A Visit with Romualdo

Romualdo Perfecto Santiago Ramirez has dedicated his life to God in Christian education.  He looks at the children under his care and he sees himself in them and wants to help them.  The school is a successful program, but as he tells me a bit of his story, what he seems to remember most are the kids that choose the wrong path.  He worries about his students.  Some turn to alcohol.  Some of the girls become pregnant.  He tells them to be careful, he wants so badly for them to learn the way of God.  His words sometimes go in one ear and out the other.  He talks of the situations some of the children are in.  Some of their parents are divorced.  Some of them have a parent that go to the United States to work illegaly.  Some do not have money to buy the supplies they need and choose not to continue because of money.  As he spills out all his concerns for the youth of this town, I can not help but admire his devotion.

   

Romualdo is the Director of Colegio Methodista Filadelfia.  He has 225 children under his care in the town of Chajul.  There are many girls that come to his school to avoid the sexual advances that are sometimes made by male teachers in the public schools.  Many Catholics pay for their children to come to this Evangelical school because the quality of education far exceeds that of the public schools.  The Bible is taught here and Christian counseling is given.  They spend much time with the students in developing career goals.  He dreams about the future of his students as they infiltrate into society.  Some will become policeman, maybe a few will be mayors, and some will be teachers.  He focuses on what God can shape them to be and what his town can become through these students.  His vision is inspiring and it left me feeling goosebumps.

In our American way of thinking, we try to change things as quickly as possible.  We throw a lot of money at something and expect returns.  But this is not the way of God.  The Bible talks much of sowing the land, and reaping its fruits.  Sowing the land takes time.  It is laborious.  If you dump a bunch of seed on the ground and then leave, do not expect to reap a lot of good fruit later.  We must take extra care of all our little plants that are beginning to sprout.  We need to treat them gently and carefully over a long period of time.  The real heroes in society are the ones not in the limelight.  We tend to see the fruit but not the ones doing the watering.  They work behind the scenes, investing hours upon hours into the life of another.  Teachers are the true heroes of a society.

Heavenly Father, use us to do your work.  Lord, sometimes we are impatient.  Forgive us and lead us to simply be still and invest deeply into the lives of others.  Lord, on your timeframe.  Always.