By Karlita Gomez

Ever since I was a girl I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up: a teacher. My poor parents found so many papers and books of theirs marked and graded by me. I remember when I was finishing high school I was very confused because if I started my studies in teaching then I wouldn’t be able to study with my friends, but after a lot of thinking I made one of the best decisions of my life, studying to be a teacher where I made new friends and met some exemplary teachers.

My first job was in a preschool where I only had 4 students and it was quite the adventure. I learned and enjoyed so much while there. With only 4 students one can work miracles. I remember during their graduation that one of my students played the Hymn of Happiness on the flute. Now believe me when I say that it wasn’t me, it was the fact that I only had 4 students.

After this I had the the opportunity to teach in different places, with different grades, teaching different subjects, and having different experiences that formed me as a teacher. Howard Hendricks teaches us that the “Law of the Teacher” is this: If I stop growing today, I will stop teaching tomorrow. This has made me reflect a lot because as a teacher I can’t simply depend on the experiences, knowledge, and information I have, but I must continue learning and I must continue growing.

Here in El Faro I have had the opportunity to continue growing (spiritually and personally that is…I’m still a shorty on the outside). During the 7 years that I have lived at El Faro I have had the opportunity to teach in many different areas, and last year God gave me the opportunity to start and direct the El Faro Teaching Center, which is a distance learning extension of the America Latina Evangelical Institute for adults(A renowned private school in Guatemala). We offer classes to finish up elementary school, junior high, high school and even some college career tracks. This has been another new experience that has made me grow as a teacher, as a daughter of God, as a person, as a Christian, as a woman, as a wife, as a daughter, and as a student.

It’s a challenge teaching adults. All my teaching experience has been with kids and the majority of my students now are older than me, some have families, there is no culture of studying here in this area, many haven’t had schooling in years and because of all of this many want to throw in the towel every Sunday when they come for classes. So, I’m not only their teacher, but the cheerleader that has to encourage them to continue despite the obstacles.

I am definitely not the same person I was when I graduated (I’m not gonna say what year that was so you can’t figure out how old I am), and I’m not the same person I was even a year ago. I know that I am not a finished product and that I am not perfect. Nor do I want to have a conformist attitude. I want to continue growing. I want to be warm clay, soft in God’s hands, easily moldable to his will. I want to live by learning and learn by living. I dream of a changed Punta de Palma and other communities surrounding El Faro but I must remind myself that to be able to be an agent of change, I must be constantly changing and growing. I want to continue teaching but will not be able to if I don’t remember that it is about God and not me, that He is working in me and that all that I am learning today, He is using to form me to be able to teach tomorrow.

If you are reading this I want to ask you a question. What areas of growth in your life from the last year are most notable to those who you are teaching today? Remember that even if you aren’t a teacher by profession, you are always teaching, always influencing those that are around you.