One of the issues facing many faith-based academic tutoring programs is how to include Bible in their programs. Often the solution is to read the students a Bible story before breaking into tutoring sessions. While any Bible exposure is better then none, there are some things you and your program can do to make the faith portion of your program stronger.
One of the principles of Teach One Reach One is that the Bible is a way of life, touching and hopefully influencing everything in our lives and the lives of our students. Look through our activity suggestions for any Bible lesson and academic activity and you will see we try to have each center review the Bible story for the day and talk about how it connects to the academic skill being taught or practiced.
We also encourage your program to add centers which focus entirely on the Bible story and/or one which focuses on how the students can apply the principles in the Bible story into their daily lives. This practical application of godly principles and commands should be the most important part of what your students learn while in your program.
As you consider making some adjustments in what you do, think back to your original goals for your program or class. Obviously, you wanted to serve a community of people by helping them improve skills with which they are struggling. The point of all Christian service though is to show God’s love to others and point them to Him in the process. Sometimes we get so distracted by our service, we almost forget the most important part of anything we do – sharing our faith and helping others get to Heaven. By making these few tweaks to your program, you can greatly increase the faith sharing that happens while your students are involved.