By Journalism student Maddie K and edited for clarity by New Life Academy.
Dan Nelson, a new teacher at New Life Academy, transitioned from doing missions and sharing the gospel around the world to teaching seventh and eighth grade English this year. Before joining New Life Academy, Mr. Nelson spent more than ten years teaching international students through a missionary agency.
“I was teaching international students who came from unreached countries—students from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or parts of China,” explains Mr. Nelson. Even though he didn’t work in traditional missions, he still spread the word of God throughout the world and taught students from 40 plus countries. “I got to make disciples of all nations. My joy is multiplied when more people know about Jesus,” Mr. Nelson says.
After just two months, Mr. Nelson has found joy in being at NLA. He explains, “I like that this is a school that really wants to have a full view of student education where we don’t just educate minds, but we train hearts and we get people ready for a full life of following after Christ.”
Moving from living overseas for ten years to teaching in America brought what Nelson calls “reverse culture shock.” He explained, “I haven’t been around Americans much for so long, so yeah, I feel like I’m in a foreign country.”
Teaching middle school students as they prepare for high school is a unique job, and Mr. Nelson has several goals for his students. He says, “I want them to be able to know their own thoughts, be able to understand the thoughts of others, and be able to communicate and hear other people’s thoughts as they’re sharing. I think communication is essential.”
Mrs. McDowell, who teaches sixth and seventh grade English Language Arts, enjoys working with Mr. Nelson. She shared, “I love that he is confident. It’s hard to be a male English teacher when all the rest of us are females. So, he’s kind of had a big challenge to jump into that, but he’s doing it fantastic.”
When asked what one piece of advice he would give to anyone, Mr. Nelson said, “You can’t export what you don’t already have. You need to be faithful with the little things. What God wants from us today is to be solely dedicated to Him in all things, the big and the small. His desire for us is not to be great accomplishers of His mission, but to be first and foremost His.”
