Teaching in Tipitapa...part 1

A week ago, Jim and I took a step of faith and drove to Tipitapa to hold our first adult English class with a Bible study immediately following. This is something we had talked with Miguel about doing as he and Elizabeth each had a family member who was interested in learning to speak English. We had just recently heard that there was another American couple who was also giving English classes but the rumor was that they were charging for their classes. We certainly didn’t want to step on someone else’s ministry but after sincerely seeking God in this, we felt like this was where He was leading us.

So, we told Miguel we would teach English but we also wanted to have a short Bible study following the English class. Miguel was in complete agreement with this as one of those family members isn’t a Christian. Knowing the financial situation of that person coupled with the fact that Miguel said he thought we would have about 5 people in the class, we said we would buy the notebooks and provide the pens/pencils for those people who wanted to come as we didn’t want that to be an obstacle to their coming.

Miguel was very concerned that we wouldn’t want to drive there for only 5 people but we assured him that God didn’t tell us how many people we needed to have to begin the class, only that we were to begin the class and that we weren’t concerned with the numbers. That was a good thing because Miguel called us last Friday evening, the day before the classes were to begin to tell us that he thought we would have around 15 people! Wow! I never dreamt that we would have that many! God reminded me He came to give life abundantly! Oh, me of little faith. Thankfully, I already had the pens, pencils and erasers on hand but we had some shopping to do to try to find 15 similar notebooks at a reasonable price!

We had originally planned on having the classes in the covered area between Miguel’s house and his mother’s but with there being that many people coming, I knew he was going to have to find us another location as there just wasn’t going to be room and with it being the rainy season, we would definitely need a covered area for the classes. We were interested to see what Miguel would come up with for us in the way of a location.

It seemed like the time flew Saturday morning and before we knew it, it was time for us to be leaving. On the way, we stopped at Price Smart to see if they had large packages of notebooks. We had been there earlier in the week to buy a large, dry erase board but hadn’t thought to look for notebooks as at that time, we had planned on having only 5 students. Price Smart didn’t have any notebooks at all so we decided to stop at our favorite little copy place. We were hoping they might possibly have enough so that we wouldn’t have to make a trip to the office supply store at the mall at Metro Centro. Not only would the notebooks there cost so much more, but we would also be spending a lot more time making that mall stop than we had to spend.

Stopping at the copy place was a good decision. It’s a Mom and Pop business which stays very busy as they are located directly across the street from the University. Obviously, the vast majority of their clientele are Nicaraguan students and the area is a pretty small space, so when we go in, our presence is no secret. The owners are always very nice to us and because we typically are there on Mondays and Wednesdays getting quite a few copies made for school, they have come to know us and are very appreciative of our business.

It is an interesting little store as they carry lots of items, just not many of any one thing. They carry the typical school-related items but you can also find hand-made jewelry, purses, backpacks, wrapping paper, children’s books, many of them with Christian themes as well as any other interesting thing a vendor may happen along selling. I love going in there as there is always some curious object tucked away that I discover. Prime example…they had little 3 dimensional novelty erasers like cars, trucks, helicopters, animals, etc. that I bought for rewards at school and the kids love them! It’s a fun place.

I'm spider-webbing...back to my story. The owners were surprised to see us come rushing in on a Saturday which is normally a pretty slow day for them. I asked what kind of notebooks they had and the cost and the man showed me what was available. I picked out the type I wanted and then told him I needed 15. We both knew that he didn't have nearly enough but he counted the notebooks and there were only 8. He then told me to wait a minute and he went running out the door. He was gone about 10 minutes and then came running back in with an armful of notebooks. He had gone to his competition to get me more notebooks. Now that’s good customer service!

Finally, we were on our way to Tipitapa. It had started to drizzle. I was a bit nervous as it seemed like we were running behind time-wise and if it was going to rain, I knew that would slow us down even more. We prayed that we would make it to Miguel’s house in time. Once we got on the North Highway, the traffic seemed to be unusually light, even for a Saturday and we made great time. We pulled up in front of Miguel’s house about ten minutes before three…ten minutes to spare! Thank you, Lord!

Elizabeth was waiting out front for us. We greeted one another and I asked where Miguel was. She said he left a little while earlier and wasn’t sure where he had gone but she thought he would be back before too long. Elizabeth climbed in to the car with us as the rain started coming down a bit heavier. We chatted for a few minutes but we didn’t have to wait long until we saw Miguel come up behind us on his bicycle. Shortly thereafter, Danelia, Miguel’s sister and Kenneth’s mother, arrived with keys to the little Nazarene church which is just a couple of doors down from Miguel’s house. Danelia goes to that church now and she had asked the pastor if we could use it. Since the pastor’s wife also wanted to take classes, he agreed.

What a great facility for our classes! Not only were we in out of the weather, but there were working fans and the pews provided ample seating. They had a dry erase board ready for us to use and though it was in pretty poor condition, we didn’t want to offend them by bringing in our own. I think we’re probably going to go to Price Smart to buy another one and present it still wrapped up as a thank-you for allowing us to use their church. Once again, God had provided above and beyond what we had expected. The church was perfect for our classes!

We got settled in and waited…and waited…and waited. Miguel’s oldest daughter came but she came because Miguel had told her to come. That was all. Miguel was having a fit. The more time that passed without any other people coming, the more upset he became. He was afraid we would be offended. We assured him that God already had it in control and that it would be fine. I wasn't offended but I secretly began to wonder if maybe we had run ahead of God on this.

Miguel kept saying how the people were irresponsible and lazy, wanting to sleep with it raining. I told him I understood perfectly and that the rain was making me sleepy, also. I reiterated that God would bring whom He chose. Isn't it funny how in the act of reassuring someone else, we are often reassured ourselves. I needed to hear those words but I think God wanted me to hear them coming from my own mouth.

All at once, we saw a group of women coming around the corner and sure enough, here came our class, thirty minutes after class was to begin! The funny thing is that the Americans were fine with it…it was our Nica friend who was fit to be tied and ready to give them all a lecture about their tardiness. I stopped him before he got to really going with his tongue-lashing and suggested we get started.

I had been really nervous up to that point but when I saw the women were just as nervous about learning a new language as I was about teaching it, it helped to settle us all down. And we began. There were indeed, 15 students. All were women (all ages) with the exception of Miguel and a man who was there repairing some sound equipment who because of his location in the church, couldn’t help but listen to our class. And later, he actually participated some with us!
Elizabeth had appointed herself in charge of supply distribution, taking the task very seriously, making sure to write down everyone’s name (and age) and then after they had “registered” with her, they received their notebook, pen, pencil and eraser. She also helped me with passing out the handouts and perched herself on the front row, ready to learn the language that Miguel often used to communicate with us. She was tired of being left out and was ready to remedy the situation! That’s my girl!

The women were surprisingly good about repeating and participating if I called upon them or asked them to say something as a group but they seemed to remain very quiet among themselves. I realized they were still uncertain about me and did not view me as a peer, but rather as a superior. I wasn’t at all comfortable with that. I decided to have them practice their conversational phrases in pairs and then began working with them in small groups. That’s when the laughter began and as we ended our first class, we all were much more relaxed than when we first begun.

Immediately following my English class, Jim led a small Bible study…in Spanish, mind you! He is to be greatly commended for the time he put in to working on this as not only did he have to write his study, he also then had to translate his notes and his handout in to Spanish…very time intensive! If that weren’t enough, he then led the class in Spanish…a bit haltingly at times, but nevertheless, he did it! We handed out individual copies of the book of John in Spanish so that the women would have the scriptures before them. Although, those individual books are a translation of the KJV and Jim’s notes were based on the NIV, the Holy Spirit did His work and there was understanding and comprehension in spite of the translation differences.

Many of the women obviously attend a church as they were familiar with much of the terminology but I think it’s going to be interesting to see how God uses this study to move them from head knowledge to life application of God’s Word. Jim did a great job with his study and the women seemed to enjoy it. The pastor’s wife closed us in prayer and we told everyone we would see them the following week at the same time. Miguel stressed that the time would be at 3:00 sharp! I had to laugh and then so did the others…we all knew he just couldn’t let it go.

Our first class was over. We survived and apparently, so did everyone else. The women and I hugged and said our good-byes. Jim and I were exhausted. It had been a long day but an exciting one. We were pleased how God enabled us to transition the English class in to the Bible study. The pastor’s wife came up and thanked us for coming and giving to their people. We thanked her in return for allowing us to be there. We definitely were looking forward to our next class the following Saturday…which would have been today. You can read what happened with that in the next blog entry.