God Works Through Our Setbacks

Isai joined El Camino Bilingual School, a TeachBeyond partner school in Balfate, Honduras, a few years ago, as a Kindergarten student. He was extremely shy and had an auditory issue in one ear and a visual issue in the eye on the other side. He also lacked confidence and was struggling as a first grader. He found every assignment really intimidating and would end up crying almost every day. 

“God provided an aide for Isai the next year, someone who could help him with his visual and auditory needs. I also started wearing a microphone in my classroom. This was really helpful for him, because he could now hear everything,” said Reagan Jefferies, his Grade 2 teacher.

Isai started to come out of his shell. He made friends, enjoyed building things, and being at school. “I remember when he started Grade 2, I told people that while I wanted him to thrive academically, what I really wanted was for him to feel confident, to consider himself a wonderful creation of God, to see himself as Jesus does, and to love school and be excited to put on his uniform and come. So, I was really encouraged to see the strides he was making,” she said.

However, the pandemic affected all that. Virtual learning was a huge challenge for Isai, and when he started Grade 3 this year, Reagan noticed that he was quite behind and needed to repeat Grade 2. “I found this really frustrating, after all the big steps he had been making. His mother also saw that he was struggling and while she was disappointed, she was fully supportive of this change. The move turned out to be good for him. He is now so happy in Grade 2. His is confident and growing again, and is talking to others and making new friends.”

“This was a reminder to me of God’s great love for us. Things that seem like a setback, God uses for His glory. He has a greater plan, and we have to trust Him even in our setbacks and be joyful through them,” she added.