LETTER FROM MARTHA BERBERIAN - From May to October, 2011

Dear Friends,

The years are passing by so fast. Last Sunday I turned 67 and to celebrate it we played the piano with

three generations! Elizabeth, Daniel (age 12), and I. I was 33 when we arrived in Guatemala, you can see the picture when I taught music at the Calvary Bible Training Center, with two of my piano students, Julio Sosa and Luis Morales. It has been a blessing to invest in the lives of young (and not so young) people in our dear Guatemala.

MINISTRY OF TEACHING. At the Panamerican University, School of Theology, I taught Alternative Techniques of Teaching in second trimestre, to the second year students, using my book Enseñando con Eficacia (Teaching with Efficiency). One of my students is using the book to teach a similar course in his church, his first formal teaching experience. At present I am teaching Introduction to Pedagogy to the first year students, at the Central Campus, Zone 16 on Thursdays and Naranjo Campus, Mixco on Saturdays, 18 students per group. I see in them potential to teach formal courses in their churches, or become university teachers in the near future. Even though the course says “pedagogy” the focus is really the formal teaching of youth and adults. On June 25 I gave a conference to Nazarene school and Sunday school teachers presenting “The 10 characteristics of teachers that impact their world.” My grandson, Andy, age 16, accompanied me, filmed the conference and helped me with the book table. (Thank you, Andy!)

WRITING, PUBLISHING AND EDITING. Since October 2008 til now there were over 8,000 visits to my web site for writers: www.ComoSerEscritorGuatemala.blogspot.com It is a blessing that people in various parts of the world are reading the capsules. The last one was on: “The use of the interview to write history.” In July we did a revised edition of the book En Busca del Cónyuge (In Search of a Life Partner), a useful tool for teenagers. October 15 I formally presented to the autor, Dr. Edgar Menéndez (Rector of the Nazarene Seminary), his first book, Desafíos para el Ministerio en un Mundo Complicado (Ministerial Challenges in a Complicated World). I worked with Edgar chapter by chapter as editor, and I am very pleased with the eight deep but very practical chapters. Also in October we published a brand new book written by a Christian banker, Saúl Contreras Hernández, titled: 12 Principios para salir de la pobreza (12 Principles to rise out of poverty), with only 24 pages, but a great and useful content.

FAMILY: Susy has been a substitute teacher for two months at Christian Academy of Guatemala, and is expecting her fourth child for April 2012. Lisa is elementary coordinator at CAG, her four children study there, and on Saturdays she is studying School Administration in the university. Steve and his family came down in September for a delightful week; his many patients keep him super busy in Houston. In the picture below I am with my twin brothers, Jim and Joe, Pennsylvania, 2009. I am the eldest of five. Do you notice how small I appear next to them? Ha! In Guatemala I am considered tall!!!

SPECIAL EXPERIENCES: May 20th I was invited, with two students who graduated from our Frederick Crowe Institute, to participate in a one hour radio program on Radio Voz Evangélica de América. The program, called “The Healthy Home” is directed by Luis Morales Orellana (my student back in 1978). We discussed the importance of education to have a healthy home. The two graduates from the IFC adult program, Boris and Felipe, shared their experiences as adults studying high school. I presented four excuses many give not to study: “If I didn’t study, you shouldn’t either.” “Work is more important than study.” “To serve the Lord you only need anointing of the Holy Spirit.” “I don’t have money to study, I am poor.” I talked about the scholarships available for low income students, and how a home is more stable when both parents have completed at least high school.

Proverbs 19:17 says: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what

he has done.” I invite you to consider sponsoring a student at IFC in 2012. $270 per year, and you can send it in installments.

Your sister in Christ,

Martha Saint-Berberián BerberiansInGuatemala@gmail.com

www.BerberiansInGuatemala.blogspot.com www.edicionessaber.wordpress.com

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