True Greatness: A Look Back on the Life of Jeremiah Small

      It could be said that all teachers influence their students, but it is obviously not the case that all impact their students for good.  Exactly one year ago, a teacher was shot to death by one of his students, and while it would certainly be easier (and safer) to let memories of him fade, small groups of people around the world are gathering this weekend to remember his life. Several of his friends and family have agreed to help me uncover what exactly it was about this man that is, and ought, to be remembered.

      Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Jeremiah Small spent nearly the last decade of his life teaching and mentoring junior high and high school students at the Classical School of the Medes in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Located in the secure Kurdish region in northern Iraq, the entire area was shocked by the in-class murder of this beloved teacher. Thirty-three year-old Jeremiah was killed at the beginning of class by one of his eleventh-grade students, who immediately shot and killed himself. I watched all that day while Jeremiah's students filled his Facebook page with comments, mourning his death and wishing he could be there to help them make sense of this tragedy. However, the reality was that the people of Iraq lost a great man, and what remains are the lessons he taught, the generation of leaders he helped to form, the memories cherished by those who knew him, and the spiritual legacy he left on earth.

      Jeremiah was noted as exceptional in his habits. A former teacher at Medes School told me, "he felt a sense of urgency. He didn't want to take the time to do things like eat or tie his shoes. Every second mattered to him...We often felt he didn't rest enough or take enough time for himself, but in hindsight it makes more sense."

      "He was much more studious and intentional in his relationship with Christ than most other Christian men I've known," Jeremiah's sister, Sarah Russell, noted, "In the world's eyes, he wasn't successful. He was forgetful. . . and a bit disorganized, but in God's eyes he was successful because he simply obeyed, and was continually seeking and pursuing God's plans for his life."

      "I don’t think he would say he was great. He was used of God. He did great exploits for God, which is what he always wanted to do, things that were a bit maverick. But he was just doing what God made him to do," his mother, Rebecca, noted, "Was he great when he was living? He certainly would not have thought so. . . He was growing, on a journey toward God, like all of us. Yet God in His mercy has chosen to use him in a great way."
     
      Another former teacher added, "Jeremiah was different from other teachers because he was fulfilling a calling. . .when you see someone who is totally doing and being what God has called them to, it's a beautiful thing."
     
      Russell remembers, "his passion to do what is right, and his love for all those around him. His willingness to sacrifice himself and his time and energy to. . . invest in the lives of those whom God placed in his life."

      "He probably spent more time building relationships than preparing lessons," said Dan Small, Jeremiah's father.

       Jeremiah was also recognized as a talented teacher, "He knew the material well. He also just knew a lot in general. He could draw conclusions and applications from things in history and literature that could be applied today."

      "He loved his students and had a desire to impart not just knowledge to them but life – his life, God’s life. He took time with them inside and outside the classroom, lots of time. He got to know them, listened to them, became a part of their lives. He won a hearing," wrote Rebecca.
    
      "He was very good at asking questions and getting the students to do the hard work of learning and discovering," one teacher wrote.

     "He made them process ideas and concepts logically and systematically," said Dan.


      "And he was just so excited about what he was teaching--his passion came through and it made you excited."

      "He wasn’t afraid to tell his students the truth – even when it sometimes hurt them, or angered them, or when they couldn’t yet understand. He was always pulling them to something higher, better. He taught them to have an honest evaluation of themselves, to take a hard look at themselves."
     
       "He could hardly keep from teaching, no matter what he was doing," said Rebecca, "everything presented to him a teachable moment and was something to learn from."
     
      Russell hopes this influential kind of teaching will continue in future generations, "If other teachers will model after him, they too will win the hearts and minds of their students, and also be able to effectively point their students to Truth that will benefit them all their lives."

      When asked what teachers ought to emulate of Jeremiah, one teacher replied, "knowing your subject well, being passionate about it, looking to see where you can challenge your students to think critically and push harder than they are normally inclined to do."

      "God is bigger than your failures, idiosyncrasies, struggles; just live your life, the life God gave you, in a humble, authentic way before God and others. It is God who works in us and through us; the work is God’s, not ours."
     
       "Be intentional," Russell said, "in all things, and passionate about one thing: Christ.  Follow Him wherever He leads, and whatever it costs; open your eyes to the people and things that God puts in your life, and love them well.  See beyond the surface of people, and seek to know and invest in their lives."

      "True greatness is measured in ways different than ours."
     
      Jeremiah's parents were pleased with his behavior all through his life.  Rebecca recalled her time home-educating him, "Jeremiah loved to know and learn about anything and everything, and each knowledge pursuit was integrated into the Center: Christ and His Kingdom. There were subjects I felt we had done a poor job on through high school, things I wished we’d had more time for; yet it was thrilling and amazing to see how God filled in the gaps, giving him an interest in and a love for those things as he stepped into the role of teaching those very things. This was a humbling and beautiful answer to prayer. He learned way beyond what I ever could have taught him."
     
      "He sought counsel, " Dan remembered, "opened his heart to us, and made choices that he knew would make us proud."

      "He showed us respect and sought to serve us and the whole family whenever he was home – even when he could have just wanted to spend those weeks sleeping or catching up on other things."

      "Jeremiah loved learning from the time he first learned to read. He read widely and was taught by his mother to look for details and make vital connections between events and the ideas that shaped them."
     
      "When he was home, he gave himself to the playing of games with his siblings, holding and rolling on the floor with his nieces and nephews, etc. He shared the things he was learning; he shared his struggles; he discussed what we were learning; he gave himself to the churches and ministries we were involved in when he was home." 

      The teachers agreed that Jeremiah's life reflected his faith, primarily.  "Jer knew that his life was not his own, and he lived out that self-control every day."

      "He put feet to what he believed," said Russell, "and lived it fully and with passion."

      "The world is the Lord's and he knew this keenly; so the world was simply a window into the heart, mind, face of God. God was his ultimate passion," Rebecca wrote, "He had a high view of the Trinity – this truth about God made sense of the world and of spiritual vagaries; it explains unity in diversity, as well as all other truths."
     
      "I loved to hear him pray," remembered one teacher, "and how he had an eternal mindset--that in a culture where everything is so much instant gratification, we as Christians are working towards a delayed gratification."

      "He walked humbly with his Lord. He studied God’s Word and let it hammer him, pierce him, feed him, equip him. He mixed what he learned there with an aggressive (seemingly reckless) trust in the providence of a loving God."

      "He did not just 'chat' or 'hang out' with people," another recalled, "He seized every opportunity to pray for them, and pray for opportunities to present Christ. . . Every lesson, every assignment, every after-school activity, every person had eternal significance to him."

      "Jeremiah’s spiritual journey developed in him a strong conviction that every breath was grace and every circumstance had eternal significance. He felt a strong sense of DESTINY and wanted to be faithful to his calling. On the one hand he was thoroughly convinced of his “smallness” (pun intended) and dispensability (God would get His work done whether through him or others), while, at the same time, sensing deeply that God had given him gifts, opportunities, and a heritage that uniquely equipped him to make a difference in other’s lives."

      Remembering a team trip to the Yezidi temple in northern Iraq, a teacher said, "Where I would only see things as a tourist. . . he saw people who were isolated, and would probably never hear the gospel, and he longed to be able to tell them. . . Looking back on the time I worked with Jeremiah, what stands out is intensity.  He knew he was on a mission, and he ran hard."



Thank You:

To the teachers who answered my question and requested I withhold their names, thank you.

To the one who asked me never to contact her again, I'm sorry. For the wishes for luck and blessings, thank you.

To Sarah Russell for all she said, both about Jeremiah and in blessings to me, thank you.

To Mr. J Dan Small, for the answers, the ideas, the names, the pictures, the encouragement, the kind words, and the patience with my email server, thank you.

To Mrs. Rebecca Small, for the answers that completed it all, the time you gave, and the invitation I would love someday to accept, thank you.

To Jeremiah. . . thank you.