Alumna brings Bible-based teaching strategies to schools across Africa

Liberty University alumna Katherine Haschig (’21) connects teachers and support staff with educational opportunities around the globe through her work with TeachBeyond. Her efforts have spanned throughout West and South Africa, where she provides Gospel-centered teaching strategies to schools.

“I’ve definitely always wanted to be a teacher,” said Haschig, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. “That’s been in my heart for forever, but living overseas was not really something I envisioned or planned on doing.”

When she learned that her student teaching requirement at Liberty could be done abroad, she jumped at the opportunity to teach in another country for three to four months and see what educational missions looked like.

Taking a leap of faith in the spring of 2021, Haschig began her student teaching at Dakar Academy, a school in Senegal, West Africa, mostly attended by missionary children.

“I arrived in Senegal in a whirlwind, it felt like, but it was a really great time,” Haschig said. “What I really loved about it is that I learned so much about missions. I lived with a couple other girls who were not part of the school communities, so I got to go with them to their different ministries and see what they were doing. I was really opened to a lot of different avenues of mission work and seeing what people were doing throughout Senegal to spread the Gospel.”

Haschig said she had no desire to stay abroad past her student teaching.

“I figured the Lord had opened this door for me to student teach, but if I hated it, I could do it for three months,” Haschig said. “I wasn’t committing to living in Senegal forever.”

But God had different plans. One month into her time there, the principal offered her a full-time position after her student teaching was over. Haschig laughed and politely declined the offer. Yet as time went on, she could not imagine leaving there and never coming back.

“It just felt like the perfect place to start my teaching career,” she said. She worked as a full-time as a fourth grade teacher through 2023 then transitioned to associate coordinator of TeachBeyond’s Sparrow Project in South Africa, a program that reaches under-resourced “sparrow” schools by providing Bible-based education and training to teachers.

“When I heard about what was happening with the Sparrow Project, I thought ‘I have to be part of this,’” Haschig said. “It felt like a new season with open hands to God.”

She said the goal is to equip the facilitators for the Sparrow Project in the countries they are in, “so we can take a step back and say, ‘You have these tools, and we want you to continue to use them and train up other teachers. It’s a two-way street; the teachers have learned a lot from me, but I have learned a lot from them as well.”

Sparrow Project Director Joanne Allan said God led Haschig to the program during a time when it was quickly growing across Africa.

“I prayed, asking God to bring us the right person to help lead and organize the growing numbers of volunteers and facilitators. And as God does when it’s His plan, He answered my prayer. That answer was Katherine,” she said.

Haschig immediately moved to South Africa to gain easier access to Sparrow’s facilitators and cohorts of teachers and planned a five-day facilitator workshop for those from Africa, Europe, and North America. She now serves as overall training coordinator for teams of facilitators in six African countries.

“When God sent us Katherine, He really did send in the whole cavalry,” Allan said.

Haschig said her training at Liberty led her to a rewarding and successful career. Outside of academics, she was a Community Group Leader (CGL), Resident Assistant (RA), and participated in the Converge Leadership Program.

“I really enjoyed my time as a student at Liberty University,” Haschig said. “The education courses coupled with the various leadership programs have contributed to my success as a leader within TeachBeyond.”

Haschig said that many teaching methods she learned are still fresh in her mind.

“I feel like a lot of the ideas came from the things I learned at (Liberty),” she said. “I am now a part of the curriculum writing team for the Sparrow Project and have had the opportunity to use the knowledge I gained from peers, professors, and coursework to contribute to this curriculum development.”

The community at Liberty helped Haschig grow and discover her passion for her faith and how it applies to her field.

“Being with like-minded friends and mentors encouraged me to continue to grow deeper in my faith,” she said. “This allowed me to walk in faith in God’s plan for my life. One of my mentors from Liberty still supports me in my ministry work today.”

Haschig has seen God at work in various ways during her career abroad, allowing her to create a Gospel impact throughout Africa.

“We have no idea the ways God is going to lead us and guide us and direct us,” she said. “God, here I am. I’m here to serve You in whatever capacity that looks like.”

Listen to the full podcast by TeachBeyond to hear more about Haschig’s inspiring work across Africa. TeachBeyond will participate in Liberty’s Global Focus Week in September.