Educator and Practical Theologian

Maksym Achkasov (phon.: ˈmæksɪm ˈʌʧkæsəf) is an educator and practical theologian whose work is at the intersection of theology, adult education, and pastoral care. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from the University of Manchester, where he completed formal training in Applied Theology, and Pentecostal and Charismatic studies. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree at TNIU, with an academic focus on practical theology, pastoral care, and spiritually informed mentorship.

In addition to his theological training, he has an extensive background in adult education and second language instruction. He is an Ontario Certified English Language Teacher (OCELT^®) accredited by TESL Ontario, and holds professional qualifications in TESOL from institutions in the United Kingdom and Canada. His academic profile is further complemented by a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychological Counseling.

He is a teacher at the Institute of Practical Theology "Barnabas," where he teaches courses in practical theology with a particular emphasis on pastoral discernment, spiritual formation, and the integration of theological reflection with lived experience. His broader professional experience includes curriculum development, online teaching, and the creation of educational resources for adult learners across linguistic and religious contexts.

As a foreign language educator, I have been fortunate to have personally worked with students from 40 countries:

Afghanistan ^🇦🇫    Armenia ^🇦🇲    Austria ^🇦🇹    Brazil ^🇧🇷    Cameroon ^🇨🇲    Canada ^🇨🇦    China ^🇨🇳    Colombia ^🇨🇴    Congo ^🇨🇬    Croatia ^🇭🇷    England ^🇬🇧    Ethiopia ^🇪🇹    Germany ^🇩🇪    Hungary ^🇭🇺    India ^🇮🇳    Iraq ^🇮🇶    Ireland ^🇮🇪    Israel ^🇮🇱    Japan ^🇯🇵    Jordan ^🇯🇴    Kazakhstan ^🇰🇿    Libya ^🇱🇾    Moldova ^🇲🇩    Myanmar ^🇲🇲    Pakistan ^🇵🇰    Palestine ^🇵🇸    Poland ^🇵🇱    Russia ^🇷🇺    Somalia ^🇸🇴    South Korea ^🇰🇷    Sudan ^🇸🇩    Switzerland ^🇨🇭    Syria ^🇸🇾    Turkey ^🇹🇷    UAE ^🇦🇪    USA ^🇺🇸    Ukraine ^🇺🇦    Vietnam ^🇻🇳    Yemen ^🇾🇪

Throughout my teaching career, I have achieved the following milestones:

- Delivered over 14,500 hours of one-to-one and group classes;
- Recorded more than 280 video lessons on YouTube;
- Created over 1,200 original vocabulary tests for A2-C1 levels;
- Received more than 100 positive reviews from students;
- Grew a Facebook community to over 10,000 followers and a YouTube channel to over 8,000 subscribers;
- Developed an educational website with study materials used by an average of over 4,000 people daily for free;
- Set up and effectively maintained the Learning Management System (LMS) for the language school’s academic purposes;
- Developed an efficient attendance-and-payment reporting system in Excel for the language school’s managerial purposes.

The Role of Jesus’ Healing According to John’s Gospel (Eng; PDF - 644kb)

What did Luke mean by "baptism in the Holy Spirit"? (Rus; PDF - 395kb)

The Effectiveness of Theological Education in Ukraine (Rus; PDF - 850kb)

TESL Canada & TESL Ontario

From April 2023 to April 2025

TESL Ontario (20kb)

In terms of ESL teacher skills, Maksym Achkasov, has:

- strong personal and interpersonal skills;
- excellent listening and speaking skills;
- good writing skills;
- good time-management and organizational/record-keeping skills;
- knowledge of various teaching techniques and methodologies;
- good problem-solving skills;
- a wide range of experiences in the field of English as a Second Language.

He is also:

- highly motivated and reliable, patient and open-minded;
- good at establishing rapport, building and maintaining constructive relationship with students;
- able to facilitate interesting and engaging group discussions;
- able to make learners feel comfortable and focused in the classroom;
- able to determine effective ways to teach students with different learning styles and needs;
- good at public speaking;
- disciplined and works well in a collaborative environment with other teachers and administration;
- computer literate with some IT knowledge and experience (i.e. html, css, js); therefore, able to incorporate new educational technological solutions into the classroom environment;
- culturally sensitive;
- strategic thinker committed to progress of ESL learners;
- comfortable with electronic communication and social media;
- adaptable and able to comply with institutional policies and procedures.

"Trust me it is a pleasure to work with Maxim! In my experience of learning the language I have met many teachers, including the native one. Though the most effective approach turned out to be that of Maxim – the approach to his students, the study materials and diversity. Attention to details, needs of the learners, preparation and delivering the classes in a friendly atmosphere are a hallmark of Maxim.

Maxim helped me in my preparation to enter the master’s degree. Maxim ’s knowledge and experience of taking international language exams and interviews was a big advantage for in the preparation process. Different variations of questions and answers, appropriate and timely points, details, strategies, tests and a thorough analysis of the results became the key to my successful admission. In this there is a significant contribution from Maxim ; that is what I am grateful to him for.

I am sure that Maxim’s business will thrive and there will be more and more students!"

- Duman A. (Lawyer)