It Takes a Village to Raise a Child

    We hear people say all the time that "it takes a village to raise a child".  Is this old saying true for us?  I had the opportunity this summer to watch as the village of Sacampana came together to talk about how they could help their children.  Food for the Hungry had spread the word to Sunday School teachers and the School Committee about a meeting that we would have Tuesday afternoon to share about Effective Praise.  Around 75 people showed up and this wasn't even counting all the children that were running around.
     On Thursday I was to meet with parents of the school age children to talk more about the Biblical View of Children, our responsibilities as parents, and the importance of Education.  Many of the same people came but there were also church leaders from both the Catholic and Nazarene churches, teachers, community leaders, grandparents and parents.  They all wanted one thing, they wanted the best for the children in their community.
      I shared that children are a gift from God.  They are made in His image and they have value and worth.  We as parents have been given the responsibility to impress the scripture into the lives of our children.  God has given them a hope and a future and it is our job to encourage them to follow His plan for their lives.  We talked about the value of education.  As I finished up we offered a time for people of the community to share with one another about what they heard, things that they do with their children, or ask any questions.
      There was an older couple sitting in the front row of chairs.  He sat with his white cowboy hat and she with her umbrella, that she doubled as her cane.  I began to talk to them to find out their story.  They had been married over 60 years and he was 80 or 81 (he said he couldn't quite remember).  They had grown up in Sacampana  in a time when there wasn't even a school for the children.  Christiano spoke to the crowd that was gathered and shared about how we need to remember that our children have value in the eyes of God but we need to be training them through the scripture.  We need to impress values such as perseverance, respect, kindness, and responsibility into our children's lives.  He spoke with such humble wisdom and we all sat listening to the words that God was pouring into his heart.  When he sat down his wife prayed for the group.  There was sincerity and passion in her prayer. It didn't matter that we didn't speak the same language, you could feel the Holy Spirit.  Others shared about things that they tried at home with their children.  It became a time of encouragement and sharing.
     You see, much like the body of Christ, this community had come together, each with their own gifts to see how they could improve the lives of their children.  From Christiano and his wisdom, his wife's gift of prayer, the teacher's desire to see her students reach their full potential, the church leaders wanted children to see that they were made in God's image, and the parents who came out of love for their children.  It really does take a village to raise a child.

Heart of a Teacher

     While in Guatemala, Project REACH spent some time up in the AltoVerapaz in the community of Sacampana.  Food for the Hungry goes into areas with the highest percentage of chronic malnutrition, Sacampana is one of these communities.  Project REACH was able to come along side FH Guatemala to observe in classrooms, go on home visits for students who were struggling in school, and provide a seminar for the teachers.
     The teachers spend the first half of their day working with Pre-K through 6th grade and then they go down to the city and teach at a secondary school.  They work long hours with limited resources but it is evident that they love their students.  We presented material about the Heart of a Teacher.  I loved hearing their stories about why they decided to become teachers and their feeling about what they do.  For so many of us, we had someone who inspired us and we, in turn, want to give that to some one else.  We went through the Biblical principles of teaching and children.  God made children in His image, they have dignity and worth, God has plans for them, they have a place in His story, their parents have a great influence in teaching values, God has given us the gift of teaching and with that gift comes great responsibility.
     The teachers in Sacampana discussed the principles but then went on to talk about how they planned to use them in their own classrooms.  The Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher was so moved by the scripture that he just kept repeating "for I KNOW the plans I have for you." He couldn't wait to live and breath this scripture for his students, they have a hope and a future.  At the end of the day the teachers said that their wish was that the parents of their students would be able to hear these principles and scripture.  They wanted everyone to have to chance to hear God's plan for these children.  Little did the teachers know, but God was already preparing the community to hear some of these words.

Learning to Have His Voice

     Before we left for the trip to Guatemala in July, I spent time reading about Moses and God's calling for his leadership.  I had many doubts about my ability to go and lead the seminars.  I didn't feel like I was a dynamic speaker or had the authority to go and teach the directors and teachers at the schools. I had traveled many times doing seminars down in Bolivia and Guatemala but it was always with my friend Ruby.  Ruby has a magnetic personality and naturally takes the leadership role.  I was always very comfortable slipping into a supporting position.  This time I would be the one, not only leading the trip but also teaching all of the seminars.  I wrestled with God over my lack of confidence to take this leadership role. God reminded me of the verse from Exodus 4:10-13:

     Moses said to the Lord, "Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue."

     The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

     But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

     

     I knew that the Lord was calling me to go but through many doubts I had to trust Him to be my words and voice. My excuses were nothing in the hands of our Creator.  When God calls us somewhere or to a particular task, He will equips us to do it. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." It was humbling to know that this was the first of many lessons that God would teach me on this trip.

-Kristin Knowles

Testing, testing, 1,2,3...

Hi, everyone! I'm not terribly  tech savvy, so I'm trying to figure out how to connect, if possible, this blog to our facebook account. This is a test to see if I can do that! Just one of the many things we are working on to make communication with you easier!

Precious Moments

We left this morning thinking we would be going to a school for observations and then conduct a seminar on effective praise in the afternoon.  Our team arrived at the school and began observations right away.  We spent time in some of the primary classrooms where we got to observe music, computer, English, and language arts.  Ruby saw three of the children from Hope For Tomorrow Children's Home while we were observing.  Shortly after completing the morning observations, we learned that the schedule had changed and we would not be presenting the seminar until later in the week.

While all of the changes were happening, our translator contacted her sister about a school in the city that is for street children.  All the arrangements were made for us to go over there immediately to observe and then teach our seminar.  We arrived to Precious Moments to find that 150 students were being taught in a small home.  Each room was turned into a classroom, including the garage and the hallway.  The students are children of drug dealers, prostitutes, and people serving time for crimes.  Twelve children live there at the school.  They share a 8 by 8 foot room that has a bunk bed and a twin mattress on the floor.  All twelve of the children sleep in this room along with one adult.

There are six teachers at Precious Moments School.  They were so open to the seminar and really understood what we were discussing.  By watching the teachers, you could begin to understand the heart and character of all those working at the school.  The founder, Martha, was a street child herself growing up.  She wanted to help children and began this school out of her own home.  She now lives across the street and has continued renting this home for the school.

Today didn't go as planned but God had a better idea.

         Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Thank you Lord for leading us.  Where you go I'll go, Lord, we will follow you.

Sacampana and Chioya

It was wonderful working with Food for the Hungry in the rural areas of Sacampana and Chioya.  We conducted observations and presented two seminars, one for each school.  Sacampana had five teachers for Kindergarten through sixth grade.  There were very few textbooks in each classroom, many times the teacher had the only textbook in the room.  Chioya has 11 teachers and a director for the school.  The government just finished a new building one month ago that half of the school has moved into, the other half will remain in the old part of the school.  Here the teachers have textbooks for each child in most subject areas.

Sacampana is a new community that FH is moving into.  They have only been there for less than one year but yet you can see that change is beginning to happen.  The woman have begun a community garden, where they are learning how to plant better vegetables for their families.  Once they have worked in that garden for a year, then they receive seeds of their own. Food for the Hungry is also working with the mothers to weigh and measure the growth of the children ages 0-5.  They are tracking the progress of growth and then following up when growth is not shown.  This is the way that they can monitor change in behavior and attitudes with chronic malnutrition.

Chioya is a community that FH has been working in for a few years now.  They have developed a Child Transformation Program with most of the children already having been sponsored.  There are currently 18 families that are building a greenhouse that will enable them to have a longer growing season and a larger variety of vegetables harvested.  The sides of the greenhouse will allow for air movement while blocking out all bacteria.  They will have a decontamination area for shoes before entering the greenhouse so they won't cross contaminate the soil.  We ate at the home of one of the families involved in the agricultural project.  It was very humbling to hear them share how God was helping them in this process so they can change the lives of their children AND their community.  May God bless these families and allow the harvest to be plentiful to glorify HIS name.

In Coban

We drove 4 hours from Guatemala City to Coban today. The road was a bit better than we expected. They were paved (most of the time) and 2 lanes. Think about the 2 lane paved roads in the US, that's basically what they were like. There were places where the roads were washed out from roadslides TWO years ago, we were told! We spent the evening talking with our families and getting ready for tomorrow. We will do school visits and two home visits tomorrow. Please pray for safety, health, and wisdom for us as we share Christ's love with the teachers, students, and families.