It was February 1st, my last full day in Cotzal before beginning my long
journey back to Seattle. I arranged a meeting
with the Junta Directiva (the school board) of HOREB. The Junta Directiva is a rather new
development. All previous dialogue about
the school generally went through the Director, Tabita. The President of the Junta Directiva, Pedro,
has a daughter in the 3rd grade attending the school. He started the meeting by informing me of the
progress that was being made to make Colegio HOREB a legal entity in
Guatemala. It is a process that takes a
long time and I was happy to hear they were very close to making it happen.
Then I got to share with them the support that was going to
come in from WIND of God. What an
amazing honor and privilege to act as the WIND of God spokesperson in this
meeting. I got to be the representative
of so many people who have prayed for and given support for this school in the
United States. What an incredible and
humbling experience to be the messenger of such good news! I first told them that we were not just planning
on leaving after just one year or two years, but hopefully we would walk with
them for many, many years. I shared the
amount of support we had set aside for the teachers and other expenses for this
year. Then I got to share with them the
amount of support we had set aside to purchase the land for a new school. I don’t know what I was expecting when I
shared this news but I was not anticipating the reaction.
They became overcome with emotion. For many years they had been praying for
their own school. HOREB currently rents
space and does not have a place to call their own. As they took in what I was saying, they
realized that God was listening to their prayers. The sixth grade teacher and vice president of
the Junta Directiva, Matias, remembered a particular moment in time when all
the children were praying for help in purchasing the piece of land set aside
for the school. The members of the Junta
Directiva have a shared vision of a new generation transforming Cotzal and a
new generation accepting Christ in their hearts. They are dreaming big, wanting to start a
Basico program (middle school), Diversificado (high school), and maybe even one
day a university in Cotzal.
The HOREB 6th graders from last year are
currently attending various Basico schools in the area. They miss the Christian environment of HOREB. I remember talking with Romualdo last year,
the Director of a Christian school in nearby Chajul, and him saying that it is
at the Basico level when children really begin to grasp and think about the
gospel. At the elementary school level,
the children are compliant and will believe what you tell them. It is when they get older that they began to
question and become influenced by other ideas, and it is at this time that the
Christian environment is so crucial.
There is currently no Basico Christian school in Cotzal.
At the end of the meeting the president, Pedro, said that he
saw me as a messenger not only from WIND of God the organization, but from the
wind of God himself. We ended the
meeting in prayer, passionately praising God and praying for the next
generation of Cotzal. I got
goosebumps. I still get goosebumps when
I recall the meeting. God had given them
a message through me, a message that was an answer to their prayers. I was the only one in the meeting privy with
knowledge of both sides and for them my news was nothing short of God’s providence. I wish every person that has supported this
school got to experience that meeting with me.
For them it was a new beginning to something grand that God is planning
to do in the humble town. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment