Wisdom in a multitude of counsel

I love the words of wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs. One verse I’ve taken to heart is Proverbs 15:22 - “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Over the course of this week we have been interviewing candidates for teaching positions at Good Soil Academy.  There are so many qualities  we seek beyond subject matter expertise. Some of the attributes include being a role model for young women, a student-centered approach to education, a deep commitment to the Lord, and a willingness to fully buy into the vision, mission and values of Good Soil Academy.

We had over 1,000 applicants for 7 teaching positions. Those 1,000 applicants were winnowed down to a pool of 28 applicants (four for each position) for interviews. I’ve had the privilege of being part of an six member interview panel comprised of a boarding school teacher in Switzerland who taught for two years in Malawi, a longterm New Hampshire educator/administrator, our Chief Operations Officer, our Acting Principal and a Malawian curricular content expert. What I love is watching Proverbs 15:22 prove itself out in these circumstances. God moves in the heart and mind of each panel participant, weaving together a tapestry of observations that yields far better insight into the candidates and their suitability for these roles.

I know I’ve asked for your prayers on this subject before, but we really need God to select these teachers. This is His venture, these have to be His people. And we are doing such in an environment where people are desperate for employment.  Under such circumstances, only God can discern authenticity. Please also pray that amongst our candidates we will find qualified women. There is an historic and systemic gender bias in education that only as of late is being overcome. Thus you will find 5-6 qualified men for every qualified woman, and that does not make staffing a girls school easy. As I said earlier, we need women who can serve as role models.

The good news is that we are confident that each position has yielded qualified candidates who show promise to further God’s vision for Good Soil Academy. And in fact, we find ourselves faced with the enviable challenge of often having to choose between two excellent candidates.