Your support for SRE is helping faithful teachers, like Brenda, nurture faith in young lives.
Pictured: Brenda Poletti
Brenda Poletti started teaching scripture in 1967, following God’s call when asked by a church member to teach SRE. She says:
“In 1967, I was going to church with my two year old daughter….as I was walking along, I was talking to God, you know, and I was saying, ‘I know you want me to do something, but what is it?’ and my daughter ran ahead to swing on a railing and that made the man inside the church come out and he said to me, ‘I’ve wanted to speak with you’, and I said, ‘oh what about?’ and he said, ‘I want you to go and teach scripture in school.’ And eventually I went home, and I thought about it and I became a scripture teacher.
Brenda began to teach Years 1 and 2 and loved it when the kids asked her questions. “I enjoyed it when the kids would ask a question. Even if it was a silly question, you know, it kept them engaged.”
While teaching SRE, Brenda had the joy of being a part of writing some of the SRE curriculum for lower primary, known at the time as The Sword Book. She says:
“One day, a visiting clergyman turned up at church, and after the service, he said to me, ‘I’ve got a job for you.’ So, he wanted me to start writing for The Sword Book. Now I don’t know what prompted him to pick on me because he must have seen plenty of other people. But anyway, he did. And so I gave it a go for a few years.
“It was a very good experience, we had six of us writing the books. We wrote the first two years’ worth of content. There were two ladies on each level, I was on infants and primary with another woman and we became good friends. Doing it together, you know, we helped each other, making suggestions for each other for teaching as well. Once I finished up that role, I had the opportunity to teach more classes because there was a need there.”
Now retired from teaching SRE, Brenda’s prayer for young people today is, “That they can come to know God and understand what he has done for us. And besides getting to know Him, will want to serve Him.”
Praise God for teachers like Brenda and her faithful service. And thank you for your generous support in helping teachers to be trained and equipped to help generations grow and flourish in their faith now and in the future.