Newsletter - December, 2012
| December, 2012 Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Matt. 25:40 Published by the Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210. (717) 349-7033 |
A year ago I wrote a newsletter about one of our directors in Siguatepeque, Dixy Barahona. Through last December, he had worked for 35 years for the local Evangelical Hospital, in various administrative capacities. As a hardworking, capable administrator, he was appreciated by all the other employees. In just five more years, he would have been eligible for a well-deserved retirement.
But a few unscrupulous directors had other plans. Rather than to incur the expense of his retirement, they simply discharged him after 35 years of service. They told him that they were eliminating his position, and so they had to lay him off. (However, since his position was essential, they were forced to hire someone to replace him.) Nevertheless, by callously discharging Dixy, the directors saved the hospital money.
Although this was a devastating blow to Dixy and his family, they put their trust in God that He would provide another source of income. After considerable deliberation and prayer, the family finally decided on starting an Spanish language immersion school in Siguatepeque. In full immersion Spanish language schools, the student travels to a country where Spanish is the predominant language. The student often boards with a local family, so that both in and out of the classroom, the student is totally immersed in the Spanish language. Also, in most immersion programs, each student has his or her own one-on-one personal instructor, and all of the teaching is done in Spanish. No English is spoken in the classroom.
Starting up this new Spanish language school has been a family project for the Barahona family. Dixy has provided the business know-how, his wife Reina has had teaching experience, and their three children (who are all bilingual) all hold university degrees and are involved in various aspects of the school. Nancy and Reina have worked long hours developing a tailor-made curriculum just for their school. (Nancy Barahona is the person who writes most of our Society newsletters.)
Through a loan from the Society and from funds he had saved up over the years, Dixy was able to renovate a nearby building to create a beautiful school building. The upstairs floor of the school now features very attractive guest bedrooms and a kitchen for those students who elect to room at the school. The Barahona family opened the school this past September. They’ve named it Central Honduras Spanish Learning Center.
Back in 2000, I attended such a Spanish language immersion program in Antigua, Guatemala. And I can testify that this type of program is definitely the quickest and most effective way to learn Spanish or any other foreign language. So if any of our readers are interested in learning Spanish—or if you know of someone who is wanting to study Spanish—I encourage you to think about spending a few weeks or months at the Central Honduras Spanish Learning Center. To learn more about the very affordable tuition and rooming costs, please go to www.scrollpublishing.com/store/Spanish-language-school. Also, please pray for the Barahona family and for the success of their school.
If you would like to financially help in this project, please make a note on your check that you want your funds to go to this project. If you are donating through our website, www.scrollpublishing.com, please send an accompanying email letting us know the funds are for the housing ministry. You can email us at customerservice@scrollpublishing.com. Please keep this housing ministry in your prayers! DB
Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Donations
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