Shanna Kooistra Living Faith To her students, Ms. V is a Bible teacher who brings love, passion, and enthusiasm into the classroom. Recently she shared a meaningful message at chapel that offered a glimpse into the journey that has shaped both her life and teaching. From her earliest experiences with faith to the challenges that strengthened it, her journey reflects a faith lived out, not just spoken about. From an early age, Ms. V grew up with an understanding of the Bible and of faith due to her father’s role as a pastor. However, it wasn’t until her family faced challenges in adopting her siblings that her faith became important to her not just as a belief, but as a way of life. It was a time of major transformation for her family that pushed Ms. V to make faith an active part of her daily life. Through this experience, she learned what it meant to rely on Christ as her everything as He gives us the strength to walk through each day. Ms. V believes her faith has changed as she naturally learned more over time, but life circumstances and struggles are what have truly shaped the way she lives out her faith. In the past, she suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks, which taught her what it meant to truly put her trust in God and give Him complete control of her life, rather than rely on her own strength. She faced a big conflict of faith when she felt the Lord asking her to do something she didn’t want to do, but later learned how experiences that may seem negative at first can be lessons in obedience. Ms. V was told she should be a teacher even from a young age, but she never expected to be a Bible teacher. When she first worked at Foundation as a substitute, she told the Lord she would go wherever He placed her. She shared that a lot of her faith has looked like surrendering to God and saying, “Do with my life what You will.” She truly believes that God has placed her as a Bible teacher for a purpose, and her passion comes not only from her faith, but from obedience to God. And while she carefully prepares her lessons and studies scripture before teaching, Ms. V always trusts in the Lord to give her the right words as she’s speaking. Ms. V’s chapel message was a reflection of what she feels God is teaching her now. She hopes students understand that faith is not about performance or checking boxes, it’s about drawing closer to Christ and loving Him more. She feels so many people make Christianity seem like a restrictive rulebook, when in reality following Christ is the most free you’ll ever be. There is work required in faith, but it is a freedom to do that work. Her goal is for students to know the freedom that comes from being in Christ and knowing how to walk in His ways. Faith also completely shapes the way Ms. V views her students. She acknowledges that as a teacher it can be tiring to give so much of herself each day, but loving Jesus and following Him has made her a better teacher, one who truly cares about the hearts of her students. Ms. V hopes that all her students feel safe and loved in her classroom and desires that each of them encounter Jesus in some way, whether through her, another student, or in a different class.
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