The Backyard Mission Field

After serving as a professional educator for more than 30 years, Sherrie Burnette Nickell has concluded that schools are the most overlooked mission field in the country.

Nickell, who recently retired as superintendent of public schools in Polk County, Florida, is a graduate of Southeastern University in Lakeland, where she now serves as professor of education.

“It is easy to label traditional mission fields: a village in Africa or India, for example,” says Nickell, 57. “What we sometimes fail to realize is that pertaining to the Great Commission, Jesus challenged us to start with our own Jerusalem, then branch out into our Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

She believes Christians often miss the mission field in their own backyard.

“There are thousands of Christian educators throughout our country who can serve as salt and light,” Nickell says. “They can be His hand extended.”

Nickell knows this from experience. Selected as Polk County school superintendent after an extensive national search in 2010, Nickell encouraged ministries and churches to make inroads in area schools as a mission field.

Plenty of opportunities existed to partner with faith-based organizations, Nickell says. While direct evangelizing couldn’t happen, a local church “adopted” a nearby neighborhood elementary school. The church provided tutors and mentors to come into the school each week, as well as a clothes closet where children received specific items such as jackets or shoes. The congregation also donated gifts at holidays and birthdays for underprivileged children, as well as food baskets to needy families.

“The church even sent a bus to the school each afternoon to pick up the children and take them to the church for activities, tutoring, snacks, and care until time for parents to get off work,” Nickell says. “That church became a beacon of Christ’s love throughout the community.”

A member of Victory Church in Lakeland, Nickell notes that the ministries and churches that partnered with Polk County schools served as an example of Christianity in action.

“Jesus said that ‘whatsoever you do to the least of these… you do unto Me,’ ” Nickell says. “The school setting is the ideal spot for that as many of the nation’s school children come from dysfunctional homes, abusive homes, or homes where love is missing.”

Nickell believes more congregations need to focus on reaching out to local schools.

“Churches can provide tutors or mentors to not only help the students, but also show them how a person of integrity behaves,” Nickell says. “Children are starving for love and attention from a caring adult.”

Nickell adds that Polk County has a higher than average number of evangelical Christian schoolteachers, in part because of the presence of Southeastern University.

“For several years now, the school district has grown and can hire as many teachers as the local colleges can produce,” Nickell says. “Many of the district’s teachers, administrators, and other personnel are people of faith and their influence is pervasive. Christian educators have the opportunity to be a positive influence on the students and their families.”

Southeastern University President Kent Ingle believes Nickell is fulfilling the school’s mission of equipping students to serve in education or whatever field they serve upon graduation.

“Sherrie’s career stands as a hallmark of effective Christ-centered living by being salt and light in the educational market place,” Ingle says. “We’re grateful for Sherrie’s investment in our students and our local community.”