The Last Post

As of Friday 3rd July, I no longer work at FEISA.

A number of funding difficulties at FEISA have led the Anglican Church in Paraguay (the body financially responsible for FEISA) to carry out a restructuring of the institution. As part of that restructuring, several jobs have been eliminated and mine was one of them.

I feel privileged to have been part of FEISA for these three and a half years. I have worked with some very inspiring people. In particular, I have been captivated by Ana's dynamic vision, embraced by Noemí's gentle spirit and humbled by Sam's generous heart. Then there's Susi, who has such a great sense of humour, and Esteban, whose faith knows no bounds... I have had so very many meetings which have been peppered with raucous laughter, because of knowing each other well and having a shared joy in life. It has been such a wonderful blessing to be part of such a dynamic team and I am definitely going to miss the working atmosphere.

It has been an honour to be part of FEISA's vision; to hear testimonies of how our graduates have impacted the lives of children, bringing God's love into their classrooms. I have enjoyed pouring my experience into the students' teaching through my observations of them on teaching practice. It has been great to be part of the process of awarding scholarships to the most economically needy students, thereby giving them a helping hand out of the poverty cycle as well as helping them fulfill their vocation. I have been pleased to use my experience to enrich the curriculum for training the students how to teach English to young children. I have derived much joy from watching the students progress in my English classes.

One of my greatest pleasures has been to pass on my knowledge of how to teach English to young children to qualified teachers through my Fun English workshops. I have even had the opportunity to meet with some of these teachers at later dates and they have told me of their delight in using my ideas and materials. "The children love it," one teacher told me. There is no greater accolade in my book!

I am completely amazed by the way God has been leading me through my life. When I was preparing to come to Paraguay and work at FEISA, I could clearly see how the work I was expecting to do here was the culmination of all the work experience I had had up until that point. I could not imagine life after FEISA because I couldn't see how there could be another job that would fit me anywhere near as well, given my background.

Now, however, I can see that even this time at FEISA has been preparing me for something else, something new, something better. I have learned so much during my time in FEISA, and one of the most surprising things is that I enjoy writing and might even have a gift for it. Because of this, I'm not going home just yet. The SIM leadership here in Paraguay have asked me to do some writing projects for the team so even though my work at FEISA is done, I am going to stay here for the next few months. I am looking forward to this new challenge and excited about what the longer-term future may hold.

This is the final post on this blog. If you want to continue to read about what I'm up to, my new blog is anhelando el cielo ("longing for heaven")


© Fiona L Cooper 2009

SIM Children's Ministry Conference

We gathered together from different countries in South America, with one purpose; to enrich our ministries amongst the children of our continent. From Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Paraguay came national children's workers and missionaries, to learn from the wisdom and experience of Betty and David Constance, our speakers for the week. We met in a lovely old hotel in Lima, under the grey skies of approaching winter, the last week of May 2009. 

Betty and David opened up the Bible to show us more deeply God's passion for children and drew from their vast experience to teach us how better to minister to those who are hurting. We could all identify children who had been through distressing experiences and Betty revealed the importance of not just containing the difficult behaviour that often results, but of finding out its root cause and helping the child come to terms with their pain. It was a real joy to listen to Betty express her passion for children and to hear the way the Lord has equipped her over the years to minister to children who were living difficult circumstances. Her talks were also packed full of practical advice for us, so we came away with ideas for helping children we knew.

I enjoyed hearing from all the participants the different ways God is using his church in South America to give children hope and show them God's love. We had plenty of time to fellowship together outside the formal sessions and the conversations over coffee and at meal times were particularly rewarding, as we discovered the things we had in common and the differences between us. There were tears at times, but there was also much laughter as we began to get to know each other.

I feel very privileged to have participated in this SIM gathering: I learned a lot, but mostly I think it did my soul a lot of good to spend time with these special people, all of whom love God and seek to share that love with children.

See more photos:

Lima - Mayo 2009

Adapted from an article written for the SIM Crucial Moments newsletter

© SIM and Fiona L Cooper 2009

half way through the year already!

How time flies! We're just about to start our 2 week winter break and I'm quite amazed at how this first semester has sped by.

We had the exam for the 3rd years' course on teaching English to young children and I was very impressed with how well all the students did. They had to teach an activity to the rest of the students, as though they were doing it with a class of 5-year-olds. I was really very pleased with the quality of their teaching, I couldn't have hoped for anything better! Hooray! It is wonderful to think that I’ve trained students who are now capable of teaching English really well.

I asked the students to fill in evaluation sheets at the end of the course and they all came back with really positive comments. They enjoyed the practical nature of the course and the fact that the assessments were designed to help them teach, not just to give them marks. They were also very positive about me as a teacher, which is really affirming. Overall, they gave the course 5/5, so I feel quite confident that I managed to meet their needs and make the course enjoyable enough.

I'm going to a wedding tomorrow evening; a young couple from church. The worry is that the only clothes I've got that are suitably smart are not going to be warm enough. It's forecast to drop in temperature tomorrow and there's a chance of rain. Still, at least I've got clothes to wear!

On Sunday, I'm leaving for the SIM Paraguay team's annual conference. This year it's at a hotel in the countryside and will last 5 days, including some teaching and relaxing as well as a great opportunity to just spend time with the team. As a group we don't get together very often because there are families in a number of different places, some very far away. So I'm looking forward to that.

And that's all my news, I think.