Nicolás Fund for Education has always been a relational ministry at its core. During our mission trips, our friendships, cultural exchanges, and worship experiences with the Ixil and Quiche people have enriched our lives and strengthened our faith. We have provided prayer and encouragement to many students and families on our mission trips. Nicolás Christian School students and families look forward to our team visits. During this pandemic, we haven’t been able to travel to Guatemala since February 2020 to provide this encouragement because of travel restrictions.
How can we encourage Nicolás Christian School staff and students when we cannot be there in person?
One way would be to compose a short note of encouragement to a student. We see from the prayer requests submitted by our students for our monthly prayer meetings some common themes and concerns that you might address in your letter:
- Strong desire to get good grades
- Fear of their family contracting Covid
- Prayers that God will intervene in alcoholism of father
- Managing teenage emotions (frustration, anger, loneliness)
- Fathers who have found jobs far from home, and are missed
- Illness of a family member
You will notice from these themes that many are universal concerns that many of us have experienced in our own lives at one point or another.
Would you consider composing a short letter drawing from your own experience to comfort or encourage a student? Was there a particular Bible verse that helped you? How did God help you overcome those hard times?
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Let’s resolve to be encouragers for these students in 2022!
Send your notes to bmerritt@nicolasfund.org. We will translate them and get them to Guatemala. The teachers will place the letters in envelopes labeled with the basic theme addressed in the letter and can privately share that letter with a student in need of encouragement.
The other way to come alongside as an encourager is to attend our monthly prayer meeting to pray for individual prayer requests of students and staff.
This Zoom meeting is on the third Saturday of every month at 8:00 am. For more information about the prayer meeting, email kathy.riper@nicolasfund.org.
We hope to resume mission trips in 2022. A mission trip is scheduled for February 18 to March 1, 2022. The emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant will undoubtedly be a concern that we hope will not derail or impact the trip. Do keep those team members and the Ixil families in your prayers.
