New Life Children’s Home
New Life Children’s Home (NLCH) in Villa Nueva, Guatemala is a refuge and safe haven for orphaned, abandoned, and abused children. Our passion and purpose are the nourishment and healing of mind, body and soul for children in crisis. We provide love, safety, shelter, food, medical care, education, recreation, discipleship and a family in which to belong,
In Guatemala, over 17,000 children/year are orphaned, abandoned or removed from their home for neglect, abuse and trafficking. Yet, there are only 105 licensed foster families in the entire country, and only 86 families trained and willing to adopt; of which 75% will take only one child who is under the age of 4.
What that means in general is that – despite the recent trend to cast all children’s homes as nonviable options for rescue – a loving home like NLCH becomes an oasis in the desert of suffering and the very best option available. Specifically, in the lives of Ruth and Jon, it means that NLCH was God’s instrument to save them from despair and to give them hope of a better future.
Be a part of the redemptive stories at NLCH by helping to sponsor a child for $40/month.
NLCH History
New Life Children's Home (NLCH) was established in Villa Nueva, Guatemala in 1976 by Dr. Fred Jarvis, the founding president of New Life Advance International (NLAI), formerly known as New Life League International.
NLCH is a very special place where children are rescued from abuse, abandonment or abject poverty from some of Guatemala’s worst slums. At NLCH, each child receives 24-hour-a-day loving care, a Christian education and discipleship. Here, they experience the love and joy of Jesus Christ.
New Life Christian School
New Life Christian School was founded in 1990. It is an integral part of NLCH’s endeavor to “train up a child in the way he should go,” not only for the children who live at NLCH, but also for those living in the surrounding community. New Life Christian School currently enrolls children in grades Pre-K through 12th grade, with over 600 students!
In order to not only accommodate more students but also to provide a better and more personalized learning environment, especially for our pre-school, elementary, and special education students, we began an expansion project several years ago. It is almost done, but we still need approximately $80,000 to push us over the top! You can help support our School Expansion Project so that we can complete construction and offer a quality Christian education to more children. This ambitious plan has already allowed us to almost double our classroom space and provided space to add high school in 2020!
New Life Christian School also has its own Spanish-language website.
Expansion Project
The Expansion project that has allowed the School to add high school and provide more space for Special Education, pre-school, and younger elementary grades, should be completed in 2024. About $20,000 is still lacking if you would like to sow into this beautiful ministry!
Phase 1—New School Bathrooms. This phase was completed in 2016.
Phase 2—Six New Classrooms … primarily for our special education program. The first-floor classrooms were finished in April 2017. The entire project was completed in mid-January 2019.
Phase 3—A Three-Story Building with Classrooms and Offices. This building will become home to our pre-school and elementary school which will allow the present buildings to become available for our middle school and new high school students. The registration process for the high school is underway, and Lord willing, will be completed and approved in time for the 2020 school year.
The estimated cost for Phase 3 is $970,000, of which $700,000+ is still needed. New Life Christian School is one of the important outreach ministries of New Life Children's Home. With Phases 1 and 2 now complete, our dreams of improved safety and security, the addition of high school classes, and an expanded special needs program seem more and more attainable.
Please consider donating to our school expansion plan by giving online via the form above or mailing a check with "School Expansion" in the memo to NLAI, PO Box 35857, Houston, TX 77235-5857. Help us finish strong! We would like to invite you to help us complete our School Expansion Project. You can sponsor the space for one New Life Christian School student, or you can sponsor an entire classroom! Your generous donation will be recognized via a plaque nameplate (student sponsors) or a plaque within the classroom (classroom sponsors).
Questions? Email us at: info@nlai.org
History of New Life Christian School
1991 - We registered the school with the Ministry of Education, beginning with Grades 1-6.
1994 - We added Kindergarten and Pre-School.
1995 - We began construction on a three-story 14-classroom building, which was completed in 1997.
1999 - We added a multi-purpose gym for PE, recess and special events like graduations.
2000 - We celebrated our first graduating class of 9th graders.
2004 - We added a larger education facility with additional classrooms, office space, a music room and a room for home economics.
2007 - We added programs for Special Education and students with learning disabilities.
2014 - We added the Band Program.
2019 - We have an enrollment of 470 students, our highest yet!
2023 - We hit record enrollment of 535 students.
2024 - We hit a new record enrollment of 650 students.
Medical & Dental Clinic
The clinic began in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch hit Guatemala. Mitch caused widespread flooding, and affected the squatters' village which is about a mile from NLCH. Fourteen people died there in a mudslide, and most of the homes were filled with mud.
We started what we thought would be a temporary clinic of six weeks to address the physical needs we were seeing: diarrhea, fungus, respiratory problems, etc. Fifty to sixty people would line up to see the doctor. We soon added a small budget-priced pharmacy and dentist to the mix. God used many people over the course of several years to get our clinic to what it is today: a pleasant oasis of care.
We now have two part-time doctors, two part-time dentists, a small laboratory, and nurse who runs the pharmacy and shares the love of Jesus with all who enter.
Little Pasos Learning Center
Little Pasos Learning Center, lead by Tara Goodloe Fuentes with the help of her husband William, is a pre-primary school in Villa Nueva that provides a Christian bilingual education to kids ages 4-6. The goal of Little Pasos is to produce students who are bilingual and biliterate. A bilingual education gives students a strong base for the English language in the hopes of better job and educational opportunities in their futures. The school launched in January of 2024 with its first ten students!