*Warning* this blog is highly unedited
“We’ll be teaching English in the public school system.” Hearing those words, my stomach dropped to the floor. Ok God, you’re hilarious. If there’s one thing I learned from my trip to Korea last summer, it’s that I never, ever in a million years, wanted to teach English again. Flash forward 13 months. Here I am, showing up to school at 9 AM wondering what ages I’ll be teaching, how long the classes will be and what the heck I’m going to do. I’m panicked, insecure and plain terrified of teaching these kids. Fear of public speaking and a language barrier add to the mix creating a boiling soup of anxiety. Soon I’m standing in front of 20 4th graders fumbling along with the alphabet, numbers, animals and the basic “how are you” and “what is your name?” Somehow, I make it through this class, 3 more and a recess period. I’m still intact although a feeling of inadequacy covers my stomach. We break for a solid lunch of pb&j before teaching a class consisting of some of the local teachers. Exhausted, most of us nap on desks, ready to go home to wifi, laundry and silence to process the craziness of the day we just had. LOL. We then get handed our second schedules. Say what? 2 more hours of teaching to go. And one of the classes is 6th grade. The scariest grade ever. I fight back exhausted tears and punch my mind into a positive attitude. This is great. Yeah. I can totally do this…
Just so you know, I survived! And the last class of the day was by far my favorite. The kids’ desire to learn is encouraging and refreshing. The way they cheer when they hear we’ll be teaching them English warms my heart. But my prayers yesterday and every day after is that God would step in when my energy runs out. I know he was there yesterday and I know he’ll be there tomorrow, but I need to recognize his work and simply jump on the bus that he’s driving. Those are his kids. Knowing English will automatically give them a better future in this city. The work that we are doing there will draw more people to Engadi Ministries and more boys away from gangs. God has big plans for this city and it starts with me sucking it up and teaching the best damn English I can.
For the next few months, please pray for me to continue to rely on God for my strength and not just make it through the day but have joy in all I do. Pray for my classes (4th grade A, 4th grade B, 5th grade B, 6th grade A, teachers, and at the second school 6th grade B and 2nd grade B), that they would learn as much English as they possibly can and that these few months of classes would light a desire in them to continue learning on their own. Also pray that the kids in these public schools would be curious about Jesus and ask about him of their own accord since we aren’t allowed to talk about him.
Some info about our ministry:
Instead of area codes, Guatemala City is split up into 18 different zones. Zone 18 is the poorest of them all but it’s home to half a million people. The atrocities that occur in this area are horrible. On average, every girl has been sexually abused by the age of 13 by either a family member or gang member. Young boys leave their families to join gangs usually by age 15. The life expectancy for a gang member is 24. The ministry we have been placed in is called Engadi Ministries. Nathan, our host, is the creator and runner of the ministry. He has the biggest heart and an amazing vision for Guatemala City. What he wants to do is build a huge home/boarding school for boys in the city where they can live safely away from the gangs and learn how to be proper men who take care of their wives, sisters and daughters. Our role within this ministry is simply to teach English in the public school system of Zone 18. This gives Engadi a ton of credibility within the community since English is in such high demand. A person who can speak English can make twice as much money in almost any job. Hopefully, by giving these kids a chance at a better life, we can open the door to talk about Jesus with them and Nathan can invite them to live at the Engadi ranch when it is built.
