Visiting a Peruvian School

My third post:
As the guys in our Arriba group have been in southern Peru doing construction for a family who lost their house in the earthquake, the 3 Arriba girls have been “on our own” this past week. After our Spanish class ended at 10:30 on Wednesday, we were able to spend a day with one of our Spanish tutors, Victoria Garcia. We call her Vicki. Vicki is a teacher at a nearby Christian school, teaching English to elementary and secondary students. We had the amazing opportunity of going to school with her and being the teachers for one day for 2nd and 6th grade classes full of adorable Peruvian kids. Vicki was delighted to have teachers in her class that had the “native tongue” of the English language. We taught the 2nd graders “Jesus Loves Me” in English with the actions and “Old MacDonald had a Farm” to the 6th graders. We also played games, such as Simon Says and Red Rover. We would explain directions in Spanish and then use English words during the songs and games, teaching then some new English vocabulary. We also had time to converse in small groups with the kids in Spanish. One of the 2nd grade girls in my group, named Paola, lived in an orphanage. She seemed very sad and isolated from the others in her class. As we were talking, she kept talking in English! She is Peruvian but speaks English very well. Apparently, there must be English-speakers in her orphanage that she converses with. So, we talked in English, and she seemed to be encouraged by that.

We also visited a secondary-age classroom, where we asked each other questions about the culture, our hobbies, our future plans. They seemed to have a blast with us, and we enjoyed learning some of the clean Peruvian jargon from them. It was blessing being able to tell them how the Lord is leading me to be a missionary in the future. Joy and Nikki, the other two Arriba students, also had that testimony. The students asked us why we wanted to be missionaries, and we were able to explain about our desire to spread the Gospel and glorify God in our lives through serving Him. When they explained their plans for the future, none of them mentioned ministry. I pray the Lord used our short time with them to increase their desire to use their lives for ministry to the Lord, no matter what field he places them in.

I was grateful for this opportunity to view and even get involved in a Peruvian school. If the Lord continues to lead in this direction, I would like to teach or work through the public and /or Christian schools in some capacity on the missionary field. It is a great way to have daily contact with children and teens, and then meet their families as well. The goal is not only to teach and encourage the children, but also to reach them and their families for Christ and see them added to the church. My experience at this Peruvian school, opened my eyes and heart to the needs of the Peruvians and the opportunities of using education as a tool to reach the lost and edify Christians.