Months ago, when I first met Judy Kerschner, she invited me to visit the New Life, a school for special needs children which she founded in 2000 in a small village about 20 minutes outside of Antigua, Santa Maria de Jesus. This month I finally have been able to spend some time there. I hadn’t wanted to visit until I knew I could commit to being at the school on a regular basis, if needed. Now I know this time has come.
Children at a “civics” assembly, learning respect for their country
New Life is the perfect name for the school, as it has given an opportunity for a new life to the 80+ children who attend there each day. All of the children have some type of difficulty which has prevented them from succeeding in a regular school. At New Life they receive the individual attention, love and encouragement to help them grow and meet their potential. The director of the school and the teachers are all Guatemalan, and are supported in their work by two occupational therapists, Amy DeYoung, and Megan Spencer who is volunteering her services for a year.
Children from the youngest classroom, listening to a presentation of the story of the Baptism of Jesus
The identity of New Life though, goes far beyond being a special school. It is an island of safety and freedom in one of the most violent and “dark” villages in Guatemala. You can visibly see the children change, become “free” as they walk through the door and into the safety of their beautiful building. As Judy says, this is Christianity in action; they not only teach the children about Jesus, but they follow Him daily in their personal and professional dealings with the children and each other. The power of the Holy Spirit is a tangible presence in their midst.
Each day a nutritious snack is provided for the children.
For some this may be the only healthy food they eat that day.
My role has been to assess individual students within their classroom settings to determine what, if any, communication supports would increase their ability to learn. I have also been working with a couple of students with challenging behaviors, to help the teachers manage them more successfully.
A friend and speech therapist, Michelle Hogg, works with one of the children on his language.
In a strange way I am glad I have waited until now to begin working at New Life. I so thoroughly enjoy the children and the staff, and am so amazed at their openness to new ideas and techniques, that I fear I would have settled in here and not formed any of the other ministry relationships I have developed. It really is a treat to spend time with the kids here, and I get more than my share of their love and attention in return. It is never hard to come, and always hard to leave.
I have also begun a friendship and working relationship with Claire Thomas-Duckwitz, a psychologist from Denver, who has a non-profit and has been consulting at the school for a couple of years now. I am able to follow up on many of the suggestions she has made for the students, and help the teachers to implement the program recommendations she has made.
The teachers, however, have been doing an amazing job on their own. They create most of their teaching materials, much of it by hand, and I’ve gotten a number of ideas from them of things to try at Hermano Pedro. The biggest asset, though, which these women bring to the table for the kids is their unconditional love and acceptance of each one of them. You can heard and see their fondness for the children, even as they talk with you about the most challenging of them. They are Jesus “with skin on” to the little ones in their care.
The children in the youngest classroom (where I spend much of my time) with Marilyn, their teacher, and Jenny Ribbink, a volunteer from Wisconsin.
So, I will be spending a couple days a week here, helping the teachers develop programs and materials, problem-solving with them, and generally trying to encourage them in their work here. I am seeing clearly how the experiences I had in my “previous life” in the States, both in teacher training and as a consultant, have helped prepare me for this new area of ministry. I get to work directly with a few of the kids, too, and that’s a bonus.
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