Huehuetenango Feels Like My Second Home

 

On our last trip to Huehuetenango, Dick, Joyce and Abby Clark and I visited a number of families that we have come to know and love over the years. Freddy is a little boy who has been sponsored through Bethel ministries for several years now. If Freddy were to go off from the medicine that a sponsor in the USA pays for Freddy would have several seizures a day, but thanks to this sponsor Freddy is now nearly seizure free. Today we delivered a three month supply of medicine to his home.

 

I brought along flannel diapers that some ladies from Westside had made and Freddy seemed to be delighted with them. Previously, Freddy’s momma had been diverting some of the funding sent for medication to buy diapers, saying Freddy only liked disposable diapers.  Well, I think he’ll like these just fine!

One of our next stops was to see Jose who drives his power chair to school and back every day.  His current chair had been shorting out on him and he had been hesitant to go very far in it. Today we traded his old one for a newer one. Neat thing is we will take the old one back to Bethel's shop where it will be refurbished to like new condition and soon be given to some one else.

Because of maintenance and the cost of batteries is high, we do our best to give out power chairs only when they are absolutely needed and the person that receives them can not use a manual chair to get around. Unfortunately we are presently out of batteries so we can not give out any power chairs or even keep all of those those that have been given out running. If anyone wants to help out in some way with batteries, please contact me for more information.

I was happy to Maria Garcia and two of her grandchildren again. The last few times I’d been up here, she had either been ill or in Guatemala city. Maria has been a real blessing to us. She has been instrumental in helping us reach many families in her community that are in need of food, schooling, medical help or wheelchairs. She loves her family and loves her community. 

She seldom asks us for anything, but this trip wanted to know if we could bring in a small team to paint and possibly wire the church they had built in their aldea.  Since this is a relatively remote area where few “gringos” come, we would like to bring in no more than 3 people (preferably someone who knows about wiring) to do this job.  Alternately, if funding became available we could hire local people to do this work. This is not something we often do, but this is such a poor community and Maria has helped us so much that I couldn’t say no. The people in this church have already sacrificed much to construct a building where they can worship together.  If you’d like to help with this, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the families that Maria put us in contact with a few years ago is Juana and her family. Juana is a poor widow who had three children who Dick gave wheelchairs to a few years ago, plus a few more kids that she took in simply because they had no place to live. One of her daughters died a year or two ago and a few months ago her disabled son who is pictured here was brutally assaulted only a hundred feet from their home. We are reasonably sure that had he not been disabled the villagers would have done something to the man that did this but since this boy is disabled nothing was done and the man still lives in the village.

We made a quick hike in to see Ruddy and make a few adjustments to his artificial leg.  He’ll need to see Marvin in the future to get more adjustments made, but hopefully this will get him by until then.

Only Lionel's mom and the two youngest girls were at home when we stopped of at their place. Father and the older kids were out working the fields and the two younger boys were in school.

Lionel's family misses him greatly but they know that he is not strong enough to survive at home. He misses them a lot, too. He is back on a feeding tube and is nothing but skin and bones. Mom said that they are grateful for the addition that Bethel Ministries put on their home a few years ago. The six children that are at home still live in the old adobe section but it is very unsafe. It and the 8 foot retaining wall that it stands on have a large crack in them and Dick fears that the next heavy rain will take down the section.

We managed only a quick stop to visit our friend Clara who directs a community center in Huehuetenango.  We brought some vitamins, and picked up a number of applications for wheelchairs.  While we were there, Clara asked if I could start doing Bible Study with her and some of the ladies who come to the center.  Since none of these women are connected with any local church, I am excited to return and do this.

 

On our way to Huehuetenango we had made an unscheduled stop at the home of Gema, a little girl we met at a Hope Haven distribution last spring.  A short time later, Dick was able to set her up in a power chair.  There was really no need to stop but I really wanted to visit this family since I had not been able to come along when Dick and some of the boys brought Gema the foot controlled power chair in April.

We were all invited to come back for dinner when we came through on our way back form Huehuetenango. When we arrived Gema climbed up on Dick’s lap and when dinner was served he asked her if she wanted him to feed her. She thanked him, but told him that she could feed herself. One of the other children picked her up and set her on the table. There she confidently fed her self with her foot.

Once again Gema showed us that you are not disabled unless you think that you are. For her having no arms and only one leg simply means figuring out another way of doing things. She is more capable and actively involved in life than many able-bodied people I know!

Gema's family knows they are blessed to have such a precious little girl. Gema is truly blessed to have a family that recognizes that God has truly blessed them by giving them such a special child and strives to help her develop her full potential.

Consulting at Kemna ‘Oj

A few months ago, we were visited at New Life by the psychologist from one of the three other colegios (private schools) in Santa Maria de Jesus.  They had come over to ask for help with a few of their students who were not making progress in their program, and were wondering if there was any way we could help them out.

I arranged to visit the school, and was impressed by their program.  The school provides grades Pre-K through 3 to students who cannot afford to attend the public schools (no, they are not free) in Santa Maria, or who may need a smaller setting in which to learn.  The average class size in the public school here is about 50 students to one teacher.  At Kemna ‘Oj it is closer to 1-15. Many of the children come with only a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, having grown up speaking Kaqchikel in their homes. 

Funded by the foundation Casas a Hogares (Houses to Homes), with offices both  in New Jersey and Antigua, this school is currently housed in a rented house, with three floors and two very narrow winding stairways.  Not an ideal setting, but they make it work.  A building project to expand not only the physical facility but the services available is currently underway. 




Current school (left) and new construction underway (below).




Due to the significant influence of American volunteers, the curriculum of the school is the most Americanized I’ve seen anywhere in Guatemala.  There is emphasis not just on rote learning, but on developmental skills, problem solving and critical thinking skills.  A modified Montessori method is used in the preschool and kindergarten.  Reading is a high priority and I was astonished to see the first graders read books independently for at least a half hour period.  (Those who could not read well yet looked for words they knew, or talked quietly to themselves about the pictures.)  It was a joy to watch them work.


While not a Christian school, Kemna ‘Oj definitely serves the least of these in Santa Maria de Jesús, and after prayer and reflection felt led to help this school where I can.  Since my primary commitment is to New Life and Hermano Pedro, I can only offer consultation and assessment and help planning for their children, but the staff seems happy with whatever I can do.

My decision was confirmed one day when I was meeting about one of the students with Roxana, the psychologist at Kemna ‘Oj.  She wanted to know what had brought me to Guatemala, and I briefly  explained my journey to full-time mission work.  She got the sweetest smile on her face as she told me about her walk with Jesus, and that in fact, she believes He has brought her to Santa Maria not just to influence the school, but bring the entire community into a relationship with Christ. 

I sat there stunned.  These were almost the exact words my friend, Judy Kerschner, used when explaining to me her call to Santa Maria: to win the village to Jesus, using the school as a tool.  I knew then that it was God who had brought these two schools together for His plan and purpose.  I can’t wait to see how He plays it out!

Update—New Things at New Life

This picture is from the 2011 graduation last October.

The school year has come to an end for us at New Life School here in Guatemala.  Graduation will take place next week for those finishing sixth grade and they will be moving on either to jobs or to other schools to continue their education.  This does not impact me directly, since I am working with the younger kids, but it is always emotional for me to realize what each of these young people (who many thought could not be educated!), their teachers, and parents have accomplished by working together. 

This year’s staff at Nueva Vida (New Life)

I am currently working with about 18 students in grades K through 2.  I was actually a little surprised when I counted up how many there were!  They keep me pretty busy, but are well worth the effort it takes to help them get just a little bit further ahead in their education.  The variety of special needs challenges me on a daily basis, as well as the necessity to teach only in Spanish.  The kids, though, are very patient with me as I stumble along, and the teachers are great help when I get stuck.

 

During November I will be working individually with a few of the kids who need the most help.  It is amazing to me that the parents are willing to get the kids to school a couple of days a week for only a 45 minute session, but they are.  This time will enable me to focus more intensely on the individual needs of these children.

 

 

I am excited to now have a American “compañero” working at the school.  Jennifer Giesemann is a speech therapist with a wealth of knowledge, a fluency in Spanish, and recent experience providing speech and communication therapy in the schools.  Jennifer is from Tennessee, but spent a number of years in Venezuela with her missionary parents.  I have already learned so much from her, and know I will continue to grow personally and professionally working with her.  A bonus is that she is great fun to be with!  Thank you, God, for bringing her here.

The staff of Latin Deaf Services who have been working with us in Santa Maria.  (Left to right:  Abby, Roy, Myrna, Rosie and Shirma.)
Amazingly talented teachers and great Christ-followers as well!

Finally, Latin Deaf Services has been working up at the school, teaching a our deaf students sign language, and I get to sit in on the classes, too!  It’s quite fun to find myself signing in Guatemalan sign and speaking in English (though Roy, the ministry director likes this since he and sign in Spanish, but not speak it!), but it’s a bit confusing for the teachers and kids when I get mixed up and speak in Spanish and sign in English.  Maybe someday I’ll get as good as the kids are at this!

Who I was meant to be. . .

Be who you were meant to be and you will set the world on fire. ~~St. Catherine of Sienna 

I read this quote the other day (now I can’t remember where), and for some reason it sent shivers down my spine.

I’m afraid I’ve spent most of my life trying to be someone else. . .someone I thought I should be. . .someone better, more noble, holier.

St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, would tell his priests, “Now, go set the world on fire. . .”

What would it look like if I was truly going to set the world on fire?  Is there any possible way I could do this just by being me?


I often think that to do this, a person must be dynamic, active, almost compulsive in their work load.  Not me, that’s for sure.




Maybe somebody like Mother Teresa.  Now she knew how to start a fire.  And she did this by loving one person at a time, no matter how unlovely they might be. She didn’t do this (at least from what I glean from her writings) by some grand strategic plan. She did it by surrender to each call she heard from the God she loved. She would not compromise what she knew He was calling her to do.  She focused consistently on faithfulness more than success.



And she was, I think, exactly who God meant her to be. This is my prayer for my life.  Not to set the world on fire so people will know my name and think highly of me.  But to spread the fire just a little bit further, lighting my immediate world with the fire of His love which I have so lavishly received.  To kindle this fire even in the darkest of places among the darkest of people.  (Isn’t it in the darkness that we most need fire?)  It still seems incredible to me, though, that the way I am called to do this is by just being me.


Can I set the world on fire the way Mother Teresa did?  Not by a long shot.  But then I’m not called to be Mother Teresa.  I’m only to share the spark of the love I have been given with the people I am given.  And you are too.  When we all do this, refusing to compromise who God calls each of us to be, the whole world will be on fire.

Tell Me Who I Am to You. . .

I have often been at a loss to explain to others why being at Hermano Pedro is so important to me.  Why I long for more Christian volunteers to come in and work with our kids on a short or long term basis.

Then, today, as I was praying about this, God brought to mind the song by Jason Grey, "Remind Me Of Who I Am."  And I realized that's it.  That's my ministry at Hermano Pedro.  In the midst of fine motor exercises and communication programs, my real purpose in the orphanage is to remind the children who they are.  They are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of the God who loves them and willed them into existence.

It's just that simple.  And just that hard.

It's easy with Miguel.  He is bright, alert, responsive and intelligent.  He loves Bible stories and to hear about Jesus.  He thrives with attention, and understands being loved.

It's a bit more challenging with Fonzi.  Fonzi understands everything, but communicates only through crude gestures.  He is frustrated most of the time, angry and even aggressive some of the time.  He needs to know what it means to be loved.  He needs to experience human love and acceptance, but even more, he needs to come to know the Father who loves him just as he is.

Then there's Fidel.  Oh, intelligent, capable, creative Fidel, locked inside a body that prevents him from completing even the most basic of self-care activities.  Fidel, who drives a power chair and operates a computer with his left foot, but cannot feed himself.  Why, he wants to know, would a loving God make him live this way?  Fidel, who struggles to accept the fact that the God who created his severely limited body is the same God who loves him and has a purpose for his life.

Finally, there are those children like David, who only recently went home to live with Jesus.  David was seldom responsive, and I never really knew what, if anything, he understood when I would talk to him.  I knew, though, that Jesus loved David, and desired David to know Him at whatever level he could.  I believed Jesus was talking about our Davids when He commanded us to let the little children come to Him.  So I would tell David, over and over, about the Father who created him out of love, the Savior who came to redeem him, and the Holy Spirit who hovered over his bed.  Sometimes some of the nurses would look at me like I was a bit off, talking about these things with a child who obviously didn't understand.  I believe, though, that I was to minister to David's spirit as well as his mind and body, and I believe his spirit did understand.  I believe he could pray with me at least in his heart if not in his head.  So we would pray together, always asking Jesus to come to be with David in a special way.

So I guess that's it.  My real job at Hermano Pedro is to teach the kids who they are to the Father who created them out of love.  To remind them how precious they are to Jesus, that He would come to earth so that they could go to heaven.  And to encourage them that the Holy Spirit is with them, and will one day take them home.

It's as simple as that!  And it's glorious!