Nicolás Fund for Education will be holding a special Guatemalan textile sale at Evergreen Covenant Church on December 4th. [spacer height=”20px”]This event will be held in the Fellowship Hall on the second floor from 11:15 am – 2 pm. Evergreen Covenant Church is located at 3200 78th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040. In addition to the Textile Sale, the NFE July team will host a trip report. [spacer height=”20px”]A light snack will be served. Come and hear about the amazing work that NFE has been doing through Nicolás Christian School, Villa Hortencia 1 and Belén! These textiles were hand-woven using traditional back-strap looms in the Ixil region of Guatemala, where Nicolás Fund for Education is working. The back-strap loom is an ancient form of weaving, and Guatemalan women produce some of the best weavings in the world. This form of weaving is universally practiced by our student’s mothers and even by some of our Nicolás Christian School students. These textiles are colorful, very functional and feature Mayan cultural designs that date back centuries. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience art from another culture, to purchase a unique and beautiful Christmas gift or to add a dash of color to your home. [spacer height=”20px”]All proceeds will benefit the Nicolás Fund for Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to improve education for indigenous Mayan students in this region of Guatemala. Help support the education of these children. Education will empower these children to compete politically and economically in the future of their country.
Our New Seventh-Graders Need Your Help!
Friends, thank you so much for investing in the young lives of Guatemala’s Ixil region! Through your generosity, students from this desperately impoverished region are looking forward to a future free from poverty—through a high-quality secondary education! Because you care deeply about the students we serve together, I want to celebrate with you some of the great accomplishments of the Nicolás Christian School. I also want to share with you an urgent request as the new school year gets underway in January 2017. I am so blessed to report that, still in its first year, the Nicolás Christian School has already become known throughout the Ixil region as a center of educational excellence! Our science and computer labs are one-of-a kind, and our library/resource center is the envy of other schools. The leadership is excellent. And, most important, the school is openly and unapologetically rooted in the Christian faith. No wonder our students are so proud of their school! These amazing blessings are due to donors just like you—along with other faithful friends—who have stepped up to support and pray for the school and NFE students. This January, a new class of seventh-graders from Agros Ixil villages will start their first year at the Nicolás Christian School. We have begun work with three additional Agros villages, and those children are anxious to begin attending Nicolás Christian School. Three students from San Nicolás, seven students from Cajixay and other students are praying that they will be able to continue their education beyond the sixth grade. We won’t be able to accommodate these additional students unless we can increase our budget. We haven’t yet raised sufficient funding to cover their scholarship …
Announcing Nicolás Christian School Student of the Week
Nicolás Fund for Education is pleased to announce a new opportunity to get to know the wonderful students of Nicolás Christian School. Each week an NCS student is chosen as the Student of the Week. The student creates a video sharing his or her story about how NFE is transforming his/her life. We are thrilled to celebrate our student’s accomplishments with you. Check out the Students of the Week along with many other NFE videos on our new Video Gallery.
Nicolás Christian School Marching Band
Those of you who have travelled with us to Guatemala know that junior and senior high school marching bands are part of Guatemalan culture. More often than not, these marching bands perform Christian music. These students have never heard “Louie, Louie”, “Tequila” or “Peter Gunn”! The sound of a passing marching band with glockenspiels, trumpets and drums often was our breakfast entertainment when our Agros teams used to stay in Cotzal. Our students would like to develop a school marching band to represent Nicolás Christian School in parades! Do you have a spare glockenspiel in your closet collecting dust? We would love to send it down to our school with a future team! Other marching band instruments such as marching band drums, trumpets, flutes, etc. are also needed. If you’d prefer to donate towards the purchase of instruments locally, you can do that on our web page using the “Donate” tab!
July 2016 Impact Team Preparing to Depart
We are thankful for the team members who have committed to serve the people of the Ixil region on our July 2016 Impact Trip. The NFE Impact Team will be in Guatemala from July 22nd to August 1st. The Impact Team will visit the villages, school, and families. In addition, the Impact Team will hold a Professional Development Workshop for local teachers and meet with NFE alumni. Prayer is the foundation for everything we do in our service to the Lord. Will you commit to praying for one our team members in preparation for and during the Impact Trip? July 2016 Impact Team Members Al Lopus Lane Lopus Heidi Reynolds Mike Reynolds Bill Safstrom
June Student Spotlight: Pedro David from La Bendición
Pedro David is the son of pea and fruit tree farmers. He has older twin brothers, Gaspar and Juan, and two younger brothers, Eduardo and Angel Gabriel. Pedro David’s mother has had to stop weaving due to eye problems. In 2006 Pedro David’s parents expressed the dream that their children would, “one day be able to attend and graduate from high school.” Pedro David is just about to fulfill their dream this November when he graduates from 11th grade, thanks to your donations! Pedro David recently volunteered to preach the word of God during student-led worship at Nicolás Christian School, and reportedly did a fantastic job! He is also making progress in both academics and in his spiritual growth, according to NFE Program Director Ivan España. Pedro David was the “Top Student” at Nicolás Christian School last month! Pedro David recently told us, “Before I began attending Nicolás Christian School, I was worried because I was not studying. Now that I have a scholarship to attend Nicolás Christian School, my life is happy and changing many things, and getting better every day. If I were not in school, my life would be different. I would maybe be doing other activities that do not benefit me personally. Please pray for me to do my activities better than before, to get good grades and to not go through bad times.” Pedro David’s mother requests prayer for employment opportunities for Pedro David after graduation in November.
Fulfilling A Dream 2016: Barney Reynolds, 2016 Pioneer Award Recipient
Nicolás Fund for Education posthumously honored Barney Reynolds with the 2016 Pioneer Award in gratitude for his vision, inspiration, planning and hard work. Barney Reynolds’ daughter-in-law, Heidi Reynolds, and her daughter, Erin, traveled from California to attend the event and receive this award on behalf of the Reynolds family. Both Heidi and Erin, and Barney’s son, Mike, were part of the NFE February 2015 and 2016 teams and have seen first-hand the fruits of their father’s labor.
