Starting at a new school can bring up all kinds of worries for children and parents alike. This is especially true for families starting a new school in a new country in a new language.

Starting somewhere new
The Koh family – OMF workers from Australia – certainly had their concerns when they moved to Taiwan.
Zoe, one of the four Koh children, said, ‘I thought school was going to be hard and I wouldn’t have a lot of friends.’
Their mum, Amy, had similar worries: ‘I was very nervous about sending our children to the local school. I thought it would be really hard for them because they had no language skills and they wouldn’t know any children at the school either.’

But God’s grace and care extended to these children’s education too. After starting school, they quickly picked up the language and started to love their time there.
Jonathan’s teacher shared how he progressed from hardly understanding a word to helping other students at kindergarten: ‘He slowly began to speak more and more. Then we discovered he could string lots of words together. He was also really happy.’

God is still the same
Now nine years into living in Taiwan, the children are progressing through their education and still attend local schools. It’s been challenging at times to navigate an unfamiliar school system and application processes for the different stages of schooling, but the children have continued to thrive.
The experience has even strengthened their parents’ faith. Amy explained, ‘Trusting in God that he has everything in control is something I needed to learn in regards to our children’s schooling.’
For them, guiding their children through education is an opportunity to show the difference Jesus makes.
‘Doing well in school is not the most important thing. It’s more important that they love God and are willing to give up everything for Jesus,’ said their dad, Aaron.
It’s natural to worry about things like school. But God cares deeply for us and lovingly provides all we need.

Dan Reid
OMF UK Media Intern