God Provides for His Children

Somehow the month of August has almost passed and September has crept up behind me. Time has flown, and yet it feels like I've been here longer than a month. One of the first exciting things that I have to report is that our family is now in our own house. We moved two weeks ago into a condensed one story house that has 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room and dining room. It took a good day of hauling furniture from the Grandma's house to this one in the van. Lorenita and I waited on the other end after loading the van, cleaning the other house, gathering the next load of things, etc. so when we finally went to the house around 5 that day, it was transformed. What had been an empty, waiting place was suddenly full of all of our stuff, waiting to be organized. All of us were filled with excitement over the prospects of making this house our home, and over the last two weeks every day we organize something else. Slowly but surely, it is feeling more like a home, though walls are still empty, and I expect they will remain that way for quite a while. God blessed us with many "gifts" from other families and friends of the family. We were given the dining room table and chairs, a few pieces of furniture, a fridge...it's amazing what God provided and continues to provide.

My host dad, mom and sisters, Lorenita and Mitzye, beginning our organization of the family room and dining room.

The night before we moved, a pastor's family came over to the new house with the extended family of Adan to pray for the new house and our new lives here. It was an evening of tears, prayer and our first meal here. Tears because the family had really become accustomed to living with the grandma, aunt and uncle in the other house, and as with all transitions, it's hard to say goodbye to what has become the norm. During the time of prayer we stood in a circle holding hands as many prayed at the same time, but eventually the woman pastor took over praying. She prayed for the house, for transitions, for saying goodbye to living with the grandma, aunt and uncle, for each of the rooms, etc. And then she started praying for a few individuals. When she came to me, I immediately tensed up. I had been told she has the reputation of being a prophetess, which isn’t something I’m necessarily comfortable with. She took my hands and said that I have a gift for healing children, and a ministry that God has given me, but that I haven’t discovered yet. She prayed for my ministry, for my knees and my eyesight, which will be a challenge, and then for my ministry in Guatemala. I didn’t know what to do with that. I still don’t really know what to do with that. I want to believe in miracles, but I usually don’t leave room for God to work through miracles. I want to be God’s hands as best I can, but do I believe that comes through me healing children? I don’t know. Plus, if I decide this is God’s call for me, where do I begin, how do I learn? Trust perhaps. 

Another significant piece of my time here has been my work at Thomas Alva Edison Colegio. Every day I teach 1st through 6th grade English classes. I have been doing that for 2 weeks now, and I love it. It's an adjustment getting used to the Guatemala cultural expectations in a classroom. For example, the students waltz into my classroom, more or less find their seats, and then begin to chat with each other, regardless of what I'm doing. When I try to call for attention, they may or may not respond. If I am explaining something, it is a given that someone will interrupt with a question, usually something that will be explained later if they would wait! They translate much of what I say in English, and don't have much respect for their teachers, or peers for that matter. My education experience has taught me to make my expectations clear, so that is something we've been working with, and it's working. I do a fair amount of "scolding" at times (that's what they call it...not how I view it!) individually and with whole grades. Slowly things are improving to at least be a bit more organized in the classroom. I am enjoying re-connecting with these dear students, and am blessed with their hugs, smiles, and words of affirmation on a daily basis. Many of my students have rough home lives, and that's been hard for me. I hear bits and pieces of their lives from my co-teacher, Ninoshka, or from the students themselves, and it makes my heart ache. 

First grader doing her Spelling word sort with consonant S and T

Another small addition to my life has been a little dog in our house. She is a mix of Rottweiler and bulldog, and I think she's adorable. Let me introduce Bella Mia. She is a month and a half old, and already I am her protector and friend. I know, I know, I hate dogs...but she's just a puppy still and she loves me! She follows me around, sits on my feet when I'm sitting down, and sits with me on the couch when I allow it. I probably am spoiling her, but I don't really care. She gives me lots of love, and that's what counts! She is currently curled at my feet, with her head draped over my high heeled shoes for church. It's love, what can I say? 

What can I say? She's beautiful :)

My prayer requests:

Thanksgivings
-new house
-reconnecting with friends and my host family
-teaching opportunity at the school

Concerns
-students at the school who have difficult home lives, which I believe affects their behavior and performance at school
-my host parent´s finances as the mom works 3 days a week in a school and they both do some catering on weekends
-continued patience and endurance as I learn Spanish, work out a new living situation, and work in two placements
-Guatemala as a country as they prepare for the elections that will take place on September 11th.

A la gran puchicas!

A la gran puchicas! A phrase used in every day speech, many conversations, and covers to many feelings and thoughts that I often can't put into words as quickly as I'd like to. I don't know how to translate it exactly other than it's something along the lines of oh my word. I use it when I'm upset, when I'm exasperated, frustrated, excited, irritated...basically all the time. It might have even replaced some of my eye rolling, believe it or not. It serves so many purposes.

This first week has been full of adjustment. Walking off the plane into Guatemala I had so many worries, nervousness, and excitement that I was literally shaking. I had a mainly boring plane ride, except for two interesting Guatemalan men who sat beside me and then proceeded to each have a beer. The younger of the two, a mere boy really of 19, was afraid they would card him when he ordered the drink, but no such luck. Let's just say, I pretended to sleep for most of the rest of the ride to avoid having to communicate with them. At the airport Rigoberto, from CASAS, picked me up and drove me to CASAS. It's amazing how different it feels coming back again this time. I thought some things would feel the same, but each time it's different. Walking into CASAS was comfortable, greeting people with a kiss on the cheek was natural, switching into Spanish mode didn't fry my brain, and I started my first afternoon with a field trip to the Forensic center where a group works to identify bodies that have been discovered, sometimes in mass graves, from the civil war in Guatemala. Already my first days are jumbled memories of foods, Spanish conversations, singing praise and worship songs with the Enlace group, going home with my host family, riding the bus, seeing the children at school, and settling in.

One of the most inspiring things I have experienced so far came in two parts on the first evening in Guatemala. A woman named Carmen came to talk to our group about the civil war and the effects that continue to affect Guatemala today. She's an expert on human rights and was inspiring to listen to. Human rights have more levels than I would have identified on my own ranging from our rights to equality to our duty to take care of the environment. In Guatemala many of these human rights are affected because the wealth of the country is in the hands of 4% of the population. Fertile lands are only 25% of all the land, belonging to only 15 families. The civil war started as an internal armed fight for civil rights/human rights initiated by the agricultural revolution. Today, many youth do not know what really happened during the years of the Civil War because so many are still too scared to speak. Guatemalans find it easier to forget than to face their years of struggle. Many people have been killed for uncovering events of the civil war. And yet there are still few like Carmen who are willing to fight for these human rights. She refuses to accept that forgiving means forgetting. Instead she would like to see Guatemala take on the form of forgiveness modeled by South Africa when forgiveness meant first confessing the wrong doings in order to be able to accept or offer forgiveness. So then the question is...is Guatemala seeing justice or revenge? Carmen's answer: depends on your point of view. Those being condemned believe it is revenge, the families of the deceased believe it is justice. Carmen urged the group to follow Jesus' example of serving and loving and to seek transformation as revolutionaries. She admitted that she has softened some of her words since having three children, yet she still fights. There have been threats against her and her family, still she fights.

I have established a schedule of going to Thomas Alva Edison Colegio in the mornings to teach English to 1st through 6th graders. The teacher, my friend Ninoshka, has low blood pressure and we decided that she would act more as a helper for these last two months of school and I will do the planning and the teaching. I'm glad it'll work out this way because it'll be a good experience for me, and also enables her to keep receiving the paycheck that is needed. I have missed these dear children, and though many of them suffer difficult home lives, I hope I can be a positive presence and a source of encouragement to them as a teacher and friend. In the afternoons I go to CASAS to do my work there. That part is still being explored, in terms of what I will be doing on a regular basis, so for now I have been typing things up, reviewing movies for the CASAS programs, and translating a few things as needed.

Another highlight of my time so far is my host family. Though I am teased with ceasing (and really it does get a little much at times) I do adore them and I believe they rather adore me as well. We move this weekend to a new house that they will be renting. It will be much better to just be the seven of us in our own space together. I'm thankful for that. I will introduce my family once I have some pictures to post!