December 2008

Oops, sorry I forgot to upload this earlier in the month.

Give thanks for a wonderful end of year show on 21st November, put on by the FEISA students for their families. It was lovely to see the dancing, singing and acting that they put so much effort into (see photos above). There was also an opportunity to see the variety of arts and crafts the students have learnt to do this year.

Praise God for a lovely visit with the play scheme ministry to Quyquyho, 3 hours’ drive from Asunción. We held the play session on 22nd November at a home for abused and abandoned girls and they invited all the children from the town. In the end about 120 came. We told them a Bible story, played with them and gave them juice and biscuits. They were all impeccably well-behaved and thoroughly enjoyed their time with us (see photos below).



Please pray for the academic and administration departments as they do all the paperwork which goes with the end of the year. Pray for good time management for everyone involved as well as peace and grace.

In December, the English Department will go through a consultation process with an outside expert, in order to improve the provision of English to the students. This subject is one of the main attractions of FEISA for students. We hope that there will be a restructuring of the way it is taught as well as a new curriculum. Please pray for a strong vision, fresh ideas and wisdom as we meet with the consultant and work out something new.

Please pray for a restful summer break for all staff and students. The admin staff finish on the 18th December and come back to work on the 15th January.

This year, the third years are not graduating in December because they are participating in the pilot programme introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2006, which does not end until the middle of 2009. Praise the Lord for our third year girls, who accepted this news earlier this year with a lot of grace and please pray that they, particularly, will be refreshed during the holidays, ready to start the final leg of their course.

In January, Samantha Parsons and David Orritt, our UK Volunteer Co-ordinator, will meet with one of our major donors of the past 5 years, to find out whether they would be willing to continue to support FEISA in 2009. Please pray for a positive and honest atmosphere in the meeting and for God´s will to be done in terms of their decision.

Please pray for the necessary funds to be raised in January to enable the Chaco project of training indigenous teachers and mothers in El Estribo to continue in February.

Praise the Lord Almighty for the amazing way He has sustained FEISA over the past 9 years, both spiritually and financially. Please pray with us for His will to continue to be done in FEISA; for clear guidance for the leadership and for the necessary financial provision during this global economic crisis and for as long as FEISA needs it.

November 2008

photos: 3rd year students' trip to the Chaco

Praise God because all the donations we were promised this year have now come through. Please continue to pray for more people and organisations to become interested in supporting FEISA’s work. Due to the severe fall in the value of the pound and Paraguay’s high rate of inflation over the past year, the same work costs a lot more money to carry out. Our bank reserves, which we rely on each year before the donations come in, have diminished greatly during 2008 and, even if the exchange rate stays as it is, will only see us through to July. However, most of the donations we receive come through in the September of each year, so we need to build up our reserves so that we have the funds we need to get to the end of September. We rely on your prayers!

Give thanks for a successful time of teaching practice for the majority of our students. We were most encouraged to hear positive feedback from teachers at the schools about how well-prepared the students were and how creative their lessons were.

The third years went to the Chaco as part of their teaching practice experience (see photos). They saw a variety of different education projects in indigenous and Mennonite communities. In one indigenous school in El Estribo they painted a mural and organised games and a snack for the children. Praise the Lord for safety on the trip and the positive impact it had on the students.

Praise God for a very successful workshop with indigenous teachers in El Estribo on how to use FEISA’s Christian education resources in Enxet with children. The project co-ordinator, Sam Parsons said, “It was very exciting to watch the teachers have a go themselves and see them be creative with the resources.”

Please pray for wisdom for Estela and Gloria, the head and academic co-ordinator of FEISA, as they make modifications to the teacher training curriculum in order to make it even more effective and cost-efficient.

Pray for the 1st and 2nd year students and teachers this month as lessons finish and exams start. Pray for wisdom for the teachers in planning the final weeks of teaching and for good time-management for the students so that they can revise well. Exams start on the 17th November and last 3 weeks.

Finally, praise the Lord because the drought in the Chaco this year provoked a quick response from the authorities, who instituted a state of emergency in the area and provided water and other necessities to the indigenous communities there. Give thanks also because of the recent rain which has alleviated the situation significantly.

October 2008

Cynthia on teaching practice

Praise the Lord because all the funding applications we have submitted this year have now been accepted and we received a number of donations in September. This means our cash-flow is now at a comfortable level for this month, though if other promised donations don’t come through quickly, we will be facing another critical month in November. So please keep praying!

The two-year degree extension course was losing students throughout the first semester because of exhaustion. In the second semester it was decided to change to a modular system, teaching only two subjects a week for six weeks and giving the students tasks to do at home. Praise God for the students who were thinking about leaving but have decided to stay on as a result of this change. Please pray for wisdom as the academic head, Gloria, sorts out a few teething problems. Pray too that the quality of teaching would not be compromised as a result of fewer classroom hours for each subject.

Thank God for the success of all the training visits to the Chaco communities in September. The evaluation of the indigenous nursery project in Yatnata was particularly positive: The mothers involved told us they had felt at the beginning of the project that they would not have anything of value to bring to the nursery. However, now that they have gone through the training, they realise that they have a lot to give to the children in their community. The project co-ordinator, Sam Parsons, was thrilled to see that the women’s self-esteem has been given a real boost.

Please pray for the two training visits to the indigenous Chaco community of El Estribo in October:
• 3rd & 4th - pre-school training
• 24th & 25th - workshop for primary and Sunday school teachers on the use of the children’s Bible resources in the Enxet language which FEISA recently produced.

Please continue to pray for the 2nd and 3rd year students on teaching practice placements. Pray that they would all have a positive impact on the lives of the children they teach and that God would shine through those of our students who know Christ.

The third year students are going to El Estribo on 21st and 22nd October as part of their teaching practice commitments. While there, they will give the 9 schools some resources they have made, paint a classroom and do games with the children from one village. Please pray for this visit to be a blessing as much for the students as for the community.

The Ministry of Education is going through a period of instability at the moment, following the change in government. This means that they are not addressing the education issues they need to deal with. FEISA is putting together a number of proposals for new training courses and improvements to our diploma course, which we hope to implement next year. Please pray for stability and a sense of responsibility in the Ministry so that they can listen to FEISA’s proposals soon.

Nati on teaching practice

September 2008

Praise the Lord for a very successful first training visit to the indigenous community of El Estribo in August. There were 44 teachers and mothers present and everyone was very enthusiastic about the new pre-school materials and activity ideas they were given. One teacher told the FEISA team that the resources and training are exactly what they have needed for years and they are very grateful.

Indigenous teachers during the training with the resources

Please pray for:
-The next pre-school training visit to El Estribo on the 5th-6th September.
-The final indigenous nursery project visit to Yatnata on 13th-13th September.
-The evaluation meeting with the Yatnata community about the nursery project on 26th-27th September. Please pray in particular for wisdom for the community about how to take the project forward.

Give thanks for all the play sessions that were held in August. The children who came for Children’s Day were from a charity-run school in a very poor area and they particularly enjoyed their time with us. The local parish had been going to organise lots of fun activities for these school children but in the end it all fell through on the day, so their teacher was especially grateful for the opportunity we gave them to come and play for a couple of hours.

In September both the second and third year students have teaching practice placements and this incurs a lot of work for the FEISA teachers as they guide the students through the stressful planning process. Please pray for peace and wisdom for both the teachers and the students during this time. Planning starts for the 3rd years on 1st Sept and for the 2nd years on 22nd Sept.

Praise God for the donations we have received so far this year and those that have been promised for the remaining part of the year. Please pray for the promised donations to come through soon, because the cash flow situation is becoming critical once again. Also pray for those funding applications which are in progress; for the organisations to catch the vision of FEISA and grant us the money we need to keep that vision alive.

The new president of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, was inaugurated on the 15th August. He gave an inspiring speech, committing his government to fighting poverty, injustice and corruption. In a surprising move, he has refused to take a salary for his work as president. On 1st September, Lugo gave a press conference and informed the country that the day before, a coup d’état had been planned by a group including the former president Nicanor Duarte Frutos and Lugo’s presidential rival (and former general) Lino Oviedo. When the group approached the military for support, the general who was invited to the meeting went straight to his superiors to report it. Praise the Lord for the integrity of this general and pray for continued integrity and transparency on the part of all the institutions which support the state. Pray for stability and wisdom for Lugo and his government as they seek to bring about fundamental change in the country.

August 2008

FEISA students in the computer room

Praise the Lord for a very good and refreshing winter break for all our staff and students in July. Estela’s health has improved and we are all very grateful for the wonderful, spring-like weather we were able to enjoy.

This month, there are several visits to the Chaco; please pray for safety in the journeys and fruitful training sessions with the indigenous communities:

Nursery project visits to Yatnata; 1^st-2^nd and 22^nd-23^rd

Pre-school teacher training visit to El Estribo; 8^th -9^th

There are also 8 mobile play sessions planned, including two special ones on 14^th and 16^th celebrating Children’s Day (16^th Aug). Please pray for safety as our team travels to poor areas and for the children to experience God’s love through this ministry.

In March this year we mentioned the fall in the value of the Pound, which was affecting our finances. We thank God for your prayers and the generous donations we have received which have helped our cash flow situation enormously. Unfortunately, the financial conditions continue to worsen and FEISA’s costs have now risen by a whopping 30% since last year. Please pray for wisdom for our Management Board as they seek God’s direction for FEISA in these challenging circumstances.

As our reliance on overseas funding has increased, so has the amount of work involved in managing that. At present, we have six people on our “Donor Relations” team; three UK nationals working in FEISA (Rupert, Sam and Fiona) and three volunteers in the UK (John Tompkins, Beth Totaro and David Orritt). The team’s responsibilities include seeking new donors, applying for funds (often a drawn-out and complicated process), sending our donors regular updates on the work they are supporting, as well as the whole accounting and administration side of this work. As the workload increases, we find ourselves becoming overstretched, since for all of us, these responsibilities are only a part of our ministries. Please pray with us for the provision of somebody with good writing and IT skills who can take on some of the responsibility for reporting to donors from our small and exhausted team!

On 15^th August, the new president, Fernando Lugo, will take office. Please pray for him and his team as they seek to fight corruption, poverty and a lack of jobs in Paraguay. Pray that the hope that his election has inspired will be fulfilled in a transparent and honest government and they will do their best to make the changes they promised.

Paraguayan schoolgirls

July 2008

Praise the Lord because the Ministry of Childhood and Adolescence has finally released the funds so that FEISA can continue with the indigenous nursery project in Yatnata. The result of the delayed release of the money is that two months-worth of work has to be done in one month. Please pray for wisdom for Sam Parsons as she co-ordinates the final phase of this project, and for the two training visits to the community in July; on the 4^th - 5^th and the 18^th - 19^th.

Give thanks for a very encouraging meeting in June in the indigenous community of El Estribo, where eight schools signed an agreement to participate in the pre-school training project with FEISA. This project will start with the first training visits in August and the teachers are all very excited because they have not received any training or resources from the Ministry of Education or any other organization.

FEISA has produced a set of resources for teaching the creation story to children in the indigenous Enxet language. The pictures and flashcards are done so that they are relevant to the children’s context (palm trees and rheas rather than apple trees and blackbirds) and the teacher’s instructions are in Enxet. These are the first printed Bible materials for children in this language. In June, The Bible Society held a week-long workshop in Argentina on how to communicate the Bible effectively in oral cultures. Esteban from FEISA went, along with two Enxet speakers, and showed the participants the materials FEISA has produced. There was a huge amount of interest in them and The Bible Society has expressed an interest in publishing the resources. Please pray for the discussions between FEISA and the Bible Society as they look at this possibility; particularly that they would be willing to both finance and organize the publication. The photograph shows Enxet speakers Anibal and Silverio looking through the materials.

FEISA’s winter holidays run from the 5^th to the 20^th July. Please pray for all staff and students to have the rest they need, ready for the next semester. The first years and third years will have teaching practice placements as soon as the holiday is over, so please pray for all their preparations and for them to bring God’s light and love into the classrooms where they will be teaching.

Our Head, Estela (right) has had a number of recent bouts of illness. She is currently suffering from bronchitis and influenza so please pray for her to get the rest she needs and recover completely over the break. Pray also for peace and wisdom as she carries the responsibility for FEISA and for a clear sense of God’s purpose in her life and work.

June 2008

In May, after 7 years of valuable service in the library and fundraising departments, Caroline Gilmour-White has said goodbye to FEISA and is now focusing on her other ministries in the diocese. We thank God for her commitment to providing an outstanding service to the students and teachers in the library and for her hard work in bringing in much-needed funds. Please pray for peace and guidance for Caroline as she continues to follow God in this new phase of her service for Him. May she experience God’s rich blessing and abundant love in new ways.

Praise God for the provision of several donations during April and May which have eased the cash flow problem for the time being. There are a number of funding applications which need to be made to several major donors before the end of June. Pray for the time and wisdom to prepare the applications and also for their acceptance by the donors and the quick release of the funds.

Praise the Lord for the success of the workshops at the ACSI conference on 9th and 10th May. Altogether, 240 teachers attended the sessions run by Marisol and Marina and the feedback was extremely positive. Please pray that the teachers will have the time and energy to process and put into practice the things they learned.

Give thanks for the fruitful time the FEISA leadership had during their strategic planning days at the end of May. They have come up with an exciting and ambitious five-year plan, including the following projects:
• Introduction of more courses.
• Generation of income from within Paraguay though educational business ventures.
• Extension of the training in indigenous communities.
• Establishment of a permanent play space for street children from the local area.
• Purchase of a new building in order to provide the infrastructure for the above.
Please pray for the leadership team as they begin to implement the various aspects of the plan. Pray for patience and guidance and for the timing of each project to follow God’s priorities.

Strategic planning meeting: l-r; Gloria, Sam, Ana, Ruth, Estela

Please continue to pray for the release of funds from the Ministry of Childhood and Adolescence so that FEISA can continue with the indigenous nursery project in Yatnata.

On 14th June, there will be a meeting in the Chaco community of El Estribo, where nine schools are keen to take part in the indigenous pre-school training programme, due to start in August. It is an ambitious project, covering a relatively wide geographic area and the indigenous teachers all have very high expectations for it. Please pray for wisdom and strength for Sam Parsons, in charge of the project, and the FEISA teachers involved.

At a meeting of the Anglican Church in Paraguay on 31st May, a British bishop was elected by an overwhelming majority to replace John Ellison. He and his wife are expected to arrive next year. Praise the Lord for the sense of peace and unity at the meeting and pray for them as they begin their preparations for moving to Paraguay.

May 2008

Praise God for a very positive student integration day on 25^th April. We heard the Word of God from a visiting speaker and the students played games and sports all afternoon. It was organized so that the teams were made up from the different year groups and the girls had a lot of fun getting to know each other better (see photo).

Thank you for praying for Andrea, our former student who is now in Oxford and needed accommodation. She is now settled in a new home, a little further away from school, but she’s living with someone who works at the same school, so they go into work together. God is good!

The annual Paraguayan conference of the Association of Christian Schools International will take place on the 9^th and 10^th of May. For the third year running, FEISA has been asked to run workshops at the conference. Two of our teachers will be taking part: Marisol’s workshop will be on creativity; how to develop it in yourself as a teacher and how to encourage it in your pupils. Marina will do two workshops; one on how to stimulate thinking and language in children, the other on creative approaches to literacy and making it relevant to your pupils’ context. Please pray for wisdom and inspiration as they plan these workshops and for the teachers who go along to be inspired to improve their teaching as a result of what they learn.

On 28^th and 30^th May, the leadership team of FEISA will spend the whole day together, working on a strategic plan for FEISA’s future. This is something which is particularly important considering the continuing fall in the exchange rates, given our current dependence on foreign funding. Pray that the discussions would not be directed by financial concerns but by God and pray for wisdom for the leadership and courage to follow God in whatever direction he wishes.

The indigenous nursery project FEISA is running with the community of Yatnata in the Chaco has had to come to a halt this month because the final installment of funding has not been released by the Ministry of Childhood and Adolescence. The project is having great success and the women who are being trained are doing very well indeed. Please pray for the Ministry to release the funds so that the project, which is nearing completion, can continue.

Praise the Lord for peaceful general and presidential elections on 20^th April. It is the first time ever that power has passed from one party to another without bloodshed. The new president, Fernando Lugo (see photo) will take office on 15^th August. He is a former bishop, influenced by liberation theology (which emphasises God's preferential option for the poor) and has caught the hearts and minds of a Paraguayan people ready for change. He and his coalition partners have pledged to fight the corruption and poverty which are such pervasive problems here.

April 2008

Praise the Lord! We now have 21 students in the first year of the diploma course. This is great news and is a confirmation that God wants the course to run again this year. They have now done a week of teaching practice and are starting their lessons on Monday 31st March. Please pray for them to settle into FEISA quickly, for a positive group dynamic between them and a positive learning atmosphere in the class.

Praise God for the start of the 2-year degree extension course on 24th March, with 25 students.

Give thanks for a wonderful Easter service, led by the third years (see photo below). The service was well-planned and very touching. These students are a lovely group of girls and a great blessing in FEISA.


In March, the director of an oil company which has donated funds to FEISA for a number of years, came to Paraguay for a few days with his daughter. He took the opportunity to come and visit FEISA and he seemed to be impressed with what he saw. He told us he would be letting his company know that we spend their money well!! Praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity to meet him and express personally how much the generosity of his company has impacted the lives of children in Paraguay.

Please pray for our second year class. There are one or two students in the group who are very strong-minded and can be argumentative and disrespectful at times. The few Christians in the class are very quiet natured, so the overriding atmosphere is often more negative than positive. Please pray for the staff as we work with them, for Christ's love to shine out from us and for the students to be touched by Him.

Please pray for the two visits to the Chaco in April, continuing the training in the indigenous community of Yatnata. We are helping the community set up and run their own nursery school for the very youngest children. The visits are on 11th-12th and the 25th -56th of this month. Praise God for this opportunity to work with the Ministry of Education and for all that FEISA is learning from the experience.
(The photo shows one of the mothers during a training session in March)


On 20th April, Paraguay will elect a new president. Please pray that the vote will be free and fair. There are four main candidates, among them a Roman Catholic bishop and a retired general, who spent time in prison for his part in the alleged assassination of a former vice-president. They all promise change and a better Paraguay. Please pray that whoever is chosen will lead the country in wisdom, justice and integrity.

March 2008

Urgent prayer please!
Please pray for more first year diploma students. We currently have ten applicants but we need an absolute minimum of 12 by 6th March to know we can start the course at the end of this month. Many have telephoned for information about the course, but few have come in for application forms. Please pray urgently for the right number and the right students to sign up. (the photo shows some of our current third years)


Thank you for your prayers about the new language degree courses FEISA was asked to take on for the University. After much prayer and discussion, the Management Team felt it was not the right decision to accept these courses after all. Praise the Lord for his clear guidance on this issue.

Please pray for our cash flow situation this year. The exchange rate has fallen between the British and Paraguayan currencies, which means that for every ₤1000 that is donated, we receive ₤100 less than we did last year. High inflation in Paraguay means that every year our cash reserve funds in the bank are decreasing. A number of our students have decided to leave and this means we are receiving less money in the shape of tuition fees. Several of our major donors will be giving us their donations in the second half of the year and all these factors combined mean that for the first half of the year, we will be running down our reserves. We need more donations earlier on this year to make sure the situation does not become critical. Please pray for God to provide the money we need in good time.

Several times last year, we asked you to pray about the possibility of FEISA running in-service training courses for teachers in order to provide much needed training for professionals and an added source of income for the college. The Ministry of Education never granted Estela and Gloria of the Management Team a meeting about this so now we would ask you to pray for wisdom as the FEISA leadership makes decisions about what courses to provide and how to proceed.

More urgent prayer needed!
Andrea Friesen (on right in photo, with Sam Parsons), one of our 2007 graduates, has been in the UK since January, working part-time as a Teaching Assistant in a Christian school in Oxford. She has been living in temporary accommodation and now desperately needs to find somewhere more permanent. She has been unable to find anywhere within her means so far and needs to move out of her current place by 7th March. Please pray for her to find suitable and affordable accommodation near the school as soon as possible.

In the middle of February, there was an outbreak of yellow fever in Paraguay, for the first time in 30 years. This sent communities into panic as people in their neighbourhood were diagnosed with the disease. It is carried by the same mosquito that carries dengue fever, but is much more severe because it has a 50% mortality rate. There is a vaccine, but when the outbreak began, there were not enough vaccines in Paraguay. Other governments donated or lent what was needed, but the help was slow in coming and there were long queues of angry people at health clinics in the meantime. Praise the Lord for the Government's eventual provision of free vaccines to immunise everyone and the apparent containment of the outbreak.

February 2008

Praise the Lord for a wonderful graduation ceremony with all the graduates from 2006 and 2007! The 2006 graduates finally paid their outstanding fees, which meant they could participate in the ceremony on 11th December.
(The photo shows Estela with some of the 2006 graduates.)

A new academic year has begun! Please pray for all the organisation and administration details that will help this year run smoothly.

Urgent and intense prayer needed:
FEISA is a department of the Evangelical University of Paraguay. The same university's Faculty of Languages ("Falevi") has had to close suddenly and FEISA has been asked to take on responsibility for the two degree courses Falevi was running. One of the degrees is in English and the other a bilingual degree in Spanish and Guaraní and both include a specialism in education, so the graduates are qualified to teach these languages. There are issues to do with the current students' documentation and legal issues with staff which need to be sorted out. Another faculty was asked to take on these courses but refused and FEISA has been told that if we don't take them on, there will be huge repercussions for the university as a whole.
Pray for great wisdom and discernment for the leadership team at FEISA, particularly Estela and Gloria, as they thoroughly investigate all the implications in order to make an informed decision and as they seek God's will on whether to accept this challenge.

Praise the Lord for a very good staff retreat on 6th February (pictured). The leadership, admin and teaching staff all enjoyed a time of fellowship and hearing God's word.

So far, only four students have signed up to begin the first year of the diploma course. We need between 20 and 25. Please pray for the right students to respond to the publicity and apply. The first year course will start on 24th March.

Please pray for our third year students who are on teaching practice this month.

Praise God for the 19 students who have so far signed up to start the 2-year degree extension. We have offered former FEISA students a discount if they sign up by this Friday, the 15th. Please pray for more students to apply; we would like 25 altogether. The degree course will start on 24th March.

Our first visit to the indigenous community of Yatnata this year is on 15th-16th February. FEISA will be starting a training programme with the mothers in the community, to enable them to set up their own nursery for the youngest children. Please pray for the FEISA team as they prepare the training and for the right mothers to attend and be committed to the programme. The second training visit will be 29th Feb-1st March.

December 2007

Praise God for a lovely end of year show by the students on 20th November. They presented songs, dances and short plays suitable for early years children and they all did a fantastic job. The photo shows the second year students finishing their play about a duck with a song.

Praise the Lord for a wonderful visit by the play scheme to Quyquyho, a village 3 hours drive away from Asunción. The children in the countryside are particularly poor and needy in so many ways. We went to support the work of a couple who provide a free canteen for 100 children every day. The children were excited to have the opportunity to play with so many toys, and they behaved themselves very well indeed. The photo shows the 80 children watching the puppet sketch we did before the play time.


Last year's third year students, who could not graduate because they had not paid all their fees, have finally all paid what they owed. Praise the Lord indeed!! This means that they will graduate with the current third years on 11th December.

Please pray for the thanksgiving service for the third years on 10th December. Pray for those who will be leading the service and that the girls will be blessed by it. Please pray for them as they begin a new stage in their lives, for God's love to shine through them on the children they teach, that lives might truly be transformed as a result.

The first and second year students are in the middle of exams as we write this. Please pray for them all to find the time to revise and the clarity of thought to bring it all to mind in the exam.

Please pray for the publicity which is being organised for both the three-year Diploma and the five-year Degree course. Please pray that students would be drawn to both courses and the right students would apply.

Finally, please pray for a restful break for all FEISA staff during the long summer holiday. The next prayer letter will be sent out in February.