Morning Glory Christian Academy – Aug 25 2016 – 3 Interns share their experiences

MORNING GLORY

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

San Raymundo, Guatemala

Aug 25th, 2016

Prayers! Pray for the health of everyone at Morning Glory! Different mosquito-carried viruses are still causing a lot of sickness in our students and staff. Pray for them and for the families. Pray for Morning Glory leadership as they tirelessly work to finalize the details of Diversified School. Pray for the students as they are coming up on the end of the year. The Secondary Students have to make decisions about their education next year. Pray for safety, excellence, and fun in the upcoming events of Independence Day in Guatemala

Praises! We thank God again for the visitors, groups, and interns that came and still come to advance His work at Morning Glory. We praise God for Band Director William Choy’s new son. We are thankful that God continues to lead our students and staff as they finished the 3rd of four semesters at Morning Glory. We are so excited to egin registration and see more growth in 2017!

In 2016, Morning Glory welcomed six outstanding interns to serve our students and the various groups that came to work in the San Raymundo area. We don’t have space to write about all the wonderful things the interns accomplished this summer, but today we’ve invited some of the interns to share their Morning Glory Story. Below, three interns share some of their life-changing experiences. These contributions are edited, but there are links to the original contributions.

Molly Noonan

A wise woman once told me that when we learn to feed our faith, we starve our doubts. I had no idea that a year after taking this advice to heart and somewhat attempting to apply it to my life, God would plant me in Guatemala for the summer to intern at Morning Glory. By no means was teaching my forte or passion, nor was it something I felt qualified to do. So when this opportunity arose, I knew it had to be from God because it was something so far outside of my comfort zone I never would have brought it upon myself.

And as I currently sit here and try to process the past few months, I have to admit that nothing could have prepared me for this summer. I was shocked at how this little community invited me into their lives and made me one of their own. I quickly discovered that even the most simple things such as playing with the kids at recess or praying with them in Bible class brought me more joy than I ever could have imagined. Even hopping onto a crowded school bus each morning made me so excited because it meant I had extra time to get to know a new face and hear a new story. And it was through the sharing of everyday life with these kiddos that God worked on my heart and revealed a little bit of Himself to me.

Perhaps the greatest thing I was able to experience this summer was the way in which God speaks through the stories and lives of each and every person. I learned that there are no insignificant people to Him; no one with a story too small. Instead, God uses each and every one of us to communicate a little bit about who He is. He can be heard in the lives of those who have nothing and those who have everything, He has a voice. God uses the handyman at school and the woman who sells fruit in the market. He is part of the story of the math teacher and the orphan down the street. Even through the lives of these school children, God is speaking and His story is being told.

As I read through the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19, I realized that I am Elijah. There were many times this summer where God had to command me to come out of hiding and stand in His presence, times where I felt unequipped and unqualified to serve. I did not always know how to love these children even though they always seemed to know how to love me. But, when I finally opened my eyes I was able to experience a glimpse of the way God is whispering into and through the lives of the hundreds of students at Morning Glory. And it was in those very moments that my faith was fed and heaven felt a little closer to earth.

Read Molly’s full story at: http://www.missionoffaith.org/nima-update/2016/08/mollys-morning-glory-story/

Elizabeth Mason

It’s hard to explain Morning Glory in words, let alone into one long flowing story. Morning Glory’s story is comprised of so many chapters and paragraphs and sentences from so many authors, and I have been so blessed to get to be a part of that.

I spent a lot of hours in bible class during the last month I was there. I hadn’t spent much time there in my previous trips, and I now wish that I had. I learned really quickly that I had found the one place where my serious lack of Spanish wasn’t even an issue. There is so much more to connecting than just the words that you speak. Most of the connection comes from how you make them feel.

The students can feel the love of God without always understanding the words. I know because I now know some songs in Spanish better than I know them in English, and I could feel the songs even if I couldn’t understand some of the words. The students don’t always understand what some group members are saying to them, or what the words to their prayers are, but here’s what they do know: There are people praying for them. Someone is hugging them and focused on them and loving them. Portraying the love of God is just as much about actions as it is about words, and usually more so. “Dear children, let us love not with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

When I’m at home working in schools, I have a habit of focusing solely on the littlest kids in Pre-K through maybe 4th grade so I have always had the hardest time connecting to older students, especially middle school grades students. The little ones are cute, eager to please, and fairly understanding when you mess up on Spanish. They’re content with being pushed on the swing. The older ones are a challenge for me, but they are in need of just as much love and attention as the younger ones and sometimes even more. Fortunately, God helped me out with this. I wasn’t perfect at it. I struggled at first. I spent quite a bit of time wondering why He needed me to do this. I won’t ever be perfect, but over the course of this summer I have learned that I don’t have to be because God will always amplify the good and fill in for the things I lack. He’s here for all of the people at Morning Glory, and you can see it in the children.

I loved every minute of my time at Morning Glory. Even the early mornings, and I am about as far from a morning person as you can get. Morning Glory, and all of its authors, makes you want to get up and be there.

Read Izzy’s Full story here: http://www.missionoffaith.org/nima-update/2016/08/izzys-morning-glory-story/

Elizabeth Stephens

On July 2, 2016 I arrived in a new country surrounded by unfamiliar places and faces, yet surrounded by the language I love. Many different emotions were present at that time and I was excited to see what God had in store, but honestly, parts of me just wanted to get on the plane and go back home.

While in Guatemala, I had many different ways to serve from working at the school, translating for groups, serving food to the Casas Por Cristo groups, washing laundry, and cooking. However, the most significant opportunity I had was establishing a relationship with the people of Guatemala, That was, I believe, the best part of my trip.

At Morning Glory Christian Academy, I helped teach English classes, translated for groups when needed, helped the children with their homework, and even sat in on classes. I was able to spend time with many teachers. This was one of my favorite parts as I heard their stories, learned Guatemalan Spanish, and made new friendships that will last forever. Many times I was stretched beyond my comfort zone and had to step out on faith, but through that God showed me that He is faithful and by doing what we think is impossible, He shows us that everything is possible.

Beyond the school I had the chance to spend time with the children from the school and also got to meet people in the town. I visited many restaurants and had the chance to meet many people there. I started many conversations just by saying “Hola” and before we knew it, we had spoken for a good 10-15 minutes. In these conversations, I was able to make new friends and grow closer to the people there. One night I was invited to eat with one of the families that I had met and it was such a huge blessing for me.

My thoughts were that I would go to Guatemala and share Christ’s love and return home, only to realize that what I sat out to give, I was receiving by the people there. They showed me so much love and made a huge difference in my life. God showed me so many things while there, but I believe the number one thing I learned is that if I, as a human being, could fall in love with the people and establish relationships with them, how much more does God love us and want to establish an everlasting relationship with us?

Read Elizabeth’s full story here: http://on.missionoffaith.org/19

We want to thank Elizabeth (Izzy) Mason, David Griffith, Victoria Owens, Garrett Jeffcoat, Molly Noonan, and Elizabeth Mason for their exemplary service, commitment to our Core Values, and giving of themselves to write God’s Story in the hearts of our students.