“Our goal is for believing teachers to come together at least once a week at their school to pray for the needs of the school. No one knows more about what the school needs than the teachers.†Teachers’ own needs are sometimes overwhelming. “I’ve discovered that teachers bring their personal needs with them to the prayer meetings. Sometimes that’s where we have to start, because if the teachers are broken or in personal turmoil, that impacts how effective they can be in the classroom.
“When I asked teachers what they wanted to pray for, they told me about domestic violence, severe financial troubles, or health concerns.†Rhames has encountered teachers coping with homelessness and catastrophic illness. “I am constantly redefining what Teachers Who Pray is about,†Rhames says, convinced that that is what God is asking of her.
“As we pray we become whole.”
Rhames has also encountered teachers who are not Christians, who lack any kind of faith background but who are eager to understand the spiritual background of life. She relates the story of a male teacher whose life was “falling apart†in front of her.
“It was obvious that he was struggling, and I finally asked him what was wrong. He said he had a cancerous tumor in his leg and was being treated for it. He was married with two little kids and had just bought a house. He was also a new teacher trying to manage everything on his own, including this illness. I invited him to the prayer meeting and he came several times. He knows there’s a higher being–but that was as far as his faith went. He said if we wanted to pray in the name of Jesus he was completely open to learning more about him. A year later, his doctor said he was cancer-free. He said he didn’t know what he would have done without Teachers Who Pray.
“He was someone I would not have thought to ask to come to Teachers Who Pray. That was my ignorance, because God wants everyone to come to Christ,†Rhames says.
“He now has a much stronger faith in God and was interested in going to church. He has since relocated his family to a different city, but I planted a seed and Teachers Who Pray is part of his faith journey.â€
Rhames says she can’t put God in a box. “As we pray, we become whole. You discover things you didn’t even know existed about the world and about yourself. Your eyes are opened. You see life from a different perspective. God reveals what he wants you to do, whom you should invite to the next meeting. God shows us how to be a light in the darkness.â€
Unfortunately, Chicago Public Schools is in a very dark place, Rhames says, “and it’s getting darker by the day.†She continues to ask God to use Teachers Who Pray as a beacon of light. In the 11 years that Rhames has taught, she has seen darkness in other teachers, in school administrators, in students–”the kids are so broken‖and in families.
In one school, a parent of a preschooler broke into the school and stole several computers–on Martin Luther King Day in an African American community. Another parent got hold of the school credit card and used it to pay a utility bill. At another school, the principal and assistant principal carried on an extra-marital affair–both were married to other people.
“There are a lot of smart, hardworking people who work in the district,†Rhames says, “but some of the leadership is corrupt.†She notes that the former CEO of CPS pleaded guilty to corruption charges.
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