“It is the very last week of school for Year 12 students, just three weeks before their first HSC exam. Everyone is stressed and trying to study as hard as they can. There’s an audible sigh from some students when they realise that they have SRE in Period 1. I can see some people in my class playing on the oval from my classroom window. Regardless, I have 40 Year 12 students crammed in a classroom. Because this is my old high school, I used to run home groups and assemblies for some of these students. Some of them are my friends’ siblings. For some, I’ve taught them SRE since they were in Year 7. Now, I have one last 70 minute class before I likely never see them again.
“So, we begin with a seminar, exploring Jesus’ resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15. We dig into the passage for a bit, and then move into question time. Despite some distractions, the students were eager to learn from the Bible. I asked students to write their questions on small pieces of paper. This was so that they could anonymously ask any question they wanted to do with God, Jesus, the Bible or Christianity.
“Some students asked philosophical questions. Some practical questions. Some deep questions. Some silly ones too. We spent lots of time looking at the Bible to answer their questions. Before I knew it, the lesson was over. It was beautiful to see teenagers wrestle deeply with the resurrection and with the gospel. How awesome is it to be able to spend the last week of high school exploring the things of God in a government school? I think this alone would be enough to illustrate the importance of SRE.
“But the story doesn’t end there. About six months later, I was invited to preach at a university ministry for a few weeks. I had prepared my sermon, arrived on campus, and I was ready to go. And there in the room, I saw two familiar faces – both from that Year 12 SRE class! I talked to one of those students afterwards, and over the few weeks that I was on campus, I was able to learn more about her faith. Though she was a quiet student in my SRE class, I was able to see her growth in love and compassion, a desire to live for God, and a curiosity to dig deeper into God’s Word.
“SRE sometimes can feel like a fruitless ministry. It’s sometimes hard when it seems like students don’t remember anything you say or do. But zooming out a bit, and seeing how SRE plays as one part in someone’s life, is an amazing thing. SRE may not be the biggest influence on their faith, or maybe it will be, but whatever impact it has, it is real, formative, and life changing.”
This is a story told by Koh, a passionate high school SRE teacher at Ashfield Boys, Fort Street, Killara, and Lindfield Learning Village.
Koh’s heart for sharing the gospel with high schoolers
At age 13, a series of events beginning with his parents divorce, led Koh to accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. Koh reflects, “I’d never really known what a loving, healthy community or family looked like.”
One of these key events was when Koh’s mum discovered a local youth group that was about to go on their annual youth camp. She registered Koh for camp as she thought it would be good for him to get out of the house and be around people with all the challenges at home.
“When I went to this youth camp, I’d never read the Bible before, never been to a scripture class before, never been to church before, never really heard anything about Christianity. I had only three friends there from primary school, and 30 strangers.
“There were two main things that struck me. 1) The basic gospel message. That I was created by God, that I was sinful, that there was a real problem between me and God, and that Jesus came to bridge that problem. 2) The gospel message seemed to be lived out in the people that were there. These strangers that I had just met showed me for the first time what a loving, healthy community was.”
From student to teacher
Fast forward some time, Koh now works as a high school scripture teacher and a pastoral assistant overseeing youth ministry at Ashfield Presbyterian Church.
As someone who didn’t come from a Christian home, Koh has a particular heart for those who have had no exposure to Jesus. He shares, “It has been natural and fitting for me to work with teenagers and have the opportunity to show them the beauty of the gospel and how it is applicable to them.”
Koh has been teaching SRE for six years now and loves that he gets to help students question, explore and discover the gospel.
Koh is no stranger to Killara High School as this is the school he attended as a student. At Killara, Koh reflects, “Many of the teachers are the same, particularly the deputies and principals. The existing relationships that I have with them mean that I am well placed to ensure that Scripture remains on the agenda.”
“At all the schools I teach at, there seems to be something that connects me to the students or teachers. Whether that be teachers who were my teachers, teaching students that were at Killara when I was there, or teaching the siblings of friend’s of mine, or students that I taught in primary school scripture! So, it has been a real delight to continue to build those relationships.”
Prayer for Koh and SRE
➡️ Pray for patience to trust that God is working, even when it is sometimes hard to see
➡️ Pray for Koh to continue to be convicted by the gospel. It is so easy to get used to sharing the gospel that teachers are numbed to the life changing impact of the gospel on their own lives
➡️ Pray for students from non-church going families to encounter our living God in his Word through SRE
