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.