Amber Jongekrijg

Sra. Jongekrijg graduated from Hope College. She taught in our Spanish Immersion program for 4 1/2 years and then became the Spanish Immersion Program Coordinator, overseeing SI Preschool through High School. Sra. Jongekrijg is married and has one daughter. Her favorite place to be is the beach. She enjoys hand-lettering, crafting and getting coffee with friends.

The Love Mandate: “Love the Lord your God…love your neighbor as yourself.” Matt. 22:37-38

As a Spanish immersion teacher, I obviously make language the center of what we do in class. Our language can be such a great tool to show love, but also can be so hurtful if we are not actively thinking of loving others (Proverbs 11:12). At the beginning of the year, we focus on respect; respecting God, others, and ourselves. We learn what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like when we live out respect. I think at the heart of respect is love. Through God’s grace we are given the greatest gift of God’s unconditional love and are called to extend this love to others. Jesus has taught us to first love the lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength; and secondly to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mark 12:29-31). In my classroom, I hope that God’s love is reflected in our words and our actions daily.

The Mission Mandate: “Go and make disciples…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matt. 28:18-20
I think my students have the unique opportunity to lead people to Christ by connecting across countries and cultures through the Spanish language. Language creates community, and the ability to speak a common language is such an exciting way of reaching and connecting with people in different communities. In our immersion classroom, a huge focus is on the Spanish language. We not only learn about other countries and cultures, but are able to feel a deeper connection with these cultures as we use their language to learn about these different groups of people. In Acts 2:6-12, we see an example of this type of connection across languages. A group of God-fearing Jews from every nation stood amazed and bewildered as they heard Galileans speaking of the wonders of God in each of their own languages. It is amazing to hear stories of students that go on mission trips to Spanish-speaking countries. There they are able to share God’s word and their faith stories, at such a young age, through the common language of the people they are serving. I hope that in my classroom our mindset of learning Spanish is not to just better ourselves, but to use it as a means of communicating God’s Word with another group of people.

The Image Mandate: “Let us make man in our image. Be fruitful…fill the earth..subdue it..rule over every living creature…” Gen. 1:26-28. Jesus is the greatest educator, who has taught me and continues to teach me, so that in His image I may teach my students. I am passionate about using the blessings and talents He has given me in a way to reach the needs of my students. Being image bearers of God, it is important to remember how treasured we are by God (Psalm 139:14). I hope to model and teach each student about our responsibility to take care of everything God has given us. As we learn about blessings in class, we realize that God has given us so much in our lives in order to be a blessing to others and to bring Him glory. I hope that everything we do in class is God-honoring and is done in a way that reflects His greatness.