombe cha mwingine. Mwalimu anayejaribu kuruka hatua ya kujazwa atajikuta amekauka ndani ya miezi michache. Mwalimu anayejazwa sasa — katika karakana, jikoni, katika utulivu wa asubuhi — atakuwa na kitu cha kumimina katika maisha yake yote ya kufundisha.The lesson for the Christian Education teacher is plain. Jesus did not rush. Jesus did not improvise. Jesus did not teach out of an empty cup. He spent thirty years filling the cup before he ever poured a drop into the cup of another. The teacher who tries to skip the filling will find himself dry within a few months. The teacher who is filling now — in the carpenter shop, in the kitchen, in the morning quiet — will have something to pour for the rest of his teaching life.

Uhusiano wa Mwalimu Mkuu na Maandiko ulijaribiwa kwa njia ya hadharani kabisa mwanzoni kabisa mwa huduma yake. Siku arobaini nyikani, siku arobaini bila chakula, na Ibilisi mwenyewe akamjia Kristo aliyedhoofika ili amjaribu. Majaribu matatu yalikuja; majibu matatu yakatolewa. Kila jibu lilianza kwa neno lile lile: "Imeandikwa" (Mathayo 4:4, 7, 10). Kila nukuu ilitoka katika kitabu kile kile cha Agano la Kale: Kumbukumbu la Torati.The Master Teacher's relationship with Scripture was tested in the most public possible way at the very start of his ministry. Forty days in the wilderness, forty days without food, and the Devil himself came to the weakened Christ to tempt him. Three temptations came; three answers were given. Each answer began with the same three words: "It is written" (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). Each quotation came from the same book of the Old Testament: Deuteronomy.

Angalia kile ambacho Yesu hakufanya. Hakubishana na Ibilisi. Hakujadiliana naye. Hakubuni jibu jipya la werevu. Alichota kutoka katika kisima kirefu cha Maandiko aliyoyakariri na kuyafanya kuwa sehemu ya moyo wake, naye akajibu kila jaribu kwa kile ambacho Mungu alikuwa amekwisha kukisema. Ibilisi akamwacha. Mwalimu Mkuu alikuwa ameshinda vita vya kwanza vya huduma yake ya hadharani bila kusema neno hata moja lililokuwa lake mwenyewe.Notice what Jesus did not do. He did not argue with the Devil. He did not negotiate. He did not improvise a clever original answer. He drew from a deep well of memorized, internalized Scripture, and he answered every temptation with what God had already said. The Devil left him. The Master Teacher had won the first battle of his public ministry without saying a single original word.

Huu ndio mtindo wa kazi yake yote ya kufundisha. Yesu alinukuu Agano la Kale zaidi ya mara tisini katika Injili nne. Alinukuu kutoka katika Torati, kutoka kwa Manabii, na kutoka katika Zaburi. Alinukuu ili kufundisha (Mathayo 5), ili kukemea (Mathayo 22), ili kutetea huduma yake (Luka 4), ili kufafanua maana ya kifo chake mwenyewe (Luka 22). Hata alinukuu Maandiko akiwa msalabani (Mathayo 27:46, akinukuu Zaburi 22:1). Midomo ya Mwalimu Mkuu ilijaa Neno la Mungu kwa sababu moyo wa Mwalimu Mkuu ulijaa Neno la Mungu.This is the pattern of his entire teaching career. Jesus quoted the Old Testament more than ninety times in the four Gospels. He quoted from the Law, from the Prophets, and from the Psalms. He quoted to teach (Matthew 5), to rebuke (Matthew 22), to defend his ministry (Luke 4), to interpret his own death (Luke 22). He even quoted Scripture from the cross (Matthew 27:46, quoting Psalm 22:1). The Master Teacher's lips were full of the Word of God because the Master Teacher's heart was full of the Word of God.

Mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo ambaye yeye mwenyewe hayumo ndani ya Neno hawezi kuwafundisha wengine Neno. Atabaki, kama Andi alivyosema katika Sehemu ya 2, akifundisha maoni kuhusu Biblia. Yesu alionyesha njia nyingine. Lijue Neno vizuri kiasi kwamba jaribu linapokuja — liwe ni jaribu la dhambi, swali gumu kutoka kwa mwanafunzi, uzushi kutoka kwa mgeni, au huzuni ya usiku wa manane — jibu linalokuja kwanza midomoni ni, "Imeandikwa."The Christian Education teacher who is not in the Word himself cannot teach the Word to others. He will be reduced, as Andi said in Unit 2, to teaching opinions about the Bible. Jesus modeled the alternative. Know the Word so well that when the test comes — whether the test is a temptation, a hard question from a student, a heresy from a stranger, or a sorrow at midnight — the answer that comes first to the lips is, "It is written."

Wakati maarufu zaidi wa kufundisha katika chumba cha juu haukuwa mahubiri. Yesu hakusimama. Aliinama. Aliyaweka kando mavazi yake, akatwaa kitambaa, akajifunga kiunoni. Akatia maji katika bakuli. Kisha Bwana wa ulimwengu wote akapiga magoti miguuni pa wavuvi na watoza ushuru na mtu ambaye angemsaliti chini ya saa tatu baadaye, akaanza kuwatawadha miguu (Yohana 13:4–5).The most famous teaching moment in the upper room was not a sermon. Jesus did not stand. He stooped. He laid aside his garments, took a towel, and girded himself. He poured water into a basin. And then the Master of the universe knelt at the feet of fishermen and tax collectors and a man who would betray him in less than three hours, and he began to wash their feet (John 13:4–5).

Wanafunzi hawakulisahau kamwe funzo lile. Hawakusahau kamwe kwamba Bwana alifanyika mtumwa. Miaka mingi baadaye, Petro alipoandika waraka wake wa kwanza, alitumia picha ile ile na kuwaambia wazee "lichungeni kundi la Mungu lililo kwenu, na kulisimamia, si kwa kulazimishwa, bali kwa hiari; si kwa kutaka faida ya aibu, bali kwa moyo; wala si kama wajifanyao mabwana juu ya wale walio chini ya uangalizi wenu, bali kama mfano kwa lile kundi" (1 Petro 5:2–3). Petro alijifunza jambo hilo kutoka kwa Bwana aliyekuwa amemtawadha miguu.The disciples never forgot that lesson. They never forgot that the Master became the slave. Years later, when Peter wrote his first letter, he reached for the same image and told elders to "feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2–3). Peter learned that from a Master who had washed his feet.

Moyo wa Mwalimu Mkuu wa kutumikia unaonekana wazi kabisa kwa wanafunzi walio wadogo kuliko wote. Wanafunzi walipojaribu kuwafukuza watoto — "wakidhani, labda, kwamba Mwalimu mkuu hakuwa na muda kwa ajili yao," kama mwandishi mmoja alivyosema — Yesu "alichukizwa sana" akasema, "Waacheni watoto wadogo waje kwangu, wala msiwazuie; kwa maana walio kama hawa ufalme wa Mungu ni wao" (Marko 10:14). Kisha akawakumbatia, akaweka mikono yake juu yao, akawabariki. Bwana wa ulimwengu wote alimpakata mtoto wa miaka minne. Mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo asiyekubali kupiga magoti hadi kufikia usawa wa macho ya mtoto bado hajaelewa ni Bwana wa namna gani anayemtumikia.The Master Teacher's heart for service is seen most clearly in the smallest learners. When the disciples tried to send the children away — "thinking, perhaps, the great Teacher had no time for them," as one writer put it — Jesus was "much displeased" and said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14). Then he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. The Master of the universe held a four-year-old in his lap. The Christian Education teacher who will not kneel at a child's eye level has not yet understood the kind of Master he serves.

Mwalimu asiyekubali kutumikia hawezi kufundisha. Mwalimu anayekubali kutumikia anaweza kufundisha karibu kila kitu. Yesu alionyesha yote mawili: mamlaka halisi na utumishi halisi, ndani ya mtu yule yule, jioni ile ile, kwa kitambaa kile kile.A teacher who will not serve cannot teach. A teacher who will serve can teach almost anything. Jesus modeled both: real authority and real service, in the same person, on the same evening, with the same towel.

Ukitaka kuuona ustadi wa Mwalimu Mkuu katika kufundisha ndani ya somo moja tu, jifunze Yohana 4. Yesu ameketi kisimani huko Samaria. Ni saa sita mchana. Mwanamke anakuja peke yake kuteka maji. Kila kitu katika picha hiyo kinamwambia msomaji makini kwamba Yesu alikuwa amekwisha kumsoma mwanafunzi wake kabla hajafumbua kinywa chake.If you want to see the Master Teacher's pedagogical genius in a single lesson, study John 4. Jesus is sitting at a well in Samaria. It is noon. A woman comes alone to draw water. Everything about that picture tells the careful reader that Jesus had already studied his student before he opened his mouth.

Aliujua utamaduni wake. Alikuwa Msamaria, na Wayahudi "hawachangamani na Wasamaria" (Yohana 4:9). Aliijua jinsia yake. Hakuna rabi mwenye heshima ambaye angezungumza na mwanamke asiyemfahamu wakiwa peke yao kisimani. Aliijua saa yake. Wanawake walikuwa wakiteka maji wakati wa ubaridi wa asubuhi au jioni, wakiwa katika makundi, wakizungumza. Wafasiri wengi wanadhani kwamba alikuja peke yake saa sita mchana ili kuepuka umati wa asubuhi, lakini Yohana hatuambii sababu. Aliijua historia yake kabla hajasema neno lolote kuihusu: waume watano, na yule aliyekuwa akiishi naye sasa hakuwa mume wake (Yohana 4:18). Tena aliijua shauku yake ya kiroho — alikuwa akimngojea Masihi, ingawa hakujua kwamba alikuwa akizungumza naye (Yohana 4:25).He knew her culture. She was a Samaritan, and the Jews "have no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9). He knew her gender. No respectable rabbi would speak to a strange woman alone at a well. He knew her hour. Women drew water in the cool of the morning or the evening, in groups, with conversation. Many interpreters suggest that she came alone at noon to avoid the morning crowd, but John does not tell us why. He knew her history before she said a word about it: five husbands, and the man she was now living with was not her husband (John 4:18). And he knew her spiritual longing — she was waiting for the Messiah, even though she did not know she was speaking to him (John 4:25).

Kwa hiyo Mwalimu Mkuu hakuanza na mahubiri. Hakuanza na aya ya Biblia. Alianza na ombi: "Nipe maji ninywe" (Yohana 4:7). Alimkuta pale alipokuwa, akitumia kile alichokuwa nacho, katika nafasi aliyokuwa tayari akiitekeleza. Kuanzia hapo alimwongoza hatua kwa hatua, kutoka maji ya kawaida hadi maji ya uzima, kutoka hitaji lake hadi dhambi yake, kutoka dhambi yake hadi kwa Masihi. Mwishoni mwa mazungumzo, aliuacha mtungi wake kisimani akakimbia mjini akisema, "Njoni, mtazameni mtu aliyeniambia mambo yote niliyoyatenda; huyu siye Kristo?" (Yohana 4:29).And so the Master Teacher did not begin with a sermon. He did not begin with a verse. He began with a request: "Give me to drink" (John 4:7). He met her where she was, with what she had, in the role she was already playing. From there he moved her, step by step, from physical water to living water, from her need to her sin, from her sin to the Messiah. By the end of the conversation, she left her waterpot at the well and ran into the city saying, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John 4:29).

Yesu alimfundisha mwanamke yule mmoja Msamaria vizuri hivyo kwa sababu Yesu alikuwa amemsoma kwanza mwanamke yule mmoja Msamaria. Mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo hufanya kazi hiyo hiyo kwa kila mwanafunzi anayeingia darasani. Ujue utamaduni wa mwanafunzi. Ujue umri na hatua ya maisha ya mwanafunzi. Ujue maswali ambayo mwanafunzi anakuja nayo, na maswali ambayo mwanafunzi hawezi kuyauliza waziwazi. Kisha mkute mwanafunzi pale alipo, ukitumia kile ambacho tayari anacho, katika nafasi ambayo tayari anaitekeleza. Ufundishaji unaoanzia kwa mwanafunzi ndio ufundishaji unaoishia na mwanafunzi akikimbia mjini kuwaambia wengine.Jesus taught one Samaritan woman so well because Jesus had first studied that one Samaritan woman. The Christian Education teacher does the same work with every learner who walks into the classroom. Know the student's culture. Know the student's age and stage. Know the questions the student brings, and the questions the student cannot quite ask. Then meet the student there, with what the student already has, in the role the student is already playing. The teaching that begins with the student is the teaching that ends with the student running into the city to tell others.

Mwalimu Mkuu alitumia kila mbinu inayojulikana katika ufundishaji mzuri. Alitumia hotuba — Mahubiri ya Mlimani ni sura tatu nzima. Alitumia maswali — zaidi ya mia tatu yameandikwa katika Injili nne. Alitumia mifano — zaidi ya hadithi arobaini kutoka katika maisha ya kila siku ya wasikilizaji wake. Alitumia mafundisho kwa vitu halisi — mtoto aliyesimamishwa katikati yao (Marko 9:36), shilingi iliyotolewa kinywani mwa samaki (Mathayo 17:27), mtini uliokauka ulioonekana asubuhi (Marko 11:20), maji yaliyogeuzwa kuwa divai (Yohana 2). Alitumia maonyesho kwa vitendo — aliwatawadha miguu, aliumega mkate, alilia kaburini. Alitumia safari za kujifunzia — aliwapandisha wanafunzi mlimani, akavuka nao bahari, akapita nao katika mashamba ya nafaka, akaingia nao katika nyua za hekalu.The Master Teacher used every method known to good teaching. He used the lecture — the Sermon on the Mount is three chapters long. He used questions — over three hundred of them are recorded in the four Gospels. He used parables — more than forty stories from the everyday life of his hearers. He used object lessons — a child set in the midst (Mark 9:36), a coin produced from the mouth of a fish (Matthew 17:27), a fig tree withered in the morning (Mark 11:20), water turned to wine (John 2). He used demonstration — he washed feet, he broke bread, he wept at a tomb. He used field trips — he took the disciples up the mountain, across the sea, through the grain fields, into the temple courts.

Tena alitumia makundi ya ukubwa tofauti kwa makusudi tofauti. Aliwahubiria umati wa watu elfu tano (Mathayo 14). Aliwafundisha wale Kumi na Wawili faraghani (Marko 4:34). Alikuwa na nyakati za mduara wa ndani pamoja na watatu (Petro, Yakobo na Yohana). Alikuwa na mazungumzo ya ana kwa ana na Nikodemo usiku (Yohana 3) na mwanamke wa kisimani saa sita mchana (Yohana 4). Mwalimu Mkuu aliioanisha mbinu na wakati pamoja na wasikilizaji.And he used different group sizes for different purposes. He preached to crowds of five thousand (Matthew 14). He taught the Twelve in private (Mark 4:34). He had inner-circle moments with three (Peter, James, and John). He had one-on-one conversations with Nicodemus at night (John 3) and with the woman at the well at noon (John 4). The Master Teacher fitted the method to the moment and the audience.

Mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo anayejiwekea mipaka ya mbinu moja tu anamwekea Yesu mipaka. Mwalimu anayetoa hotuba tu bado hajamwiga Bwana aliyesimulia hadithi. Mwalimu anayesimulia hadithi tu bado hajamwiga Bwana aliyeuliza maswali makali. Mwalimu anayeuliza maswali tu bado hajamwiga Bwana ambaye wakati mwingine aliwaonyesha wanafunzi wake tu jinsi ya kufanya jambo fulani kisha akawaacha waige. Darasa ni mahali pa mbinu nyingi, zilizobadilishwa-badilishwa kama Mwalimu Mkuu alivyozibadilisha, zikifaa kila Jumapili asubuhi kwa somo na kwa mwanafunzi.The Christian Education teacher who limits himself to one method is limiting Jesus. A teacher who only lectures has not yet imitated the Master who told stories. A teacher who only tells stories has not yet imitated the Master who asked sharp questions. A teacher who only asks questions has not yet imitated the Master who sometimes simply showed his disciples how to do something and let them imitate. The classroom is a place for many methods, varied as the Master Teacher varied them, suited each Sunday morning to the lesson and the learner.

Sehemu ya 6 hadi ya 9 za kozi hii zitazifunua mbinu hizo moja baada ya nyingine — kupanga somo na malengo yake, mbinu na mikakati, kuuliza maswali na kujifunza kwa visa na kujifunza kwa uzoefu, na shughuli za kujifunza Biblia. Kila sehemu ipo kwa sababu Mwalimu Mkuu aliitumia mbinu hiyo, nasi bado tunajifunza jinsi ya kuitumia tukimfuata yeye.Units 6 through 9 of this course will unfold the methods one by one — lesson planning and aims, methods and strategies, questioning and case study and experiential study, Bible learning activities. Each unit exists because the Master Teacher used the method, and we are still learning how to use it after him.

Marko anaandika sentensi moja tulivu ambayo inapaswa kumtikisa kila mwalimu aliye na shughuli nyingi: "Na alfajiri na mapema sana, kulipokuwa giza bado, aliondoka, akatoka, akaenda mahali pasipo na watu, akaomba huko" (Marko 1:35). Usiku uliotangulia ulikuwa mrefu. Yesu alikuwa amewaponya wagonjwa tangu jua lilipozama hadi usiku sana. Wanafunzi walikuwa wamelala. Mwalimu Mkuu alikuwa akiomba.Mark records a single quiet sentence that ought to undo every busy teacher: "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35). The night before had been a long one. Jesus had healed the sick at sundown until late. The disciples were sleeping. The Master Teacher was praying.

Hili halikuwa tukio la mara moja tu. Ulikuwa mdundo wa maisha yake. Kabla ya kuwachagua wale Kumi na Wawili — uamuzi wa kufundisha wenye matokeo makubwa zaidi katika huduma yake — "akakesha usiku kucha akimwomba Mungu" (Luka 6:12). Kabla ya msalaba, aliomba Gethsemane hadi "hari yake ikawa kama matone ya damu yakidondoka nchi" (Luka 22:44). Makutano walipomsonga sana hata asiweze kula, Luka anasema, "Lakini yeye alikuwa akijitenga, akaenda zake mahali pasipo watu, akaomba" (Luka 5:16). Kadiri shughuli zake zilivyoongezeka, ndivyo alivyozidi kuomba.This was not a one-time event. It was the rhythm of his life. Before he chose the Twelve — the most consequential teaching decision of his ministry — he "continued all night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12). Before the cross, he prayed in Gethsemane until "His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). When the crowds pressed him so hard he could not eat, Luke says, "He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed" (Luke 5:16). The busier he got, the more he prayed.

Mwalimu asiyeomba anajitegemea mwenyewe, kama Andi alivyoonya katika Sehemu ya 2. Mwalimu anayeomba anamtegemea Yule aliyeyavuvia Maandiko, aliyeliweka somo kabla ya mpango wa somo, na anayemjua kila mwanafunzi kwa jina. Ufundishaji wa Yesu ulizama katika maombi kwa sababu maisha ya Yesu yalizama katika maombi. Mwalimu anayeomba kama Yesu alivyoomba, kwa wakati wake, atafundisha kama Yesu alivyofundisha.The teacher who does not pray relies on himself, as Andi warned in Unit 2. The teacher who prays relies on the One who breathed the Scriptures, who set the lesson before the lesson plan, and who knows each student by name. Jesus's teaching was bathed in prayer because Jesus's life was bathed in prayer. The teacher who prays as Jesus prayed will, in time, teach as Jesus taught.

Angalia kile ambacho Mwalimu Mkuu HAKIOMBEI. Haombi umati mkubwa zaidi. Haombi darasa bora zaidi. Haombi apewe mwanafunzi tofauti. Anaomba mapenzi ya Baba yatimizwe, anawaombea wanafunzi kwa majina yao, anaomba umoja wa wale watakaoamini kwa sababu ya neno lao (Yohana 17). Mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo hujifunza kutoka kwake jinsi ya kuomba, pamoja na jinsi ya kufundisha.Notice what the Master Teacher does NOT pray for. He does not pray for a bigger crowd. He does not pray for a better classroom. He does not pray for a different student. He prays for the Father's will, for the disciples by name, for the unity of those who would believe through their word (John 17). The Christian Education teacher learns from him how to pray, as well as how to teach.

Luka 10 inasimulia habari za dada wawili huko Bethania. Martha alikuwa akishughulika na kutumikia. Mariamu "aliketi miguuni pa Yesu, akasikiliza maneno yake" (Luka 10:39). Martha alipolalamika, Yesu alijibu, "lakini kinatakiwa kitu kimoja tu; na Mariamu amelichagua fungu lile jema, ambalo hataondolewa" (Luka 10:42).Luke 10 tells of two sisters in Bethany. Martha was busy serving. Mary "sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word" (Luke 10:39). When Martha complained, Jesus answered, "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42).

Mahali pa kwanza pa mwalimu wa Elimu ya Kikristo si nyuma ya mimbari ya kufundishia. Ni miguuni pa Mwalimu Mkuu, akisikiliza neno lake, kabla hajajaribu kulipitisha neno hilo kwa mtu mwingine yeyote. Sifa sita za mwalimu: mtu wa Mungu, mwanafunzi wa Neno, mtumishi, mwanafunzi wa wanafunzi, bingwa wa mchakato wa kufundisha, mtu wa maombi. Sifa sita ndani ya Yesu, zilizodhihirika kikamilifu. Keti miguuni pake, nawe utajifunza jinsi ya kufundisha.The Christian Education teacher's first place is not behind a lectern. It is at the feet of the Master Teacher, hearing his word, before ever attempting to pass that word on to anyone else. Six characteristics of the teacher: a person of God, a student of the Word, a servant, a student of the students, a master of the teaching process, a person of prayer. Six characteristics in Jesus, perfectly embodied. Sit at his feet, and you will learn how to teach.

Mwalimu ambaye hakai kamwe miguuni pake hatimaye hatakuwa na chochote cha kutoa. Mwalimu anayeketi hapo mara kwa mara hataishiwa kamwe.The teacher who never sits at his feet will eventually have nothing to give. The teacher who sits there often will never run out.

Katika Sehemu ya 4 tutageuka kutoka kwa Mwalimu Mkuu na kuwaangalia wanafunzi. Tutagundua, kama Yesu alivyogundua katika kila kisima na kila kando ya njia, kwamba mwanafunzi si tatizo la kudhibitiwa bali ni mtu wa kupendwa. Mwalimu aliyeketi miguuni pa Bwana ndiye mwalimu anayeweza kumpenda mwanafunzi kama Bwana alivyompenda yule mwanamke wa Samaria saa sita mchana.In Unit 4 we will turn from the Master Teacher to the learners. We will discover, as Jesus did at every well and on every roadside, that the learner is not a problem to be managed but a person to be loved. The teacher who has sat at the Master's feet is the teacher who can love a learner the way the Master loved that woman in Samaria at high noon.