Light & Life School is unique because it is the only school in the highlands that teaches the Bible in the Nebaj Ixil heart language and also teaches students Spanish, the national language of Guatemala. It is a private school which is accredited by the Guatemala Ministry of Education. The school emphasizes small classes with individual help for students. The public school in Salquil Grande is crowded with 45 plus students in each class, and reading and writing is usually taught only in Spanish.
Light & Life School brings to life the dreams of thirteen teachers from a Salquil church and Helen Elliott, pioneer Wycliffe missionary. Our vision is to educate children to become future Christian community leaders who will read the Ixil New Testament to their families and friends and use the New Testament to guide their lives.
This special elementary school started with one 1st grade class in January 2004. Light & Life gives mono-lingual Ixil-speaking village children the opportunity to study in Ixil, their mother tongue, while learning to speak, read, write, and understand Spanish, the national language. The dedicated teachers model and teach Christian values. Parents who are subsistence farmers now have the opportunity to send their children to a school where quality Christian education based on Ixil culture is provided.
The 2010, the January through October school year opened with 120 students.
Please click on links above to learn more about Light & Life School. Consider supporting this worthwhile ministry by emailing: Sharon_Rosenwald@sil.org
Click on images to enlarge
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Donations may be made by writing your check to "IMB" and mailing it to:
IMB c/o Paula Ten Brink 10015 Hwy 40 Henagar, AL 35978
(Include a note stating that the donation is for "Salquil".)
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| Principal Carlos with family |
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| National Anthem |
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| Nutrious snack- eggs |
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| Kids salute the flag |
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| Kindergarten "Leaf" Art |
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| Sit Supervises the Soccer Game |
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| Xhun Reading the Ixil N. T. |
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| Xhun, the first grade teacher for five years, is a committed Christian and also taught in his village church. Until three years ago, he lived in a hamlet 30 minutes further north from Salquil Grande. Now he lives in Salquil with his wife and five children. This 2010 school year, he will teach 6th grade.
While studying to receive his teaching degree, he lived in Nebaj for three years. Upon graduation, he, his wife, and his three children returned to live in their village. He walked or rode his bicycle to teach at the school in those days.
Xhun is now studying at SETECA, the Central American Mission Seminary, in Guatemala City. Every Friday after school, he travels to Nebaj on his motorcycle, runs errands and rests a little until he boards a bus at midnight to go to Guatemala City for class. He returns to Salquil on Sunday in time to participate in the afternoon church services.
He is studying Theology and Sacred Music and hopes to complete his degree by the end of 2010.
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Wycliffe has completed more than 400 translations -- each for a different tribe or language group. Today translators are at work in more than 700 language groups, dedicating some thirty translations each year. With personnel from thirty or more countries Wycliffe currently fields more than 6000 people in eighty nations.
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