June
25, 2014 is a monumental day for the Abundant Life Christian School in La
Unión: it is the day that our very first class graduates from high school! These
students in the class are phenomenal kids and are about to experience big life changes
in the next few months. For those of you who have been keeping track of them
this year, here is their latest update.
Israel. Remember my blog post about
this class potentially going to Israel? Well, they’re going! Ok just some of
them, but they are still going! The trip is through That the World May Know
Ministries and they raised enough money (through the program’s fundraising
efforts and some of your own donations too) to send Kara, Lenny, and 15
students on the trip of a lifetime to Israel. The trip is June 2-19 and they
will hike all around the country visiting Biblically significant places. God
has been showing up in incredible ways throughout all the preparations of the
trip. Originally there was only enough money to send 11 students with no
chaperones. Since then more and more donations have been flowing in to bring
the final number of students going to 15 along with both and Kara and Lenny’s
trip paid for. Other donations have been piling up too to fulfill needs from
hiking shoes, suitcases, to travel clothes. Kara has been fervently praying for
the trip every since she first thought they might be able to go, and God has
been answering her prayers in wonderful ways. It may be the only time any of
them leave Honduras, but they are about to embark on a truly amazing trip. Their
faith will be explored and challenged in new ways; they will undoubtedly come
back changed individuals. Please be praying for the group as they prepare themselves
physically, mentally, and spiritually for this journey: Kara, Lenny, Ricardo,
Kevin, Eli, Adan, Omar, Darwin, Nelson, Juan, Ada, Alejandra, Alexandra, Nelsy,
Glenda, Karen, and Lucely.
College. A year ago 6 of the students
took the TOEFL exam to see if their English skills were up to par with studying
at a university in the United States – thus beginning the steps to potentially
going to college abroad. After taking the TOEFL, ACT, applying to colleges, and
interviewing for scholarships, the results are in: four of our 12th
grade students will be attending college in the US next year! The news gets
even better from there… three of them are going on full-ride scholarships! The
best part of being their teacher has been finding out about all their college
acceptances and scholarship honors before them. Thanks to there being no snail
mail system in La Unión and the students’ lack of internet use, the teachers
got to plan out how to tell them about their offers.
Darwin
and Nelsy both won full-rides through the Walton Scholarship program. The Walton
foundation offers its scholarship to a handful of small schools in Arkansas and
the scholarship itself goes above and beyond the definition of ‘full-ride.’
They will have all four years of school paid for, any extra fees through the
school paid for, all visa paperwork and expenses covered, flights to and from
Honduras each year included, and a living stipend so that they have a little
extra spending cash to feel like normal college students. They were told on the
same day via Skype – they were both informed that a university in the program
was interested in them and wanted to do one final interview. While I did not
witness Nelsy being told, I watched Darwin receive the news. The interviewers
were very convincing and he carried himself quite professionally throughout
that final ‘interview.’ All of us teachers were huddled together on the other
side of the door listening in on his conversation and waiting for the right
moment to cheer in congratulations! He was shocked and brought to tears the
moment they told him he had won the scholarship and was invited to study at the
University of the Ozarks, worry-free. Nelsy will be studying nearby at John
Brown College.
Admittedly,
my favorite scholarship belongs to Kevin. Think back to yet another blog post about
my admissions counselor, Gary Camp, from Hope College ironically coming out to
visit Honduras and we had the rare opportunity meet up to share about Hope with
some of these students. One of those students was Kevin, and Gary told me that
Kevin stood out to him the most and that I should really encourage him to
apply; Gary felt very confident after meeting Kevin that he stood an extremely good
chance of winning Hope’s only full-ride. Originally Kevin was not even sure he
wanted to study in the US at all, but after a little encouragement and some of
his own research, he decided to apply. If you are accepted to Hope College as
an international student, they automatically award you a $13,000/year
scholarship. The students also have the opportunity to apply for more money
that includes a potential full-tuition or full-ride. Part of that application
includes an interview so I worked with Kevin to provide information about Hope
to help him answer the questions, practice the speaking part, and then also sat
with him for an absurd amount of hours trying to get computers and internet to
work in harmony so he could record the interview. Then all he could do was
wait.
One
night I receive an email from Gary titled, “Can you keep a secret from Kevin
Noé Membreño?” My heart skipped a beat as I opened the email and read that
Kevin had won the full-ride! I immediately leapt out of bed and woke up my
roommates to tell them and celebrate! Gary also said in his email that he
wanted us to tell Kevin in a fun way so the next morning Kara, Lenny, and I
started scheming how we could deliver the news. We planned to have Kara lure
him over to her house for help with grading while Lenny and I went the opposite
direction to his house to talk with his grandmother. His grandmother is
essentially his mother since she has raised him, and her many sacrifices over
the years have made her the one person that Kevin loves more than anyone in
this world. Lenny and I explained the scholarship and what it meant for Kevin,
and that we wanted her to be the one to tell him because of her influence in
his life. She promised to keep it a secret for one more day until we would come
over the next day and surprise Kevin.
The
following day we did the same thing: Kara asked Kevin to come over to help her
grade while Lenny and I took off for his house. This time his aunt was there as
well so we told her all about the award and reminded his grandmother of what to
tell him. When Kevin and Kara came over later we all desperately tried to keep
straight faces. His grandmother began by telling us what it was like to raise
to Kevin and how his father did not even want him going to school past 6th
grade. When the bilingual school opened Kevin was a bit older than the rest of
the students but she knew that if he stood a chance of success in life, this
was it. She continued to do her absolute best to support him in his education
despite their meager living conditions. When she finally ended her speech it
was clear that she was not going to tell him about the scholarship. I asked her
if she wanted to share with him the news we received and she simply replied, “No,
you tell him.” The only thing I could think of in that moment, as my heart
raced with excitement, was, “Kevin, I received an email from Gary Camp Friday night saying that you have won the full-ride scholarship to Hope.” His jaw and head
immediately dropped as he was overcome with joy and tears. The rest of his
reaction can only be described by this picture:
We
are all extremely proud of Kevin and the challenges he has overcome to reach
this point in his life. Attending to Hope is going to open countless doors for
him and I am positive that he will give back to many people here in La Unión. I
am so grateful that he has won this scholarship – the Lord is so good to him! I
cannot wait to see how he does in Holland, Michigan next year!
All
of these students are destined to do incredible things. The best part about those
three students in particular, receiving full-ride scholarships, is that the
rest of the world gets to see and recognize how great they are (it’s not just
our bias)! Even the ones who are not going to study somewhere else are already
on the path of greatness. Recently most of them took the Honduran college exams
to see what track of education they are qualified to study for. Many of them
received top scores and are planning to go on to be doctors, architects,
teachers, lawyers, etc. Please be praying for all of the students as they take
this next step. They have been in La Unión their whole lives and all been going
to school together, as a group, since 3rd grade. I can only imagine
the mixture of excitement and fear they have as they anticipate leaving. Pray
that the Lord continues to guide them along the way and reminds them that they
are never alone in their endeavors.
