This blog post was written by Hannah Blackburn.
On this week’s podcast, our hosts Steve Cherrico and Brad Schelling sat down with special guest Rachel Gardiner. Rachel had always felt called to ministry in some way, and her journey to First Priority started as a high school English teacher. As a teacher, she was invited to guest speak at her school’s First Priority club, which is how she found out about First Priority.
Our hosts discussed some challenges about being a teacher while in a public school setting, the largest one being an emphasis on separation between church and state. Many teachers do not understand their rights and the ways that they can provide students with resources that can point students to Jesus. Rachel discussed the balance of legalities and where that meets the character of Christ. She highlights that students are led to Christ more through acts of service and seeing Jesus through her, rather than through dramatic altar calls in a club meeting.
Rachel started at First Priority in 2019, and has grown exponentially in her confidence and purpose since then. She ultimately realized that God’s calling on her life was to reach the unreached with the Gospel, and uses training and relationship building to reach those students daily. Legally, Rachel has partnered closely with school and administration and the board of education, making sure they know First Priority is there to help and serve them, rather than go against them. Rachel highlighted the intentionality behind coming alongside students and making sure they are plugged into a local church, which goes back to previous episodes about church partnerships. Rachel’s advice to First Priority staff and volunteers around the country is to focus more on Christ and what He is doing now and less on statistics and goal setting, and she is excited to see where God takes First Priority in the future!
