A SWITCH TO TEACHBEYOND

August 5, 2019 

“We are called to be ‘Yes, Lord!’ people.”  

David Durance, President of TeachBeyond, gave this reminder on a cool mid-June evening concluding a weeklong orientation a few weeks ago at Wheaton College in Illinois. Melissa and I were among 70 teachers reaffirming our “Yes” to serve in Haiti. 

If you haven’t heard yet, after 8 years with One Mission Society (2 years of prep followed by 6 years on the field in Haiti), our family is making the switch to an alternate mission organization called TeachBeyond.  When Melissa, as Director of Cowman School, was first introduced to TeachBeyond about 18 months ago, she was excited because she had found a missionary sending organization which could mobilize new teachers for our school very quickly. The more we interacted with the folks at TeachBeyond, the more impressed we became with the entire operation. TeachBeyond backs teachers in 55 countries around the world, working with them in a collaborative role - rather than as a long-distance supervisor - offering training, administrative support, and educational expertise along the way. 

We will always be grateful to OMS for introducing us to Haiti and giving us a meaningful place to serve the Lord among “the least of these”, and, to be absolutely clear, this move is not motivated by any particular dissatisfaction with OMS, but rather a recognition that TeachBeyond is a better fit for our present ministry in Haiti, both for the school and for our family.  

WHAT WON’T CHANGE as we join TeachBeyond:     (God willing!)

Our Jobs: Melissa’s role as Director of Cap-Haitien Christian School (formerly “Cowman”) and my role as high school English teacher there will not change. Our Living Space: Our family moved off the OMS grounds over a year ago when OMS Haiti as a whole was being threatened with eviction. At that time, we began to rent a house from a third party just down the road, so our living space will not change either.  Our Friendship with OMS: We anticipate interacting, working, and praying with OMS friends and colleagues on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Opportunities for Visitors: Short term mission teams and individuals sent via OMS (and its “Men for Missions” program) will still be more than welcome to serve at the school for a day, a week, or even longer. 

WHAT WILL CHANGE 

  

Means of Contacting Us: Our email and physical addresses will change a bit: 

Steve: sgross@teachbeyond.org 

Melissa: mgross@teachbeyond.org 

Our Physical Address for Mail and Packages delivered by                        Missionary Flights International changes just a bit:

3170 Airmans Drive 

Unit #1162-CAPCM 

Fort Pierce, FL 34946 

The Route of Financial Support from our Ministry Partners: First, thank you, thank you, thank you! We humbly ask those who support us financially either monthly or periodically to now do so through TeachBeyond at give.teachbeyond.org/support/steve-and-melissa-gross/. There are many options easily accessible on this website, including electronic fund transfers. It will be necessary to stop any automatic payments going through OMS in the next few weeks. (You can call OMS at 317-888-3333) Funds given in our name through OMS will continue to reach us for a limited time (a month or two), but eventually later gifts will simply be absorbed into OMS’ operational fund.

  

When Melissa and I started ministry at Cowman (Now called “Cap-Haitien Christian School”), our “long range” goal was to see the first graduating senior class from a school which had traditionally ended service around 6th grade AND (more importantly) to make sure these graduates would be “college ready”.  Two months ago, our son, Caleb, and two Haitian classmates (Bryan and Keren) became the first to earn a high school diploma from Cowman/CHCS.  Caleb will start at Wabash College in Indiana in just a few weeks. Bryan starts at the University of Akron in Ohio and Keren starts at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania this month as well! 

We hardly had time to truly celebrate this milestone for the school. There is so much work yet to be done – and much bigger graduating classes on their way in the coming years! We are so grateful for the prayer and financial support we have received over the past six years from family members, friends and even complete strangers. We are so grateful for ongoing prayer and support as we head back to Haiti in the next few days to start a new school year and face currently unforeseen challenges AND joys!  

In Christ and for His Kingdom, 

Steve and Melissa Gross 

(P.S. Melissa and I financially supported a couple of our school’s new TeachBeyond teachers this past year and can testify firsthand that the TeachBeyond website is extremely user-friendly, fast, and convenient. Also, we have appreciated the fact that TeachBeyond makes it a practice to NOT send frequent appeals for other projects by email or snail mail. Any email and/or home address shared with TeachBeyond will be used only for communication regarding our ministry and to send your year-end receipts for financial gifts.)