International Spotlight with Beth Afanador: “Not a Life I Would Trade”

By: Josh Worden

Beth Afanador grew up attending public schools in Illinois, so she didn't foresee a career in Christian education, let alone overseas.

But in seventh grade, her family moved to Mexico for a year due to her father’s grad school program and she experienced Christian education for the first time.

That year opened her eyes to the value of teaching overseas, even if her long-term goal was to minister to students in inner-city Los Angeles.

When she graduated from Wheaton College and heard about an opportunity to teach in Bogotá, Colombia, she was intrigued.

“Because inner-city Los Angeles is so full of Spanish speakers, I felt like learning Spanish better,” she said. “And Bogotá is known for having beautiful Spanish.”

She interviewed for a teaching position, received an offer during the interview, and was given five days to determine if she was moving to Colombia.

“I'm a very black and white, analytical kind of person, so that week I was visiting mentors, talking to my pastor, and making lists of pros and cons,” she said.

A conversation with an older friend tipped the scales.

"They said, ‘I wanted to be a missionary one day, but then life got going and it never happened,’” Afanador recalled. “And I thought, ‘I don't ever want to look back with that kind of regret.’”

Afanador accepted the fifth-grade teaching job for one year, felt a calling to stay, and kept returning year after year. She helped with a church plant, married a Colombian, had two kids, and taught at the same secular international school for nine years.

She transitioned to a Christian school in 1992 in part due to her father, who had retired from teaching in the U.S. and came to Colombia to serve. He became the Director at El Camino Academy, a small ACSI member school for missionary kids.

Beth got to know the faculty, volunteered with the school, and eventually succeeded her father as Director after he returned to the U.S.

"At that time, El Camino gave no stipends,” Afanador said. “It was kind of crazy with two little kids, but we did it. We sold our car and took public buses. It wasn’t easy, but we were convinced we were doing what was right.”

El Camino Academy had about 70 students and eight teachers at the time and now has grown to more than 400 students and about 115 staff members.

After many years of construction, El Camino now boasts a “beautiful brick structure,” Afanador says, with no debt. The church she helped plant also blossomed, from 15 people to more than 1,000 now, with two daughter churches.

“God has provided,” she said.

Afanador is transitioning away from the Director role this year but will continue to work for the school, especially in recruiting. She is passionate about encouraging teachers to consider international Christian education.

"You will be a better teacher by living overseas,” she said. “You tend to have a lot more variety. If you teach in the suburbs, most people are from the suburbs. Here, we have a math teacher from India, a science teacher from Trinidad and Tobago, an English teacher from Bulgaria, a math teacher from Haiti, a Canadian doing social studies.”

The new experiences and relationships will not only enhance vocational growth but also spiritual flourishing, Afanador says.

“If you do what you're comfortable with, where you've got your support system, you're all set. It's hard to kind of step out in faith if you don't need to,” Afanador said.

Afanador understands it’s hard to take the leap and go overseas. She commonly hears from college students who say they're interested in international school education, but they want to teach in America for a couple of years first.

“I've had many people tell me that, but none that have actually done it,” she said. “North American culture is sticky. You get a lot of things. Cars, houses, dogs, scholarship offers. It's very difficult to get up and move once you're there.”

Looking back on how that first job in Bogotá affected her life, Afanador is glad she went to Colombia when she wasn’t tied down.

"I have no sense of regret,” she said. “I have had incredible experiences: travelling, raising our kids bilingual, meeting incredible people, watching God do miracles. It’s not a life I would trade.”

If you or someone you know might be interested in teaching overseas, explore opportunities with the ACSI International School Vacancies page, as well as the current listing of 140+ international school job opportunities available now at the ACSI Career Center. You can also mark your calendar to attend the in-person International School Job Fair in October or the Virtual Job Fair in December.