God’s Provision for Sahel’s Math Teacher
Thank you to those of you who prayed for a Math teacher for the rest of the school year. God once again has supplied beyond our expectations. Sahel Academy has seen God do another miracle in bringing Mr. Ben Stam to us. Mr. Stam has been teaching Math here at Sahel for one quarter now and has one quarter to go. He has enjoyed his time here greatly and as I share about him and his impressions of life in Niger, I ask you again to be in prayer for the next Math teacher who is still unknown. God has us in the “waiting” mode as we wait again for who He has planned for next school year.
Mr. Stam comes from Enid, Oklahoma, a town north of Oklahoma City, where he spent all of his growing-up years. He comes from a family with two sisters and one brother. His dad is a Minister of Missions at his church Emanuel Baptist and headmaster at Emmanuel Christian School, and his mom is a nurse. Growing up in a Christian home, it wasn’t until after 6th grade at the Story Book Lodge, a camp in Minnesota, when he accepted Jesus as his Savior and made his faith his own. He was baptized by his dad later at a summer camp in Colorado. All of his schooling was at Christian schools; after high school he headed off to Wheaton College in Wheaton Illinois. Mr. Stam’s major is Math. He’s actually taking a break in his education to come help us out, but ultimately his desire is to go on to medical school to become a doctor. His first choice would be to go into Intensive Neonatology.
So, the question is: “How did Mr. Stam end up here?” His dad came to Niger with a well drilling/medical team and came to visit Sahel Academy. He heard about our need for a Math teacher and thought about his son Ben. He suggested the idea which opened up the thoughts and wondering if it could possibly work. Mr. Stam already was planning on a trip to Niger in January to help with a medical team from his church. His tickets were bought and his shots taken care of; those were two of the things necessary on the long list of things to fall into place. Amazingly, God worked out the details and sped up the whole application process, even supplying someone to take his place on the medical team. It was only about 2 months between hearing about the job and arriving here in Niger! We are SO thankful for his openness and that he was willing to listen to God’s call in spite of many unknowns.
When asked about his impressions of life in Niger and work at Sahel, Mr. Stam gave some very flattering answers. “The best thing about coming here is definitely the students”, he says. “They have made it so easy to transition in here.” “They are encouraging, willing, open, not resistant at all, and take initiative for their learning”. I asked him why someone should come take a job like this and his response was, “The whole experience has been life-changing as far as my worldview, and Christian perspective.” He explained that all his life has been kind of like being stuck in a bubble and that it is hard to experience other things unless you go outside the bubble. Here, he doesn’t understand the language, is far away from home, and in a completely different culture. He’s had to figure a lot of things out for himself, has learned a lot and has gained some maturity. The thing he misses the most are fully paved roads through the city. It’s difficult dodging potholes and driving in sand on a motorcycle! One thing that surprised him about living here is that you can buy good chocolate in the grocery store and the internet is much better than he expected. One thing he’s enjoyed the most is the sense of “community” he’s felt since being here. People here seem to spend more time doing things together and are more open with each other. It’s normal to drop in on people for a visit and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. There is more of a sense of “realness” among the people here.
Mr. Stam is not just a math teacher, he has a variety of interests. He enjoys music, backpacking, rock climbing, Frisbee, and going to the Opera. We have all enjoyed getting to know him. We hate to say goodbye at the end of the year, but we are excited to see who the next answer to our prayers will be! Thank you for praying for Mr. Stam and for the next Math teacher who is still unknown! ~Cathy Bliss