Benjamin Shuhyta is a former broadcast journalist who worked across various media outlets for around 25 years. But recently, he’s taken up a calling to become a Presbyterian minister, studying towards ordination.
Benjamin has a big heart for SRE. “I came to Christ through Scripture (SRE) in primary school, so I know the benefit of SRE first hand. The work of those scripture teachers in primary school has really set my life on a path to glorify God in all I do… Now, I am an SRE coordinator in Port Macquarie, I manage 30 volunteer SRE teachers who hold out the word of life to 1100 students across four local primary schools each week. What a privilege.”
Benjamin’s involvement with SRE
Benjamin shares, “From that initial contact with SRE as a young person, I was convinced of the benefits and have always looked for opportunities to get involved. Now that I have scaled back my full-time office job and have begun transitioning to training for church ministry. I am working part-time and studying at Christ College part-time. This has allowed for the opportunity to coordinate the provision of SRE in Port Macquarie.”
Benjamin says he’s been managing these things for a few years now, “… coordinating the scripture teachers, making sure their accreditation and training is up to date, working through rosters with the schools, filling those rosters and making sure teachers have material to teach from.”
The impact of SRE
Benjamin has had the opportunity to teach a few scripture classes but says his time is mostly given to the coordinator role. He is motivated by the kids he sees that don’t get the opportunity to go to church, but that do attend SRE. He shares that he hears stories each week of kids putting the pieces together as they look through the Bible and see the truth about Jesus.
“A lot of these stories are from primary school aged children who won’t know anyone else who is Christian, so having SRE gives an opportunity for students to see a network of people who are also learning about Jesus.”
Benjamin says that supporting SRE by taking a class, partnering financially and/or prayerfully is essentially making an investment in eternity.
“I can’t put it any less than that. Your contribution is helping the next generation to know the Gospel, to know about the work of Jesus Christ in their life, and to also see that information is shared professionally and with dedication,” he says.
“There are teachers who have trained and who are providing contact hours. They’re doing that without any financial benefit for themselves. They need appropriate resources to hand out to show the kids that they’re valued, but also to show the parents that the curriculum has been developed in a coordinated and proper fashion.”
The rewards of being involved in SRE
Benjamin wants to encourage anyone who is thinking about being involved in SRE to give it a go. He says it is both rewarding and challenging at the same time.
“It will challenge you to understand what you believe and understand it in a way that you can pass on that information… One of the best ways, if not the best way to know what you have been taught is to teach it to someone else, and SRE provides a great opportunity to do that,” Benjamin says.
“But the rewards are in knowing that you are helping students question, explore and discover Jesus for themselves.”
“You just don’t know that when you walk into a classroom just what long-term impact you’re gonna have, but God knows… and the reward of being a servant of Christ is eternal.”
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