Transformed & Transformational

Connor and Cheyenne Elliott spent over a year preparing to teach in Okinawa, Japan. Amidst the pandemic, they learned Japanese and hosted sushi-night fundraisers. Then in July 2021, they received the call that their visas had been rejected. Just a week later they were telling the same supporters that they were going to Thailand instead. Five years and three kids later, they're still serving missionary kids at Chiang Rai International Christian School. As they share their story, Connor and Cheyenne reflect on preparing for missions, raising children overseas, the meaning of "home," and a calling that was always about surrender rather than a particular place.

• "My heart was always so stirred whenever a missionary would come to share at church." -Cheyenne
• "I knew that if we're both just going to be surrendered and pursue the Lord together, then He can do with that whatever He wants. We can serve God, whether it is at home or abroad." -Cheyenne
• "When we got the news that we couldn't go, it was pretty crushing." -Connor
• "We already said yes to Japan. Let's say yes to Thailand!" -Connor
• "We realized we really loved the vision of CRICS – to serve the servant." -Cheyenne
• "The place where we were was the place that God brought us to, and we just wanted to delight in that." -Connor
• "Lord, can you give me excitement for going back to Thailand, but still contentment with where I am now and where I will be in the future?" -Cheyenne
• "The Kingdom of God is my home." -Connor
• Hebrews 11:8-16 and Hebrews 13:14
• "[Parents] can continue to stay on the field and find ways to serve unreached people groups to plant churches, the Bible's being translated into new languages, and it's really cool to know that that's happening around us and to know that this is a small role that we can play to support those." -Cheyenne
• "Your sending base is so important when you're considering moving overseas. Be known and be involved in serving where you are." -Cheyenne
• "I think there's a lot of joy and delight in even doing the fundraising process, and there's joy in education itself. So, some of it's just like trying to go through a door and waiting to see whether it's open or closed; I feel like that can be a good step if you're considering missions." -Connor
• "I think that God calls us in all sorts of ways and God leads us in a lot of certain ways, too. Sometimes that's just through your passions or your desires and what delights you. And in some ways, leaning into that can be a way that God calls you to a certain place or not." -Connor

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: Reading a shorter book between longer or more intense books
• Heather: Open Bible challenge
• Connor: Reading and thinking about about education and technology
• Cheyenne: Making sourdough bread

Weekly Spotlight: Chiang Rai International Christian School

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

Sarah Nunnally, author, illustrator, and self-described adventurer, joins Keane and Heather to talk about raising children with a heart for the nations. Drawing on her own experience of living abroad, Sarah shares how her God Everywhere book series and the Pray the World activity book invite kids into God's global story through greetings, prayer, and curiosity about their neighbors. Looking for practical ways to talk with children about the nations? This episode is a great place to start.

• Learn more about Sarah Nunnally here, including books and downloadable resources.
• Learn more about Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
• "There's so many people that can be reached just in our own backyard. Are we missing a portion of a child's life that they could really share the love of Christ with their global neighbor?"
• "Go, move overseas, be adventurous, follow God's voice, but at the same time, if you can't, don't let that be a hindrance to what God's doing in your own neighborhood."
• "Every child is so uniquely created and so loved by God."
• "Always look for similarities before you talk about the beautiful and unique differences around the world."
• "We want them to be encouraged and empowered, but we also really want them to be humble and submissive to the Lord's voice in their lives."
• "What attributes do you feel like could serve someone else, and how has God made you in that?"
• "There isn't really an age range for being a part of what God's doing around the world."
• "It can be simple. I think that's what I want to tell people – that it feels really complicated, but loving people really doesn't have to be."
• "God does incredible things with small offerings."

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: List of foods that his children can cook
• Heather: Changes in her church
• Sarah: Learning to say no more

Weekly Spotlight: Opportunities in Asia

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

What does it look like to step into education as missions for six weeks in the summer? Hear from four students who participated in Go Beyond – how they got connected at TeachBeyond at Urbana Missions Conference, what it looked like to step out of their comfort zones while far from home, and how they grew as they lived out the gospel. God is at work throughout the whole world, and we have the opportunity to step into opportunities to partner with Him in what He is doing.

• Learn all about Go Beyond here!
• Hear about Chloe's internship on Episode 169
• Learn about Urbana Missions Conference
• "The biggest reason I wanted to go was just to learn… I was really excited to see what God is doing and to learn how He's working in the nations." - Josh
• 1 Thessalonians 5:24
• "Go Beyond was an incredible experience that grew my dependence on God and actually helped me learn that it's okay to ask for help and ultimately see the joy of serving Christ wherever He called."- Macey
• "Go Beyond has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life." - Lily
• "It's just living out your everyday life as a believer, forming relationships with people, but in a different part of the world." - Annie

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: Going on short walks
• Heather: Creating an Aunt Heather newsletter
• Annie: New internship teaching children in a Hispanic community
• Macey: Reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
• Josh: Practicing the Sabbath
• Lily: Prioritizing morning routine with Jesus, carrying His light into student teaching, and reading a devotional for teachers

Weekly Spotlight: Go Beyond

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

Sheila Krahn has been volunteering with TeachBeyond's English Camps for nearly a decade, spending a week or two of her summer break teaching English in Latin America. Sheila may not speak Spanish or Portuguese, but she and her team share willing hearts and the love of Jesus through English lessons and activities. Hear stories from Sheila about how God has worked in remarkable ways in the lives of campers and volunteers alike.

Want to learn more about serving at an English Camp like Sheila? Click here!

Sheila mentioned singing in a background choir for Danny Plett. Listen to Episode 165 with Danny here!

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: Kids are old enough to go to camp this summer
• Sheila: Prioritizing family in this season of life

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

Packing and preparing for a move, whether across town or around the world, is often filled with logistical stressors and heightened emotions. Hear real stories, practical tips, and encouragement from Ken Haywood, who has spent decades working in the moving and storage industry. Leave with actionable steps and the reminder that God is walking with you as you take this step of faith.

Find "A Liturgy for Packing" and other timely liturgies from Liturgies for a Life Abroad.

What's changing our lives:

• Heather: A backyard birthday party
• Ken: Stretching regularly after open-heart surgery

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

Are you preparing for a new school year? Listen in for practical tips and encouraging words from Season 6 podcast guests.

We'll be back in October for Season 7!

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

Have you ever held back because you didn't feel ready enough for God to use you? In the Season 6 finale, hosts Keane Fine and Heather Brown talk with Brian Delamont, Executive Vice President of TeachBeyond, to close out the series on myths that shape how we live out our faith. Walking through Biblical characters from Moses and Gideon to Paul and the disciples, they trace the ways that God empowers His people. If you're waiting until you're prepared or strong enough to serve, this episode is for you.

• 1 Cor. 1:27
• "He does choose things that we would not choose to accomplish His purposes."
• Exodus 4:10-17
• Joshua 1:9
• Judges 6:14
• "We don't have to be perfect or ideal; this unlimited strength is not a prerequisite to God using someone."
• Psalm 27:13-14
• "The heart is being strengthened in the waiting."
• Ephesians 6:10-17
• "God doesn't use the strong [...] but God makes you strong."
• "You know my strengths because they're from You, and You know my failures because You've been graciously present in those, too."
• Acts 7:58
• "This is why the myth is crippling: because it can lead me down the path of believing the lie that I'm not usable, that I'm deficient or that I have to be perfect for God to use me or to do something meaningful in my life."

May Reflection: Do I believe the lie that God only uses the strong?

What's changing our lives from the past season:

• Keane: Having guardianship of their youngest son and his brother's Frontier Airlines pass
• Heather: Developing Go Beyond
• Brian: Meeting TeachBeyond leaders in their contexts

Weekly Spotlight: Master's International School

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

The adventure came after the surrender, not before. Noah is a Resident Assistant at Black Forest Academy in Germany, and his path there ran straight through a calling he really didn't want to say yes to. Noah traces the journey from an international upbringing through a defining study abroad experience to a moment of reluctant obedience, and what he found waiting on the other side.

• "Their parents can focus on ministry while having their kids receive a really good, quality education, and the dorm side for us is that we become partners, co-workers with the parents as we seek to guardian them and lead them through these four years that they're here."
• "I had packed into a box this idea that following Jesus into the mission field means leaving behind everything you love."
• "I really didn't want to obey, but I knew He was calling me."
• "They immediately responded with, 'Oh, you're one of us. Oh, you get us.'"
• "When you can get into a mindset where you give up predictability, when you give up seeing things in the way you planned, it becomes easier to hear His voice."
• "We [in Gen Z] have a desire for truth; we want what's real. We don't like the facade; we don't like the fake."
• Dialogue Education
• "You lay it all at Jesus' feet, and you say, 'Abba Father, here is my life, here is everything. You are in control. You have access to everything.'"
• "The answer came on the other side of obedience. I've found myself living what feels like an adventure, and I only found the adventure once I surrendered."

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: Listening through top albums of all time
• Heather: Using a sleep app
• Noah: Processing learning through teaching to increase retention and engagement

Weekly Spotlight: Residence Life

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

It's our annual episode with practical suggestions and heartfelt encouragement for the end of the school year! You'll hear themes of ending with intention, prioritizing rest, and keeping the gospel at the center. Listen in for words of wisdom from several Season 6 guests and TeachBeyond members.

• Dr. David I. Smith: "The way that we end things actually says a lot about our values."
• Rio Handley: "All of us need to rest."
• Paulo Jobim: "Keep doing as best that you can, and God is using you through this process."
• Kristi Schliep: "Take the opportunity in a different rhythm of life to rest and work in a different way in the coming months."
• Charis Leal: "Know that you are loved and appreciated and seen by God."
• Elliot Bender: "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due seasons, we will reap if we do not give up, so then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially those who are in the household of faith." Galatians 6:9
• David Durance: "Ask the Lord, 'What is it that You're asking me to be to be all things to all people for the furtherance of the gospel?'"

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: Putting up a pull-up bar
• Heather: Chris & Henni worship music

Weekly Spotlight: Substitutes

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/

About three billion people — a third of everyone alive today — still don't have access to the gospel. Dr. Marvin Newell unpacks five Great Commission passages and how we can take the gospel to those who still haven't heard the good news. Listen in to learn about the 10/40 Window, the International Day for the Unreached, and more!

• A Third of Us: What It Takes to Reach the Unreached
• "There are about 9.2 billion people in the world today, and of those, about a third of them have yet to have access to the gospel."
• "A third of humanity has yet to have a clear presentation of the gospel."
• Matthew 28:18-20
• "The core of what we're to do is to make disciples of the nations."
• "The sending role is as important as the going role."
• Mark 16:15
• "People who have these three 'nos' - no church, no Bible, and no [Christian] individual around them - are the ones that we're focusing on when it comes to the unreached."
• "90% of the unreached people groups in the world are found within that [10/40] window of darkness, of no gospel access."
• Luke 24:47
• "We do have a specific message that the world needs."
• John 20:21
• "It takes human beings to share the gospel in a way that other human beings will truly understand it."
• Acts 1:8
• "We're to be proclaiming the gospel both here and near and over there all at the same time."
• "The three big movements that we're living in in our day and age are globalization, international migration, and urbanization."
• "We shouldn't see this task that we have as impossible. We need to know that God is preparing hearts ahead of us as we take the gospel to these people groups."
• "We are commanded to take the gospel [...] to all the world to every creature, so we see that as our task and we don't lose heart."
• "It's up for us to keep passing the baton on and keep the movement going that Jesus gave two thousand years ago to the twelve apostles."

Learn about the International Day for the Unreached here!

What's changing our lives:

• Keane: Using old technology to create something new
• Heather: A surprise visit to her brother's family
• Marv: Playing pickleball

Weekly Spotlight: Positions in the 10/40 Window

We'd love to hear from you! [email protected] Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast Learn about TeachBeyond: https://teachbeyond.org/