Back-to-school time is crazy for so many people. The kids worry about who their teacher will be, if he or she will be nice, if their friends will be in their class. The parents have the same concerns, which only add to the pell-mell push and shove of school supply shopping.

But right now my heart is with the teachers. My mom has taught for 30 years. Some of my best friends are teachers. And at one point (in an utterly strange turn of events) I found myself teaching literature, grammar, and writing to a passel of eighth graders.

Teaching was -- by far -- the hardest job I've ever had. And because I have that perspective, I am praying for the teachers today. Those here in the U.S. who are scrambling to pull their classrooms together, who are poring over their class list, who are already rehearsing their first few days in their heads.

But your sponsored child's teacher -- that person deserves an intentional, specific prayer. Teachers in the developing world face challenges of the highest order. Let's put ourselves in their shoes for a second:

You loved school, but you had to drop out in your 7th year to help your parents care for your siblings. Or you took a job in the fields to try and put more food on the table.

You may be the only person in your family -- in your village -- who knows how to read. Those seven years might be the most education anyone in your area has. That alone makes you the prime candidate to teach other children.

You have no training. You have very few materials, but the children have even less. You may have a building to use as a classroom -- but more than likely you are teaching under a tree. The children may use the dirt to scribble out the lessons with sticks.

You are not paid for this work. A family may offer a meal, or a bag of maize as a form of payment, but very few families can do that. And so you continue to work in the fields yourself just to survive.

Can you afford to feed your own family this way? Possibly not. So in the weeks where money is especially tight, you don't show up at the school. You can't help it. Your family has needs. You must meet them, and you aren't paid enough to teach on a regular basis.

This is just an example. Teachers in a more urban area may face the same economic pressures. Children who have the privilege of attending school in a city may pack into a class -- 50 or 60 in a room, with one teacher. The instruction is poor and the stakes are high: a place in a secondary school is hard to secure, and more tutoring will be necessary to succeed. Extra educational help means extra fees, a system that encourages teachers to invest where they will be paid, leaving those who can only afford the basic class on their own.

And yet so many of the teachers and tutors who work with Mission of Mercy are trying to buck that system. They volunteer their time. They pour into the children in child development centers and at the schools we help run.  They trust God to help provide for their families -- in fact, many of them came to the centers because we were helping their children, and they wanted to give back.

So how do I pray for these sweet servants?

I pray for their protection, for God's provision. I pray that they see the needs of each child, that they can give the attention that child might not receive at home. I pray that they have God's eyes and God's heart for that child, that God strengthens them and gives them patience. I pray for creativity, that they can find new ways to teach well. I pray they see the fruit of their work in the smile of a child, in the quiet confidence when a child finally understands a lesson.

I pray for materials, for books and pencils and paper. I pray for safety at the project, school, or center. I pray against corruption in the classroom, that a teacher's personal needs are met so they can meet the needs of others. I pray for time and strength and dignity for the teacher and the children they teach. I pray they learn about God's love as thoroughly as science or math or reading. I pray that Jesus is as real to them -- all of them -- as the person next to them.

When I see my prayers written out like that, I realize that they aren't that much different than what I pray for my mom and friends. Teachers are God's servants, opening a child's eyes to truth on many different levels. And the best thing I can do for them -- for my friends and for those who have an impact on Munni and Sovanna's life -- is to pray. Will you join me?