Page 21 - CC Life 14 2015 Fall

TESTIMONY SECTION
Grace Lived Out in Community
Kathleen Shumate
Here at Christ’s College Taipei we embrace the challenge
of being both a haven and a launching ground. We seek to
love and nurture our students, providing them a haven in
which to learn and grow; at the same time we prepare them
to go out into the world and live as Christ’s ambassadors
in their families and vocations. This crucial two-pronged
calling, of both shepherding and sending forth, must be
rooted in grace. We only know the love and security of our
Good Shepherd because he loved us first, and that grace
both motivates and enables us as we serve the Lord.
Many of our faculty and staff live on campus, where we
share day to day life with one another and with students.
Here we bump into each other; we sin against one another;
we repent; we forgive; we help and serve; we love both
when it’s convenient and when it’s hard. Grace is not
merely a theory or an idea; it must pervade and shine
through in the relationships and routines of life. This
grace applied to our mundane realities is a testament and
a lesson in itself, to students, to us as fellow workers, and are caught, not taught. Here we have the
to the world.
As a homemaker and mother with three
little children, one special way I get to impart
and receive grace is by inviting students into
our home and family life. Sharing a meal,
talking about faith, and just spending time
together give us opportunity to share both
head knowledge about grace and the heart
of grace, flowing through actions of love.
Some students have stayed with us for our
family devotionals or bedtime routine with
the kids, and we pray they are encouraged
to think about how to love Christ and love
one another in their own current or future
families.
Living among our Christ’s College Taipei
community allows us to do even more than
teach in the classroom, as vital as that is. As
the saying goes, the most important things
chance both to teach God’s truth explicitly,
and also to help students “catch” the heart
of grace lived out within a real community.
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