Let Your Lite Shine: February 2011

International School Project

We are traveling as educators for the International School Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

We have been invited by the National and Local Guatemalan Ministry of Education to conduct a teacher-training seminar in Guatemala City.

The overall purpose for this trip is to:
1) give the public school teachers a curriculum that they will use to teach their students about Christ and Christian ethics. 2) The Leadership Development Conference allows the invited, previously trained teachers, to discuss & share together how the ISP curriculum is changing their students’ lives, how they might develop more lessons, and how they might grow spiritually at a personal level.

All of these elements in combination give the teachers the encouragement and tools they need to have greater impact for Christ in their classrooms and communities.

USA--Guatemalan Relations

Most U.S. assistance to Guatemala is provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) offices for Guatemala. USAID/Guatemala's current program builds on the gains of the peace process that followed the signing of the peace accords in December 1996, as well as on the achievements of its 1997-2004 peace program. The current program works to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives by focusing on Guatemala's potential as Central America's largest economy and trading partner of the United States, but also recognizes the country's lagging social indicators and high rate of poverty. The three areas of focus for USAID/Guatemala's program are modeled after the Millennium Challenge Account areas--ruling justly, economic freedom, and investing in people, and are as follows:

More responsive, transparent governance, through:

Strengthened justice
Greater transparency and accountability of governments.

Open, diversified and expanding economies, through:

Laws, policies, and regulations that promote trade and investment;
More competitive, market-oriented private enterprises
Broader access to financial markets and services.

Healthier, better educated people, through:

Increased and improved quality of social sector (health and education) investments
Increased use of quality maternal-child and reproductive health services, particularly in rural areas.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Fourth day...

Today we'll have more training and meet our personal Interpreter for the first time; We'll finish with the general set-up for the convocation.
Please pray:

For a good start of relationship for Small Group Facilitators w/ interpreters;
final preparations;
that all the SGFs will feel prepared and confident.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Third day

Today we will worship together and spend some more time training.
Please pray for:

unity of each track (Administration, Secondary, & Elementary);
the track leaders: Bob, Cheryl, & Nancy;
facility details for convocation

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Today the LDC team travels by bus to Guatemala City; Convo team will be training & have orientation. We'll try to get an afternoon of site seeing in Antigua; This evening the LDC and convo teams will meet: pray for safe travels, rest and unity for a combined team.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

More Travels...

The rest of LDC team travels to Guatemala City: Please pray for safety, ease with flights, weather, arrival of luggage.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Meeting with local staff

Today the ISP team will meet with local staff, make final prep for conferences:
Pray for the team members packing, and final arrangements at hotels.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Please pray for the preparation & packing of the leadership team that is departing for the Leadership Development Conference that will take place the week before the Teachers Convocation.
Pray for all team members preparing

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Preparing for our next trip

Last weekend was an awesome Missions Conference at CBC. Most definitely the best one I have ever attended. We heard speakers from all over the world and it was great to get a report on the big things God is doing in people's lives.
The church was introduced to our 2011 ISP team and able to see a film about the Teacher's Convocation we will be doing in Guatemala at the end of this month.
The team has spent time together going over the curriculum, preparing the lesson activities, and making list of the last minute school supplies we'll need to get.
At this time, most of the funds have come in for our team and we will be making the final preparations this week. Please continue to pray for us as we finish up the last few things on our list and familiarize ourselves with the curriculum. Also pray for our interpreters as they are being selected and assigned, that we will get great matches and opportunities to share with them.

Natural Disasters

Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Stan in October 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people. The damage was not wind related, but rather due to significant flooding and resulting mudslides.

A town along the Pan-American Highway and in close proximity to a volcanic crater

Guatemala's highlands lie along the Motagua Fault, part of the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. This fault has been responsible for several major earthquakes in historic times, including a 7.5 magnitude tremor on February 4, 1976 which killed more than 25,000 people. In addition, the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone lies off the Pacific coast. Here, the Cocos Plate is sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, producing volcanic activity inland of the coast. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, four of them are active:Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in 2010.

Natural disasters have a long history in this geologically active part of the world. For example, two of the three moves of the capital of Guatemala have been due to volcanic mudflows in 1541 and earthquakes in 1773.

Let Your Lite Shine

CBC 2011 Team

COUNTDOWN TO GUATEMALA