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.