Teaching Sisters

ZCS teachers Hilda Duran (2nd-grade), Silvia Nuñez (5th-grade)

Zeeland Christian is a place for families to come together to share the love of God. For sisters Hilda and Silvia, this has been no exception. Sharing their passion for teaching together is an answer to many prayers, as well as years spent apart that brings two journeys and two sisters together into one school.

Hilda and Silvia’s story begins in Ambato, Ecuador, a town approximately the size of Holland. Their family owned a small business, which set the sisters’ passions in motion in two very different ways. Inspired by her family, Hilda felt drawn towards studying business and administration in college. She stayed in Ambato for years, even after Silvia left for the United States with her husband, which Hilda recalls as a difficult time. She would pray to be near her sister again someday, having faith and believing, “God always has his ways”. Among this prayer and others, she hoped the most that God would provide her an opportunity to be a blessing to others.

Silvia’s love of teaching began at a young age when she was sent to live with her grandmother, who was a teacher by profession, as her family ran their business. She remembers those days fondly, as a special time that allowed her passion of teaching to bloom with her grandmother as her own teacher. She would let Silvia practice teaching as well, and eventually prepared her for her first experience at a young age of teaching the book of catechism in her neighborhood church. After studying education in college, she married her husband and moved to the United States. To be separated from Hilda by many miles and countries made it difficult for her; but one day, her sister would be by her side once again.

Ten years ago, Hilda made the decision to move to the United States to join her sister in Michigan. Silvia had already been teaching at Zeeland Christian and wanted to assist Hilda in finding a job at the school she loved so much. She started as a preschool aide, which led her to find her passion in children. After Hilda took classes for a degree in teaching, the sisters shared many classroom experiences including teaching second grade. They both talk fondly of helping one another in the classroom and speak of a similar motivation that inspires them to teach every day. “It is such a blessing to have her close”, Silvia says.

Shortly after beginning to work at ZCS, Hilda had a dream that quelled any uneasiness she felt about teaching: she stood surrounded by children and heard a voice above that told her she needed to take care of them. The next day, Hilda entered the classroom and says she saw them with a new set of eyes. They showed her how teaching is much more than math or science, but rather leading students to see God’s love within her; an answer to a hopeful prayer.

Silvia shares a similar motivation to teach her students about God’s love, found within her own love of her students. She says her heart is in teaching, as well as in sharing her culture with the children. The sisters have both enjoyed teaching their students about their upbringing in Ecuador through stories of their cultural experiences. Hilda believes it is a gift to share her heritage with her 2nd-grade students. She says “I always have a connection with my culture, my country, and my family. That is what I am teaching to them.” Their students are constantly excited to ask questions about Hilda and Silvia’s country, and they do class projects to learn more about Ecuadorian culture.

The sisters are so grateful to teach together and share their passion for spreading God’s love to the children of ZCS. After years spent apart, they have been able to maintain their bond, two journeys reunited within God’s path. Reflecting on their journeys, Hilda expresses how grateful she is for the blessings bestowed onto her, faithfully expressing, “God has given me everything”.