A different kind of classroom

There have many so many opportunities to love on people here in Guatemala, so many different ways to do ministry. One of them being one that grips my heart on a daily and warms the deepest parts of my soul. A ministry that i see Jesus in everyday. In the village where I manly serve, me and my team get the opportunity to teach English to the children there. 

For these sweet children, some of them haven’t been in school since before covid started, because the schools hear cant provide the resources for them to do school at home. Or some of them haven’t been to school, cause they just cant afford it. 

So one way the ministry I am with, is made up of about sixteen young adults whoa re different races, but all have one thing in common, to see a simple need like getting an education, be made a reality. So we are young people, who are also teachers. Most days we split up into different teams and go to the family houses and tutor their children, while also getting to build relshinships and love them like christ does. 

Everyday, I only bring a backpack full of art supplies, the alphabet, and numbers. And an eager and willing heart. Most days I don’t have a translator with me, sometimes I’m by myself, but it’s so beautiful to teach these children. I wish you could see the eagerness and expected hearts ready to learn, some who have never been taught anything before. I wish you could see the parents, who often have tears in their eyes cause someone is giving their family a chance. 

Sometimes me and a child are sitting on their living room, which is simply a dirt floor, other times we are outside by a fire, where dinner is being cooked and chickens are running around. Sometimes it’s sitting on the sidewalk, watching cars go by and people saying hi.  Every time is different , but I love all these times the same. It can be hard at times with the language barrier, but that never stops me and it cant stop God from using me. For every laugh and hug, or giggle I get and see from a child, I say to myself , i’ll do this everyday! 

Sometimes its teaching colors in English and Spanish, not trying to spell something wrong. Sometimes it’s jumping and playing hopscotch to learn numbers. Sometimes it’s making up songs on the spot to make it easier for the child to learn. Sometimes it’s getting dirty yourself , because you are playing tag on your hands and knees. Sometimes it’s playing with chalk, with a little girl who discovers it for the first time, so you cover yourself in it. Teaching looks so different, it’s hard, it’s easy, it hurts. I met a ten year old girl and her sister who have never been to school, who discovered for the first time what it is like to have a teacher, and them themselves be a student. For the families that have no school supplies and haven’t even had more then a notebook and a pen are enthused by the stuff I pull out of my bag. 

This is a different kind of classroom , a different kind of teaching, a different kind of loving and giving. Its what I love to do and what I look forward to everyday! Please continue to read these blogs, as I talk about what God is doing through these ministries I’m apart of.