El Valle de los Huesos Secos

A central part of my life in Guatemala is my church.  This year Jess and I have been attending St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in Xela.  Liturgy is not always my thing, but St. Mark's is one of few (maybe the only?) churches that has an English-speaking service in Xela.  Jess and I were seeking connection and community at church and we weren't finding it at our previous church.  We have found that at St. Mark's.  It is a small congregation.  The average Sunday morning has about 5-7 congregants.  The small number doesn't stop the presence of God.  We are thankful for our church and are thankful for God's provision in that area.

The service is led by Laurel McMarlin who has also served as Bible teacher and Chaplain at IAS in years passed.  Laurel has been a great blessing for us and I am so thankful for his commitment to and clear teaching of gospel truth.  One of my favorite aspects of the service each week is the reading of four scriptures--old testament, new testament, a psalm and a gospel reading.  I love the way the scriptures relate to each other every week and it is beautiful to see the way scripture reinforces itself and to see the truth that God has been revealing to us since the beginning of his creation.

This is Laurel.  He is a champion and I am thankful for him.

Today's blog is really about this morning's Old Testament scripture.  Old Testament passages can be dry  and sometimes seems disconnected to our world now.  This passage is a beautiful one that speaks to our lives and God's love for us and his power to heal and redeem us.  The passage was Ezekiel 37:1-14.  I've included it below.  Take a moment to read it.

Ezekiel 34:1-14
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.  He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.  He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.  I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.  Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"  So I prophesied as I was commanded.  And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.  I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'"  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army.  Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.  They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'  Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.  Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.  Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"

This is a passage to the Jewish nation in exile being returned to God's promised land but I believe it speaks great truths to our lives today.   It is a verse that speaks about a very significant truth in my life--I am a pile of dry bones.  Death and decay have overcome my person and my life.  I have wandered from the promised land and am rotting in a valley of dry bones.  What a depressing thought.  Thanks be to God, the story doesn't end there.  "...there was a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone."  "...tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them."  "...and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet."  

It is Lent.  Easter is two weeks from today.  Egg hunts, jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and pastel colors are fun, but Easter is about the resurrected Christ.  God himself died for our dry bones so that His promise might be fulfilled.  "I will open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live!"  

These next two weeks, I hope to spend my time and energy reflecting on this truth and demonstration of God's love.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

I will spare the list of my transgressions, but I know well my short-comings and the ways that I have offended God.  I know the state of my soul on my own.  But I give thanks for the truth found in these verses.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you

Romans 8:11

God has breathed into me that I may live!  In Christ, I live a resurrected life!  

hay una fiesta abajo

So, it appears consistency is not my strength when it comes to blogging.  But, there is a party going on downstairs from my apartment and it is quite loud so I am not sleeping.  My apologies for the delay, but here is an update for my faithful followers.  ;-)

The last day I blogged was November 10, 2013.  This will always be a special day.  It is the anniversary of my dear friends Marc and Lacy and will forevermore be the day that Jessica and I were engaged!

Thanks to our principal Shawn Lohse for taking our wonderful engagement photos.

Since then we have been planning our June 21 wedding in New York and July 19 reception in Texas.  We are super excited about an action packed summer full of celebrating our love with the people we love and who have loved us so much over the years!

Soon after, we had a nice extended break for Christmas.  Christmas break was filled with many wonderful blessings but they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

My brothers and their children.  Brothers: Mike, Ryan, James, Sean (L to R)
Children: Elise, Ashtyn, Ian (L to R).

4th Brother Luke

It is a wonderful blessing to spend the holidays with family and friends.  Oneonta  is a place that is incredibly dear to my heart and will always be.  I was able to see those I love most and go to church.  Due to inclement weather we were in town a few extra days and got to spend an extra Sunday in church while Jess was visiting.  Now that I am away, I cherish each Sunday I get to spend with the body at Main Street Baptist Church.  They are responsible for much about who I am and how I live my life.  There were two specific church highlights.  First, watching my dear friend Josiah be baptized by my dear friend Ryan.  Second, playing music with the finest group of men I have had the privilege of worshiping God with.  After many years of wondering on meandering paths, God brought together a super-group.  I got to play with Ryan Alsheimer, Luke Moran, Josiah Zulkosky, Sam Judd, Joseph Sastic, and Jen Moran.  It was a profound experience and I will never forget that night.  Thank you guys.  

Josiah takes a dip

I am so thankful to have been able to be home for such an extended period and experience so much.  

After the aforementioned lovely winter weather, Jess and I returned to Guatemala a bit late for our second semester.  Things are flying along but going great.  This semester I am teaching an intro Theology elective.  It has been a great chance to help students grow in their knowledge of the Bible and encourage them in their faith.  I have been encouraged to see their enthusiasm for the course and the work they are doing.  

Also, this semester I have had the opportunity to organize and play music with the students for chapel.  We are a rag tag bunch but we are praising God all the same.  It has been awesome to see their excitement in playing and watching their growth as musicians.

The big news this semester is that Jess and I have decided that we will be moving back to the U.S. after this school year.  Our time at IAS has been a true blessing and we will be sad to part ways with a number of wonderful people and places here in Guatemala.  However, we feel confident that God is calling us back to the states.  Currently we are on the hunt for teaching jobs all over the country.  Our target is currently Chicago but we are staying open to God's lead.  I am finishing up my Master's degree in Educational Technology and am considering seminary after that.  We are excited about the potential opportunities that God has for us.  

Prayer requests:

• Patience and grace in planning a wedding from afar in the midst of a busy semester.
• Blessings on Jess' and my preparations for marriage and life together
• God's leading in my teaching and working with students on music for chapel
• A clear direction from God for next year regarding job, location, and potential future schooling
• Motivation to work hard through grad classes

Thank you so much as always for reading.  I hope to be a little more frequent than every five months.  God bless.

P.S.  It is the Lenten season and the following verse jumped out at me earlier this week:

Mark 5:34 NLT

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over"

Christ has come to end our suffering and to make us well.

Cumpleaños, México, y CEIPA

¡Hola!  It has been two months since my last post.  Certainly more things have happened than I could fit into one post.  Following are some highlights from the last two months in no particular order.

The first weekend of October I, along with some other teachers, took a two day trip to Mexico.  The school provided transport and lodging and we got to enjoy a relaxing time in the sun by the pool at our hotel.  We were in Tapachula from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning before returning to Xela.  It makes the weekend go very quickly and returning to work on Monday was a drag, but the relaxing trip was well worth it.

The sunset over Central Park in Tapachula

My birthday passed exactly one month ago today.  The students at IAS do a great job of celebrating their math teacher's birthday.  Every class sang in both English and Spanish and the most wonderful birthday cake was prepared by one of the 10th grade students.  Following are some images of the very fun day.

The students filled my board when interesting birthday greetings. 

Mariano Rivera recently retired from the NY Yankees.  The students felt compelled to honor him on my birthday. 

A wonderful birthday card from a very special third grade teacher.

Picture day was in late September.  I do not have a homeroom class so I didn't take a picture with any of the classes for yearbook.  However, the tenth grade class took pictures with all of their teachers a couple of days later.  Below, is a picture of me with the tenth grade.  The birthday cake pictured above was made by Ceci (far right).

Class of 2016

The most exciting thing for me professionally in the last two months is pictured below.  As you know, Inter-American School offers instruction in English using U.S. curriculum and standards.  Of course, there are a number of other schools in Xela that offer instruction in Spanish.  One of these schools is CEIPA (El Centro Ecuménico de Integración Pastoral).  CEIPA serves students who are working in streets and in other situations which have cost them access to education.  A number of teachers at IAS provide scholarship funding for students at CEIPA.  In an attempt to build relationship between IAS and CEIPA, a number of our students have been going to CEIPA twice a week after school to tutor in math.  It has been a really great experience for the students.  We went on Tuesday and Thursday for one hour each of the last three weeks.  CEIPA is currently in their summer break and we were working with students in a program similar to our summer school.  It was a little challenging for our students since they have all studied math in English their whole lives.  It took us a day or two to get used to doing math in Spanish.  Despite this, I think this was a valuable experience for all of the students and helped to establish some relationship between the schools.  Between 11 and 18 students from IAS went each time and we are hoping to continue this at some level next semester.  For more info on CEIPA visit http://www.ceipa-ac.org/index.php.

Carlos working with one of the CEIPA students

IAS students working together with CEIPA students.  The colorful bird on the wall is a Quetzal (see my last post for more info).

It has been a wonderful two months and the countdown to Christmas vacation is under way.  I will be arriving in Oneonta 5 weeks from tomorrow!  We have two and half weeks of classes left before a much needed long weekend for Thanksgiving.  I intend to have more posts before the end of the semester.  Thanks for reading and for your prayers!  God Bless!

This is just a picture of the graph of y=-secx that I turned into an pouty face.  I told the students this is how I feel when they misbehave.  

¡Feliz Día de la Independencia!

It has been an exciting couple of weeks.  Here is a brief summary with pictures to show the highlights.

Today is September 16.  Yesterday, September 15, marked Guatemalan Independence Day.  In honor of that, today is a much appreciated day off from school for IAS students and staff.

 Seen below, the Guatemalan flag commemorates the date on which Guatemala declared independence from Spain.  The national bird, the Resplendent Quetzal, is also featured along with the coat of arms.  The Quetzal is also the national currency.

This past weekend was marked by abundant celebration throughout the city and country.  Guatemalan Independence Day is very much like U.S. Independence Day.  Guatemala declared its independence from Spain 192 years ago and celebrates it much like we do.  There are concerts, street festivals, hot air balloons, street vendors serving traditional Guatemalan foods, and of course, lots of fireworks!

In celebration of the holiday, Xela hosts a fair on the edge of the city.  Again, it is very similar to any fair in the U.S.  There are abundant vendors and silly games, tons of tasty treats, and a number of second hand carnival-style rides.  The rides always give a slight semblance of precariousness (as is the case at many fairs).  Last year, I accompanied a few teachers and we were able to take in the festivities (although we avoided the fair food as it is notoriously dangerous for us gringos).  

Here is an excellent shot of the fair taken from the Ferris Wheel.  

Not only did Xela host the fair in celebration of independence, IAS held its own Independence Fair last Wednesday.  Put on by the student council, the fair featured lots of games and food treats.  Also, as the students met fund-raising plateaus, they had to opportunity to hit teachers with a pie in the face.  I was not one of the daring teachers who received a pie in the face.  I did however partake in the pie eating contest and lost to a 6th grader.

Mr. Broekhuis is defeated in the pie eating contest.

Miss Mashburn (high school science) receives a pie in the face courtesy of Student Council Vice President Rodolfo Juarez.

A week and a half ago there was an earthquake!  It was Friday evening and I was watching the Yankees lose to the Red Sox (a sadly common event the last two weeks).  All of a sudden, the whole building started shaking.  I found cover and prayerfully waited it out.  Needless to say it was a scary experience.  There were some aftershocks in the days that followed but life has return to normal since.  Some earthquakes are to be expected in this area but they are always surprising and never cease be nerve-wracking.  I am thankful for a steady home and a steadier God in these unsteady events.

While I escaped the earthquake unscathed, these ceramic swans were not so lucky.  They were a gift from my dear friend Luke Moran and will be missed.

A couple of weeks ago we had some very strong rain in the afternoon that cleared up by sunset.  It was a confusing day with a very beautiful finish.  

The building to the left in this photo is a small mall that contains the supermarket I do my grocery shopping at.  It is not uncommon for the street to be underwater during/after strong rain storms.  

This picture was taken approximately 2 hours after the picture above.  While the clouds often brings great amounts of rain, they also tend to bring dazzling evening skies and sunsets.  

September is past the half-way point and we are already down to less than three months left in the semester. Classes are going great and God is doing great things at IAS.  This week students in my Pop Gospel elective will be giving presentations on the gospel story.  I am very excited to see them.  Please pray that God would be working through this class to reveal himself to the students in exciting and powerful ways through His gospel.  Thank you always for your prayers.  God bless.

Un Nuevo Mes y Un Nuevo Hogar

We are now three weeks into the school year.  Things are going wonderfully.  It has been easy to get back into a routine and it is hard to believe I have been back in Guatemala for an entire month already.  Time goes quickly.  Classes are going great and I am loving being back teaching.  The students are doing great so far and many will be taking their first unit tests this week.

Last time I posted I mentioned that I am teaching an elective on the gospel in pop culture.  This class has been an interesting and fun experience for me so far.  On the first day of class students answered the question "What is the gospel?"  It was interesting to see the students' responses and get a sense of what comes to mind when we think of the word gospel.  This year I really want to focus on what the gospel means and focus on sharing that with the students at our school.  I feel like it is extremely crucial for this to be the focus at our school and in our lives as Christians.  This is one of the main focuses of the Pop Gospel elective.  Two weeks ago we watched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and discussed the parallels of Lewis' story and the gospel/Bible.  Students had some good insights and noted creative parallels.  This past week we started a unit on just what the gospel actually is.  We are reading Trevin Wax's Counterfeit Gospels for some guidance.  After we spend time really cementing what the gospel actually is, we'll spend time examining how we as Christians can encounter the gospel in the world around us and how we can be smarter and more responsible consumers of culture.  Another book that I am reading to help think about and plan the course is Gray Matters by Brett McCracken.  My hope for the course is that the students would leave with a firm and clear understanding of just what the good news is and to be more mature consumers.

Life in Xela: 

While I spend many nights at home reading or watching the Yankees/Friends/The Office, sometimes its nice to get out and have fun.  I was especially excited last night to be able to go watch a basketball game.  Collin Broekhuis, a good friend of mine here in Xela and the P.E. teacher at I.A.S., plays for the Xela team and they had a game in town last night.  It was awesome to get to see him and watch some basketball. Unfortunately, Xela lost in a heart-breaker after playing to a tie in the first three quarters.  

Xela is in white and Barberona is in green.  Collin is not pictured in this photo.

Housing Update:

Yesterday, I moved into my new apartment.  I spent the month of August living in a boarding house with an undetermined number of roommates.  There were four rooms in my apartment but I didn't spend too much time there and I was never quite sure how many other people I was living with.  For the last week and a half I thought I was living alone but there were sporadic signs of other inhabitants.  One morning about 9 days ago, a woman with her arm in a brace came in at 6 a.m. and took a shower.  I left for work while she was in the bathroom and never saw her again.  I still don't know who she was or why she was using the shower.  Another more pleasing experience happened this past Tuesday.  When I returned home from work in the afternoon, the bathroom had been cleaned and the garbage taken out!  This was less of a mystery as I presume the building hires a maid service.  It was a delightful surprise nonetheless.  

Yesterday, I moved into my new apartment.  It is very exciting to be in a new apartment and to know that I am the only person living there and there won't be any strangers coming in to use the shower.  My new apartment is in a 4-story building that also houses a Spanish school on the first floor.  I lived in this building last year and really liked my experience.  I like the new apartment that I am in now and am thankful for God's provision which allows me to afford such a cool place.  Here are some pictures of the new place!

My Bedroom

A panorama of the whole apartment.

The kitchen

The breakfast nook

The living room

The bathroom

My front balcony

Xela from the balcony

Prayer:

This week I am delivering chapel for the high school students.  Chapel is always an interesting added stress. It is such an incredible blessing to be able to spend a 45 minute period focused on God, who He is, and how we can better live for him.  But it is also time consuming and challenging to prepare for.  Pray that God would give me some inspiration and help me in preparation and delivery for this Wednesday and that it would be a time during which the students are open and eager to learn about Him.  

Thanks for reading.  God bless.

La Primera Semana

The first week of classes is complete!  It feels so good to be back teaching.  Even though summer was a fantastic time of traveling and visiting friends and family, it feels so good to be back here and to be doing what God has called me to.  Two of the biggest highlights from the first week were seeing students again and getting to do math again.  

Seeing students again

Being a teacher, it's sometimes easy to lose track of why you do the job you do.  Ultimately, the students are any teacher's first priority.  Being at a Christian school, the role we play in the students' lives is somewhat magnified and it is something that I take seriously.  Last year, in the excitement of living in a new country, making new friends, restarting as a teacher with new curriculum, and many other distractions, relationships with students wasn't always my main focus.  This year, without all the distractions of new things, I hope to refocus my efforts on the students.  I hope this year to do my best to adjust my classes and lessons to my students.  More importantly, I am hoping to focus on being a role model and encouragement to my students.  I want to work hard to meet both the academic and spiritual needs of my students.  I am still working through all the things that this might mean, but it is something I can use prayer for.  

One of the ways I am hoping to achieve this is through my elective.  Each semester, high school teachers get to teach one elective course in addition to their four main classes.  Not always, but usually the teacher has the choice of what this elective will be.  This semester I have chosen to teach a course on the Gospel in pop culture.  Next week, I hope to tell you more fully about this course, but for now I will just let you know that we are watching The Chronicles of Narnia in class this week.  It is a great joy to have a job where I get to watch awesome movies as part of my work.  

The Senior class of 2014.  From left to right: Oscar, Katja, Skyy, Danitza, Rodolfo, Abigail, Jose Pablo, Isabella

 IAS Staff 2013-2014 during our school year opening ceremony.

Doing Math again

This is now my fifth year teaching math (kind of unbelievable).  Each year it takes a day or two to shake off the rust from the summer.  This year, things have gone smoother than ever.  This will be my second year teaching four different contents-Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus.  I enjoy all  areas of math, although some more than others.  I have to admit that teaching Geometry was not my favorite last year.  While the students were incredible, I find definitions and theorems can get a little bit repetitive.  This year, I am hoping to take advantage of not having to write new lessons plans every night for four classes and intend to look for more exciting methods and activities.  

Math class.  Don't worry, this is from before classes started.  The white board is on the wall now.

This student did their homework in their notebook so they couldn't hand it in.  Their factoring is good though.

Housing update:

I am still staying at Casa Latina, but that will be changing soon.  As of tomorrow I will be putting a deposit down on an apartment in the building I lived in last year.  I will be in a two-bedroom apartment for September and October before moving into a one-bedroom apartment in November.  I am looking forward to having my own place again.  

Prayer Request:

This year our school has adopted a new theme.  "Jesus es verbo, no sustantivo."  In English, "Jesus is a verb, not a noun."  Our focus is transforming the world as Christians.  Our goal is to encourage students in what it means to live like Christ with a focus on being active agents of change in our society.  There are obviously a great number of needs in Guatemala (or any country).  As Christians we can meet some of these needs.  I think that these things are all true and am excited to see our school encouraging our students to work toward being and fighting for solutions to problems like poverty, illiteracy, hunger, and disease.  Pray for our school that we will be effective in this goal and that students will be receptive to the idea and be active in their communities.  Perhaps more significantly, pray that as a school our focus will always be grounded in the Bible and the power of the gospel.  Our social activism cannot stand alone.  It is God alone who has the power to change lives and the world around us.  Pray that, in our chapels and our classes, the gospel would be put ahead of good deeds and charity.  Pray that students' hearts would be changed first and foremost.  And that this change will yield socially concerned teenagers who are hungry to further God's kingdom in the world around us.   

Thanks so much for reading.  More on my elective soon.  God bless!

¡Bienvenidos!

Hola!  Bienvenidos a mi blog.  Welcome to my blog.  I hope to use this blog as a place to share the many exciting things that are going on in my life while I am here in Guatemala.  I am so extremely thankful for the countless people in my life who have shown me love and support so abundantly through the years.  I hope that this can be a small way to return thanks and keep everyone informed with the amazing things that God is doing in my life.  If you have any questions/comments/suggestions for the blog please feel free to contact me via email at smanchester85@gmail.com.  Thanks for taking the time to visit. I hope you enjoy it.  

I thought I would start with just a little bit of information about how I got here and what I am doing while I am here.  After teaching for three years in New York, I was working with the youth ministry at Main Street Baptist Church in 2011.  In December we went on a missions trip to Nicaragua.  The leader of our trip, Mike Najjar, and I were talking about my teaching career and the possibility of me returning to it and maybe even doing so in another country.  A couple of months later he sent me a link to a job opening at the school his son was about to attend.  I applied on a bit of a whim and God pulled things together very quickly and easily for me and it was clear that I was about to change directions in my life.  In August of 2012, I flew down to Quetzaltenango to restart my teaching career.  This time in a very different location here in Guatemala.  

Working with the youth group October 2011

In Nicaragua December 2011

This week I will begin my second year as the high school Math teacher at Inter-American School (IAS) in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (known locally as Xela).  We have spent the last week preparing classrooms and curriculum getting ready for students to return on Tuesday.  This will be my fifth year teaching math and I am very excited for students to return and to get back into it.  Being the only high school teacher here at IAS means that I teacher Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus.  Four separate preps was a lot to handle last year, but I am very excited to start this year with a much higher comfort level in content and preparedness.  I am hoping to spice lessons up this year and make things a little more exciting for the students.  I am always looking for and open to suggestions for fun things to do in the classroom.  

A brief update on my living situation:

Currently I am living at Casa Latina.  Casa Latina is a boarding house associated with one of the many Spanish schools in Xela.  I share an apartment with three other persons who are here studying Spanish at the school downstairs.  We each have our own bedroom but share the kitchen and bathroom.  The apartment I am is nice but I am very much ready to move out into my own apartment.  

Casa Latina from the outside

My bedroom

The bathroom

The kitchen

There is much more information to fill you all in on but I just wanted to start by giving a brief update and thank you to everyone who has supported me.  My family, friends, and everyone at Main Street Baptist Church who have supported me and poured so much into me over the years.  Thank you so much for encouraging, counseling, and guiding me through everything over the years.  There is absolutely no chance I would have made it here without all of your love and support.  Thank you.  

One of the best ways that you can continue to support me while I am here is through prayer.  There are so many things that I can use prayer for.  Here are just a few:

- focus in preparation for school

- renewed and newly established relationships with my students

-pray for the staff/students of the school

- a new apartment

There is so much more that I look forward to sharing with you over the coming months.  Stay tuned for more soon.  Thanks for stopping by, but mostly, stay classy.