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.