Serious about studies, willing to efface ourselves

At the Lighthouse Christian Academy, we want to make kids feel comfortable. Gone are the days when teachers could simply command respect by the virtue of their position. Today teachers need to be friends of their students.

The change is not all bad, despite woe-sayers. Teachers were always primordially about others. Respect was just a traditional element that worked for decades (centuries) but doesn’t need to be present under our current zeitgeist. Kids take first place.

We teachers are facilitators of learning. What’s important is not that kids respect their teachers but that kids learn, progress, achieve their goals. In this new change of environment, teachers do well to make themselves relateable. Hence, the self-effacing humor.

It is my experience that kids respect you if you work at understanding and loving them. If they see you make an effort to reach out to them, they’ll appreciate that. So such a video is no loss of teaching credibility. It’s a boon.

God in the classroom in The Door Bilingual School in Guatemala

I’m in Guatemala doing paperwork and preaching in the church and school my wife and I started 20 years ago and left functioning five years ago. We’re examining organization, finances and statutes.

But the most important inspection is the spiritual condition. Is the school leading kids to Christ? Do the teachers teach Jesus along with the academic course material?

I was delighted to sneak into this classroom. All the kids were standing with their heads bowed, praying. Because their eyes were closed, they didn’t detect my intrusion. I started filming.

When they opened their eyes, they erupted with delight of my secret filming. I was delighted to see God in the classroom. I credit the Christian teacher who keeps prayer in school. El Liceo Bilingue La Puerta is in zone 1 Barrio San Sebastian of Guatemala City.