Consequences

A group of preschoolers tried to
sneak up on me outside of my window.

I've now officially been working with Nueva Esperanza for over a month. It has been a very full time with getting child sponsorship packets ready and welcoming students in for another school year (since their schools started February 1), and there are days when I just feel exhausted. We even had a team in from Tennessee last week! Things are starting to feel more normal as I'm finding my community and creating routines for myself.

This week I've started to interact more with the students who come to the ministry. In  the mornings I'm still working in the office with child sponsorship responsibilities. In the afternoons, I get to tutor one kindergartner a day and then work with students who have made bad choices. I love having the opportunity to get to spend more time talking with and getting to know the kids, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy.

Alison is my first kindergartner
who I started tutoring!

My biggest issue in all of these new afternoon duties is not being able to communicate as I would like with the kids. I've taught before. I've worked with students who have had diagnosed behavioral problems. I have lots of ideas to share on how to help these students grow to be people who will bear the image of Christ well. However, doing all of this in Spanish as I'm still trying to figure out the language is a lot harder than I anticipated.

Even though it's been so difficult at times, I am so thankful for these opportunities. Every time I've needed help in communicating my ideas or trying to teach something to a kindergartner, someone has been there to help me. Fany, one of the wonderful staff members at Nueva Esperanza, has helped me to handle some behavior cases with such grace and love. She seems to always understand what I'm attempting to say, even if my verb conjugations are totally off. I have been so thankful this week to have her help me and take control when I literally can't think of words to say.

Typical recess time

I thought thinking of logical consequences for students was difficult before, but now thinking and talking through those consequences is even harder. Even though it's hard, I have come to enjoy my time with kids this week who might be seen to some as "the troublemakers". I love being able to tell them that they're receiving consequences because I want to help them become who God has created them to be, not because I want to punish them. I love being able to pray with them and communicate that I care for them regardless of the bad choices they make. Far above those things, I love sharing with them that we all make mistakes, but God forgives and still loves us anyway. After hearing more about some of their stories today, it's no wonder why they make bad choices. My prayer is that God would continue to renew their minds and show them the love that He has for them. I pray that they would also see more of that love and grace at the ministry. I pray that because of God's love for them, they would start to understand what it means to bring God glory through their lives simply because they want to please our Loving Father.

This is Oscar. He is 73 and still works
at the ministry. He's great.

These kids are wonderful. The ones who are viewed as "troublemakers" still come up and hug me the day after I've made them missed their favorite class to write an apology letter to the kid they hit during soccer. Please be praying that God would be working in their hearts and in the lives of their family members. Please pray for their protection. Please pray that they would see Christ's love so that they can begin to better imitate Him. There are so many bad influences surrounding these kids in their families, neighborhoods, and schools. If they are able to start being image bearers of Christ now, how much brighter will they shine in all the darkness that surrounds them?