March 2009

Fun English Workshop
Children in the Chaco Games with Indigenous Teachers

Praise the Lord for the 15 first year students who have enrolled so far. Please continue to pray for a further 10 students. They will start classes on 16th March. Please pray also for a total of 14 new degree students to enroll (we currently have only two confirmed).

Give thanks for a very successful “Fun English” workshop with teachers on 14th February. There were a total of 18 people who learned a creative and fun way to teach English to the youngest children. Many of them said how much they needed the training and almost all of them bought the accompanying resources.

Praise God for the provision of a great new English teacher to complete our team. Thank Him for a good reception by the students of the new English teaching system and please pray for peace and patience this first year as we test it out and for wisdom for the teachers to adapt it where necessary.

In February, two potentially significant donors expressed an interest in FEISA. Please pray for the applications in process to be accepted by these donors and for God’s will to be done in relation to bringing in the necessary funds this year.

The training visit to the indigenous community of El Estribo in the Chaco at the end of February was very successful. Praise the Lord for the enthusiasm of the teachers for the resources and the new songs and games they learned. They were particularly delighted with the workbooks FEISA has developed for the indigenous context in both Spanish and the indigenous language Enxet. FEISA has offered these workbooks to the Ministry of Education to be made available to all indigenous communities. Please pray that the Minister for Indigenous Education would approve these vital contextualized resources for distribution so that many more communities can have access to them.

This year, the play scheme team is supporting a ministry in the town of Quyquyho, where we have taken the toys on previous occasions for the children from the town to play. There is a family who run a home for abused and abandoned girls and they would like to set up their own permanent play space, both for the benefit of the children in the home and as an outreach to the local community. Operation South America is providing the funds for this project and FEISA is providing resources and training. Please pray for the FEISA team as they consider which resources are most appropriate and plan the training in order to support this family and their vital ministry.

February 2009

Praise the Lord for a good end of year 2008 and for a restful holiday for everyone. Praise Him for good visits to supporting groups and churches in the UK by Sam Parsons.

Praise God for a very positive consultation process for the English Department in December. We have changed the way English is taught and its emphasis and we believe this will improve FEISA’s provision of this subject for our students. We need one new English teacher for 2009, so please pray for the right person to be appointed.

Sam Parsons and David Orritt, our UK Volunteer Co-ordinator, met with one of our major donors in January. Give thanks for a positive and honest atmosphere in the meeting. The result of that meeting is that this donor has decided to continue to support FEISA this year, but at a much reduced level compared to previous years. Please pray for the funding deficit this creates to be met through other sources.

Our Head, Estela Moyano, has had an operation to remove a cataract and she is recovering well. She now needs an operation on the other eye. Please pray for this next operation to go equally as well and for good timing. Estela’s husband is also suffering health problems, and recently spent time in hospital, so please bear him in mind too.

On Friday 6th February, all our staff have a team-building day and we would appreciate your prayers for a good atmosphere and for relationships to be strengthened.

Please pray for those students who need to find work in order to afford to continue their studies at FEISA. Pray for the right opportunities to come up for them, so that they won’t have to worry about money on top of the stresses of the course. Particularly remember our second year students Pati and Mirian in your prayers, both of whom are amongst the most needy in this regard.

Lessons start on 23rd February. Please pray for 25 new first year students to enroll this year and for 14 new degree students.

The last pre-school training visit to the community of El Estribo will be at the end of February (dates to be confirmed). Please pray for this visit; for good planning and preparation by the team, a good turnout from the community and for safety on the road as the FEISA team travel.