Above and Beyond

Most of us have been in a new situation or life circumstance and needed guidance in decision making, relying on others who have already gone down that path to help us. We see the same thing here in our area with families whose children are going to school, achieving higher grade levels than their parents did, and now families are left feeling inadequate to help their kids make decisions.

This is Luis Alberto and he is now a teacher in his own community out in the hills of Quiche.

The average completed educational level of the fathers in our Highlands area ABC families is 3rd grade, and of mothers is 2nd grade. This means that most of the kids in our program have already or will out-study their parents. This becomes an issue when kids get into junior high and high school and occasionally university level studies, and begin entering uncharted territory both academically and socially. When the challenges get intense many families are ready to bail out of higher education and are too often tempted to pursue the emigration route.  We know not all kids are cut out for higher education and not all families will be able to handle the costs. But we want to encourage families and churches to think long-term and also for them both to push kids to think about the decisions they make and how it will affect their future and that of their families in the long run.

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Our ABC program coordinator Cesar has been telling us about the conversations and mentoring that he offers to kids and their parents about this unfamiliar life of being a student. He helps families with the hard decisions and discipline issues that arise when kids step out of their familiar small-town culture to a world of intercultural urban life.

(Cesar helping with a skit about life choices)

This year, Cesar decided to bring in the help of our evangelist Gaspar to offer some seminars for families in the program to address some of the parenting concerns and academic struggles. Gaspar is a seasoned parent of 4 sons, all of whom have graduated from high school and some on to university. He will invite the parents together and have some informal discussions and question-and-answer sessions to help families realize that they aren't alone and to share successes and challenges with the group.

Please be praying for the ABC program as we work to promote spiritual maturity and education among the youth of this area and hopefully one day see more people wanting to stay and work in this beautiful country of Guatemala.

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Ephesians 3:20-2120 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. New Living Translation (NLT)

Then today, one of the ABC churches of Chichicastenango is hosting an area-wide youth event to encourage young people to protect their faith. In the past 15 years the churches of the area have gone from very few youth activities to different youth activities almost every month which is extremely encouraging for the future of the church. We are pleased to have people like Gaspar, Cesar, Manuel S, Manuel Q, Maria, Maury, Aura, Brenda and Noe as active leaders in the youth of this area. 

As a extra we did a study of young adults who had finished the ABC program here in the highlands and while there is not much work opportunities, young people are remaining active in their churches and their communities.