Dear Friends and Family,
Happy Fall! We pray that your family is doing well, and is enjoying the cooler weather, finally!
Matthew 28:19 tells us to “Go and make disciples of all nations Have you ever wanted to help with missions, but felt you could not afford to go, or were not equipped to serve? Well, do we have an exciting opportunity for you! You can GO virtually, to serve the impoverished children in Guatemala, and have the opportunity to impact them directly! If you speak English, and have a computer…you can be a missionary, from the comfort of your home, thanks to technology! ! We have two girls, Yeimi and Vero, who have been living with one of our volunteer families to learn English. We have created a virtual learning classroom with them through zoom. Volunteers has been teaching them English, online for two hours in the afternoon. We are not looking for professional educators just someone who can share some time with these girls. We have the curriculum for you. All you need to do is be willing and able to give two hours, once a week, to help these girls learn English! If you, or someone you know, would be interested in this opportunity, please contact us!
Covid-19 has affected Guatemala just as it has impacted your life. In Guatemala, the school doors have been closed, and the children have been forced to try to finish their education through packets sent home from the schools. The expectation was for the children to teach themselves how to complete the packets. Many of the children are struggling to complete their assignments. In the lower grades, students have family members who can help with reading and basic math skills of adding, subtracting and multiplication. Imagine the challenges of learning Biology or Algebra from a packet. Furthermore, the Guatemalan Ministry of Education is unable to determine the permittable format for the upcoming school year. This uncertainty will only allow more children to be lost to a life of poverty. Without some immediate plan to help these children, they will be lost.
This type of learning has been DIFFICULT for them, and many of our students are being left behind, due to limited resources. So, Karla Coronado, the in country coordinator of our ministry in Guatemala, has come up with an innovative solution for the next school year, which starts in January. We will offer a group, online school program through an organization called ISEA. Here is their website if you are interested. https://isea.edu.gt/ This will be offered to all of the students from our English program that will be in high school. The parents were presented with this program, and they are very enthusiastic about this opportunity. Karla will coordinate this program. Parents will volunteer to help supervise the students at the education center. The building where we have been teaching our English classes from.
To make this plan a reality, we need YOUR help! We will need to provide a laptop for each student. So, we are asking for used, Windows based laptops with a web camera.
We will also need sponsors for these children, on a monthly basis, to pay for the teacher/tutors for this program. We have about 12 students that will need sponsors. The cost will be $100 per student per month. You can sponsor a child monthly. Or divide the sponsorship with someone else. Unlike larger organocations, you will be able to have personal contact with the student you sponsor. You can write them letters. We will provide you with quarterly updates on their grades. YOU can be God’s hands and feet to a student in Guatemala, to ensure that they get a quality education. This opportunity will literally change their life!
Yeimi and Vero’s English has improved so much that we are offering them paid positions to help the other students with their virtual schooll classes. They are VERY excited by this opportunity to give back to the ministry! That has helped them so much
In January, when this school program starts, we will be teaching the students 90 minutes of English in the mornings. Then in the afternoons, we will be teaching the students “electives” such as art, music, physical education, and computer skills. These will be taught in English as well. We are looking for volunteers for volunteer help with this as well. If you are interested in helping with this, please contact us so that we can explain this in more detail.
We are excited to be partnering with another 501(c) (3) called Submersion 14 to be able to provide backpacks full of eco friendly school supplies for all the children in this new program. And all the students in our regular, Tuesday English classes, which we hope to start again in January. You can check out their ministry at https://submersion14.com/collections/all
What we need is first, financial support for this new ministry and second, we need volunteers to help out on a weekly basis. Pray and ask how will YOU can help these marginalized children have a better education
We ARE so excited to watch how God is working on growing, and blessing our ministry!.
May God richly bless you and your family!
Dios le Bendiga!
Richard and Melissa Jefferson
www.lightforthefutute.org
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