At the age of 11, Elise Rice felt a calling from God to dedicate her life to full-time missions. On March 27, she will be on her way to Peru to serve full-time as an English teacher at La Roca Christian School.
Elise will be joining the World Reach-Peru team to teach K-4. She spent September-December 2008 teaching K-5 at La Roca, and after completing her two-month Spanish language study in Guatamaula, she will return to the school to carry on the life of ministry that she tasted just a few months ago. While she will be teaching different students and will have to build new relationships, she said she is excited about the opportunity to work with the team down there in pouring into the kids' lives.
"It's neat to see the team's heart for God and for children," Elise said. "Hearing testimonies of people in where they are today reflects what happened to them as children. I think it's really important to focus on children, like Jesus did."
Elise said that she noticed how the kids have a personal desire to learn and practice English. They don't just come to school because their parents make them. Teaching kids with so much enthusiasm makes the job fun for her, she said. However, she also said a lot of the kids come from unsaved families, so the opportunity to pour into kids' lives regarding education and the Word of God has the potential to impact entire families in Peru.
As Elise prepares to leave for Peru, she asks that you pray over the busyness that awaits her. She said that in her four months spent in Peru at the end of last year, she was constantly on-the-go from morning until night. Pray that she will find time to be still, to reflect on what God is doing there and to be in tune with how she might be used in her day-to-day investing as a teacher at La Roca.
"For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose."
- Philippians 2:13
