2004 Year in Review

Jill Horn teaches in Guatemala

Jill Horn

Guatemala Map

High school where Jill teaches

A woman at The Servant's Heart learns to sew uniforms for children living in the dump who attend private schools with the ministry's help.

Shacks that lower class Guatemalan people live in which contain one room and a dirt floor.

The Servant's Heart volunteers serve soup to Guatemalan people in the city dump.

Jill Horn traveled to Guatemala in 2000 for the first time with Wycliffe Bible Translators as part of her sister’s mission organization. When she returned to the states she knew missions was something she wanted to look into and began looking at many different mission organizations and eventually chose The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod – World Missions.

Jill was born in Manchester, Iowa and moved with her family to Morrison in 1975. She graduated from Morrison High School in 1982 and then went on to Northern Illinois University, graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics education. After graduation Jill worked in the Sheridan Correctional Center for eight years as an adult education and GED teacher. In 1991 Jill began working on her Master’s degree and graduated with a degree in counseling in 1995. In 1997 Jill worked as a recruiter for Morrison Institute of Technology. She began teaching math at Rochelle in 2000 for one year and was then hired by Newman Catholic School in 2001 teaching math.

Horn stated, “I knew I always wanted to do mission work but it was a hard decision at first. I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave my family and go to a foreign country. I prayed that God would lead me to the right decision.” Her decision was made and in July of 2002, Jill left for Guatemala. She now teaches High School Math and Psychology at Christian Academy of Guatemala (CAG). “I liked the idea of teaching in Guatemala because it was close enough that I could fly home if needed.” Guatemala is a four-hour straight flight from Chicago.

CAG is a private international school in Guatemala City, which is taught in the English language. They have a total of 230 students attending the non-profit, non-denominational school. About 75 percent of the students are children of missionaries in Guatemala and the other 25 percent are Guatemalan children, Korean or children of employees for the American Embassy The school includes grades K-12. The 2003 graduating class represented six different countries and plan to attend four different countries to study higher education.

Guatemala is located in Central America. Sixty percent of its population is descendants of the Mayan Indians and 40% are Spanish. Most speak Spanish and the other speak mainly the Mayan language which consist of 23 different languages. Many are bilingual and some are trilingual. Some are from German descent. Approximately 100 people per week migrate to the city to squat in a settlement without electricity, plumbing or water. About 70% claims to be Catholic, 25% Protestant but less than half attend church and many are affected by the Mayan god and spirits. Temperatures range from 65-80 degrees every day of the year.

Jill volunteers with the Servants Heart, which is a Lutheran Mission Agency in Guatemala. They serve soup to approximately 150 people three times a week. They teach them how to sew school uniforms and also crafts and jewelry that can be sold to tourists. The agency also offers Bible studies and a medical-dental clinic.

Jill has signed to teach for two more years in Guatemala and also privately teaches Algebra two nights a week. “I really think I need to stay in Guatemala,” Horn stated.

Visit Jill’s website. Click Here

by Dawn Zuidema, theCity1.com
July 28, 2004