Lessons in Nueva Esperanza

Hey everyone! I got back from our outreach trip to Zona Reina late on Wednesday night. We had an excellent time there- I’m so glad I went. The night before I left, I was so anxious about the trip that I had almost decided not to go. It was pouring most of the night and so I prayed, “Lord, if you really want me to go, let it stop raining, and I’ll know that you want me to go.” In a half hour it had stopped raining. I was still a little anxious and tired since I had hardly slept, but when I got up I felt more peaceful. I remembered that God is faithful and I knew that going on this trip was going to help me see that more and more.

Our trip in went really well- the first two and a half hours was on the chicken bus, then we got in the back of a pickup to go up the mountain. That took about 6 hours, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We had a really good driver and the view was so beautiful, and it didn’t rain on us. After the pickup had taken us as far as they could, we got out to hike. A little ways in, it started to pour, but we were only about 40 minutes away so it wasn’t too big of a deal. The trail was pretty muddy but we had rubber boots and that helped.

On Monday I spent some time observing some of the teachers in their classes and we had meals with the staff. The next day I taught a workshop to the teachers. We talked about questioning techniques, lesson planning and ways to incorporate active learning. The teachers were eager to share their ideas during the sessions, so I think it was really productive. Prof. Juan also taught a session. He gave a model lesson and then gave the teachers an inspirational talk, reminding them that God has called them there and of things they can do to help the students. He used a few stories to illustrate his points. He’s an incredible storyteller.

On Tuesday we each went with one of the teachers to eat in the homes of the students for all three meals. All of the students are indigenous, so it was a different experience. When they have a guest, they don’t eat at the table with you. They serve you and stand by watching. These people don’t have hardly anything-hardly any meat or vegetables. I was lucky to have an egg to eat with my beans and tortillas. I was amazed when I learned about the history of the people there. I had assumed that they had been living up in the mountains for generations, but they have only been there about 8 years. After the war, the government took a bunch of these people- from different indigenous groups, who speak different languages, and dropped them off by helicopter in the middle of the mountains with nothing but some beans and cement. Apparently there are about 18 villages like this in Guatemala, where people were relocated. There’s a government agency that’s supposed to be helping them develop.

The community we visited is called Nueva Esperanza (New Hope). The missionaries there, Greg and Helaina, started a school there about five years ago. It is grades 7-9. It is one of the few schools with these grades in the area. Their school program is specialized for the needs of the community. They have an agricultural program which helps the kids learn about planting and taking care of animals, so they can improve their quality of living. There’s hardly any meat out there, so they’ve started a project raising rabbits, and when they get enough they’re going to distribute them in male female pairs for families to have and raise, with the agreement that they’ll give back a couple from the first litter.

All in all, I felt really blessed to have gone on this trip. It was neat to see the work that the Lord is doing out there, and to spend time with the staff and go to the homes of the students. The Lord taught me some lessons too, in the journey. This morning I was reading that passage in the Bible where Paul talks about how he can be content in any circumstance, because it's Christ who gives us the strength to do all things. In the past few days, I've realized that I can be content, even in uncomfortable circumstances (like squished on a smelly bus for hours or hiking in the pouring rain or eating in a dark smoke filled room). I realized that I can learn to live even without all those comforts that seem so essential- like electricity and hot water. We stayed at the teacher's house there and it was pretty rugged compared to our teachers house but compared to the houses of the people there- which were just little wooden shacks, it seemed pretty good. They live really simply out there, but it didn't seem that bad to me. Of course, I was only there a few days, but one thing that compensated for the simple living conditions was the beauty that was all around. It's so fresh and clean up in the mountains and the houses are not that close together. At night you could see the fireflies all around because there's no electicity, so there aren't any lights to interfere with the view.

Below are some photos from the trip. By the way, thanks to all who were praying for me! It was challenging but worth it.