Highs and lows

A lot has been on my mind lately, especially these last couple days because of things that happened here and also at home. This post might be a bit lengthy, but I'll try to keep it concise. :)

Lows

• Difficulties with some of the children while Nata's are gone.
• Beatriz needing to miss school, because her father has started drinking again. The family went away for awhile until he calms down a bit.

Highs

• Making better-than-usual progress with my students, especially the youngest one, Jairo.
• Being around the Ramos family every day. They agreed to stay here three weeks as houseparents while the Nata Aguilar family is in Mexico. 
• Texting with my mom(!) after convincing, or conniving :), my dad into getting  her an iPhone so she can iMessage me since I'm using an iPhone down here.

Now you might think, "Wow, you have twice as many 'highs' as 'lows'. Isn't that good?" Actually, it is and I would like to praise God for all the blessings He has so generously bestowed on me, but you know how sometimes a few problems seem to somehow engulf and make you forget about all the blessings? However, to make sure I'm not misunderstood, this is not a post meant to complain, whine, or blame God for anything. But, sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves, because, let's face it, life is not all sunshine and roses. The purpose of this post IS to inform you what's going on in my life down here in El Salvador, whether it be good or bad, and to enable you to join me in petitioning God for the 'lows' and enthusiastically praising Him for the 'highs'. Ultimately, we know God will triumph, and problems won't last forever. God can and will use everything for good. Satan will not prevail. I especially had to think of Jeremiah 29:11 these past couple days. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future'".

It's been over a week since we sent Silvia home. Ever since Nata's left for Mexico, Silvia started acting up like you wouldn't believe. Throwing things. Ignoring people trying to talk to her. Hitting and punching. Crying and refusing to co-operate. This all took a toll on Andrea, Melody, Pauline, and all of us, but especially them. Weekends when she went home seemed far and few between. Nothing seemed to help Silvia's behavior and it was obvious something needed to be done. After the first week was over, they had a good talk with Silvia's mom. Her mom is a HUGE blessing to us. She supports any punishment given to Silvia, and sometimes even thinks we're being too easy on her. Anyway, her mom told the ladies that if Silvia gave any more problems, she would come and bring her home where she would stay until Nata's come back from Mexico. And Silvia was told all of this as an extra incentive to behave. Monday started out well. She was cheerful and a pretty good student. But sometime in the afternoon she changed back again. She was taken home and she won't come again at least until Nata's come back.

On Sunday, we found out that Beatriz's dad has started drinking again. If you remember, her dad had been a drunkard before, but had stopped drinking for over half a year. But on Friday, he had been drinking and the family didn't feel safe at home with him, so this weekend everyone packed up and went to be with some relatives. They still didn't feel safe coming back on Sunday, so Beatriz wasn't able to come to school today. Her coming to school tomorrow will most likely depend on her father bringing her, and who knows if that will happen.

On the bright side, school has been going exceptionally well this week, for which I am very grateful. Jairo normally struggles a lot with math, but this week, with the help of some new techniques I've been trying, he has been noticeable improving. I think he was bored with the same old practice, so I decided to spice it up for him by teaching him in different ways. And it's worked!

Teresa, Ana, and Paola trying to see how fast they can maneuver through
the maze of numbers that I created to teach Jairo number sequences. 

Having the Ramos family around here all the time has been a lot of fun already. Talking, playing games, hanging out--you name it! I'm gonna be sad when they leave this weekend. During the week Kendrick sometimes visits my classroom and helps me teach which is a great help. In the afternoons we have unicycle races (yes, I can ride unicycle--can you believe it?!) and sometimes he goes with me to town. The rest of the family sometimes comes down to play games or talk in the evenings and weekends. Lot's of visits to the local coffee shop as well. And Jumbi (is that how it's spelled?), Susanna's parrot constantly keeps up a stream of squawks, just so we know he/she is there. However, this is their last week here, and I'm sure they're about ready to go back to their own home. I probably would be! It's been a real blessing having them here.

BREAKING NEWS: Linda Stoltzfus, a formerly Amish lady from the Lancaster County area in Pennsylvania, has gotten an iPhone, witnesses say. It is uncertain how this was possible, but apparently a son, living in El Salvador, had something to do with it. Sorry, Mom and Dad, but I just had to say something. Still can't believe my mom actually has an iPhone. But, in all seriousness, I now have text conversations with my mom and dad (and my sister if manages to borrow an iPhone) during the day which is so cool! 

Some other highlights include Skypeing with some of my friends and family and getting snail mail and emails. I am blessed by the support and prayers of y'all. I know I keep saying that, but I don't know how else to say it. May God bless you! 

So, yeah, there you have it. My last couple days in, I guess sort of, a nutshell. And, since I more or less have my prayer requests at the beginning, I won't repeat them here. Thanks a lot for praying!

No that's not right... 

THAT on my hand?! Joel is a little skeptical about
what he's about to do. On this day we had an art class
in Melody's classroom with her students.

Puzzle time! Left to right: Melody, Miguel,
Joel, Eduardo, Jairo, Cecilia.

Joel, Jairo, Eduardo, and Miguel proudly display their finished puzzle.

It's moments like that these that make me wonder how
this guy is going to turn out. :)

Meet a student: Miguel

Name:      Miguel Angel Hernandez Acosto

Age:         6 years old

Arrival:    First started coming to CICS in May of 2013

Teacher:  Melody Eash

Miguel is a typical very mischievous little 6 year old with seemingly boundless energy. He is one of those kids that you need to watch constantly or he'll get in trouble. However, his broad smile and sly grin, combined with his obvious need for someone to give him love and attention, makes it all worth it! Sure he can be bad and cause many problems, but if we can be of help to guide him towards a relationship with  Jesus Christ, what does it matter the costs here on earth?

We don't know much about Miguel's early life, but we do know he was born into a family that rejected him. His mother left him when he was young, upon which his aunt took upon herself the responsibility to care for him. His aunt had another child by birth, who is essentially a younger brother to Miguel, although not by blood. This is pretty much the extent of his family--his birth mom, as far as we know, has no contact with him whatsoever. He probably wouldn't even recognize her on sight. The place where Miguel lives with his aunt isn't what you would call an ideal home. The house is next door to a little comedor (restaurant) where lots of men come to eat and drink beer. Somehow Miguel developed a taste for the vile stuff and he has told us already that it's his favorite! He has come to school already acting a bit woozy, most likely from an alcohol hangover. With a childhood like this, it is no wonder Miguel sometimes struggles respecting authority and getting along with the other children!

Miguel started school here at CICS in May of 2013. A (then) 5 year old little boy, he had been coming to CICS barely two weeks before he had to have a punishment. The following story about that incident was written by Matthias Beachy for his blog: matheyeus.wordpress.com. Used by permission.

It was right after devotions. Kevin told me that Miguel had flipped him off. I told Miguel to come. He knew I wanted him to come. So he nicely kept his distance. I didn't want to chase him, but… 

He walked right into Wesley. Got him. We went to my room. Think he was already screaming at this point. I told him that flipping people off was illegal. A no no. I decided for his punishment I would hit his hand twice with a stick I had. When he saw the stick he yelled and yelled. I made him stand in one little square in my room. He wanted to move around. He cried. Yelled. 

Refused to give his hand. Clasped it tightly behind him. I made the signs numerous times that flipping people off, illegal, a no no. Asked for his hand. Told him two whacks. Nothing doing. 

I gave him a whack on the behind. Telling him to give me his hand. He yelled. Cried. But refused. He knew what I wanted. He kept trying to back up against the wall. I pulled him back to his square. He was trying to see what he could get away with. 

He even tried saying he was sorry. That bout got me. But he really wasn't sorry cause he refused to let me whack his hand. 

Several more, giving him the option of giving me his hand. Not happening. Whacks on the behind. More yelling. Refusal. Repeat. Repeat. He yelled and yelled. He was furious.
I decided I had spanked him enough. Now I would wait. Waited. Made sure he stayed in his square. We are talking like a half hour or so by now. I needed to go meet Flavio in town, but decided it was more important to finish this and explain to Flavio that I had to take care of some things before coming. 

Miguel was getting tired. He was still yelling and crying. I kept asking for his hand. He tried to sit down. Tried to go lie down on his bed. I held him for a bit. He wanted to leave. I put him in his square. He flopped to the floor. I was about at the end. What do you do? Then, he quit. He held out his hand. Was pretty amazing. He let me whack it twice. 

He told me sorry. I gave him a hug and went with him to tell Kevin sorry. Then I left to meet Flavio.

You would think the kid would hate me after that. So mean. Me spanking him. Forcing him to come to the decision to let me whack his hand. But no, when I got back, he liked me more than ever. Felt like the structure and discipline given him was what he needed. Like he respected me cause I didn't allow him to control me. 

Fast forward another day. So Miguel comes into my room and sees the stick I used to punish him. He looks at it. Picks it up. Whacks his hand with it. Looks at me and says, "don't flip people off".

Miguel has learned a lot since that incident, however, he still needs frequent reminders about different conduct issues. But when he is in a good mood, he is a joy to be around. He likes to show off make other people laugh. He achieves his goal quite often with his outlandish facial expressions and toothless grin. :) We try not to laugh at him too much, but sometimes it's a little hard to restrain our laughter.

Since he lives so far away, Miguel stays here at CICS all week, until the weekend, when he goes home to be with his aunt. He is fairly young yet, so he doesn't have a lot of responsibilities, but he helps feed the various animals and helps with dishes fairly frequently. Doing the dishes with him, means you'll probably have some water splashed around at some point. He also helps Elmer, his dorm dad, with any other work that he can do. Miguel likes to tag along after anyone who will let him. In the afternoon, one of his favorite pastimes is riding bike. It's quite amusing to see this small, skinny kid, with pants not reaching down to his ankles, riding this bicycle about as tall as he is. :)

Pray for Miguel this week as you think about him. Pray that he could grow up to know Jesus as his personal Savior. Pray that he could be an example to others who look up to him when he grows up. Pray for his teacher, Melody, and his dorm dad, Elmer, as they try to teach him practical things and also about God. Pray that he could use his difficult early life as a platform to demonstrate God's power of healing and restoration. Pray for Miguel...

I hope you enjoyed this special blog post! I would be interested to know if you would like to hear about the rest of the students in this way. My contact information is on the right if you would like to correspond. God bless y'all for your support to this ministry!

Miguel "helps" pick some juicy mangoes from the many
huge mango trees we have out back in our meadow.

Miguel, along with Silvia, prepare to pray at the close of a school day.

Miguel is the delighted recipient of a ride on Susanna Ramos's bicycle.

Competencia, and the Ramos family joins us

 Just wanted to put a small note here in honor of my mom for Mother's Day. It might be late, but no less meaningful. My mom never hesitated to clean up after me or to help me when I was down. She spent an unknown amount of sleepless nights worrying and/or crying about me. For all this, and for everything I don't even know about, thank you mom! God bless you for your efforts and I love you!

So this last Friday's competencia, our version of a spelling bee, was the culmination of the first third of the school year spent studying and learning new words. Students were required to know how to write a word when given a sign, how to fingerspell a word when given a sign, and the correct sign for a word being fingerspelled to them. Each group of students, grouped together by talent-level, competed for a small prize awarded to the person with the highest cumulative score.

It was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience for me at first. For starters, a student from my class behaving poorly would be a failure in my mind. Although I tried convincing myself that I did my best, my mind refused to co-operate. Don't you hate when it does that?! Also, on the day before the competition, when I had set aside a lot of time for practicing the final list of words, Jairo was sick! But ya know, as it always is, it went much better than expected. Jairo actually did better than Joel, which was a very pleasant surprise (on Jairo's part, that is).

As for Joel, well... Let's just say, he has a bit of a problem with overconfidence. It's a bit comical to watch sometimes. He will confidently boast that he knows ALL the words before a test, declare himself the predestined winner and then totally and completely bomb it. But hey, at least he has the I-think-I-can attitude, right? :) He's a really intelligent individual--he just needs to learn to slow down and make sure sometimes.

Jairo digs into his brain for correct sign for P-E-R-R-O (dog).

The winner from my class! Eduardo studied hard and deserved
to win. He wasn't perfect, though. Next time he'll do even better! :)

On Saturday, some of guys went to a public pool place just down the road. It's a bit overgrown and small, but at least it's water! They do have these really cool water slides with a pool at the bottom. They have a red slide that's about 50 feet high with an near vertical drop. And of course, once the rush wears off just sliding down normally, you can go down backwards, or jump out at the top and get a 1 second free fall before you hit the slide again. :)

Much fun to be had!

Starting the past Monday, the Ramos family is now living here to take the place of Nata and Becky while they are in Mexico to help start up a new deaf school there. I, for one, was and still am very excited about them being here. I think they'll make excellent house-parents! I'm sure it's quite a change for them, but they're doing a swell job as far as I can tell.

Not to say that this doesn't present it's challenges. The biggest one is the change in authority for the children. I'm sure I was bad for the substitute teacher, as well, but why do children think a change in authority merits misbehaving just to be sure that the substitute really is capable? You tell me... Anyway, that kinda leads me into the prayer requests:

• Pray HARD for these weeks while Nata and Becky are gone that the children would respect authority, just they are expected to do at other times. 
• Pray especially for Silvia, one of the girls that stays here during the week, and a member of Melody's class. She is usually a bit of a handful, even with Nata's here, but ever since Monday, she has been out of control.
• Pray for Andrea, Silvia's dorm mom, and Melody, her teacher. Pray for wisdom and patience.
• Pray for the school in general, that God would protect this school and not let Satan divide, or in any other way, harm the ministry here.