Kimberly Mack

Growing up watching my parents teach, I developed a passion for teaching. When I was in middle school, God placed China on my heart, and I knew at that moment I would live in China one day. When God lead me to West Coast he used Brother Peter Mordh (2007) and Brother Rick Houk to continue growing my passion for China. As a sophomore, I was put in touch with Dominic Tascarella, the founder of a school in Lijiang, China, who was looking for teachers. Three months after college graduation I arrived in China!

Lijiang, a small city in the southern part of the Yunnan Province, is know for clean air, Snow Mountain, and the historic Old Town district. According to the 2010 census, Lijiang has a population of 1,244,769. Over the past seven years, the school has been growing in this quaint town. While working here, I have had the opportunity to teach third grade, middle school speech class, kindergarten, and direct several school productions. Each year the school has added classes to the program and seen an increase in enrollment. Since the class sizes are so small, we have been able to influence and have a greater relationship with these students inside school and out. As teachers, we have been limited in outside evangelism as our school is going through the licensing procedures, but we have been able to use not only the A Beka curriculum, but also American holidays as ways to evangelize with the children.

We have seen some children saved and Bibles brought into these homes as a result of our school. We have been blessed with a principal with a vision to grow the school. In order for our school to move forward, we must switch licenses from a training center to a private school license. The license will ensure that students get the approval stamp needed for their schooling. This switch means a lot of the curriculum and timing will have to change for the future. We are also looking at starting a boarding house facility near campus for middle and high school students. The boarding house project is something I have been able to direct and try to get started. As we are considering all these changes for the growth of our school, we would appreciate your prayers. Please help us pray for finances to get two vehicles specifically for boarding, and as we are looking for housing that would work well. Please help pray for our next government education meeting in March 2020, for more teachers that would be interested in short term and long term work in China, and for the approval of the work visas the teachers need. If you have any questions or would be interested in more information you can find it at our website: http://www.ljia.org/.