Dear praying friends,
The school year is almost over at Hope of Bastion school. Raul had his last class today [Friday, Jan 31st]. He is pleased to see how his students have progressed in their knowledge of computers since the beginning of the year. He and his students have really enjoyed the renovated computer lab!
The sponsorship office has been a flurry of activity this last month. Because many sponsors wrote for Christmas this year, we have had a lot of work getting the all students to respond during this last month of school. But we are not complaining! We were very encouraged by the number of sponsors who wrote this year and many of those letters lead to conversations with the children about faith. It was also fun to sit with these students and explain things like skating rinks, sledding, and candle light services and see the connections between Canada and Ecuador grow.
Last week our church invited a speaker, Milton Ortega, for a conference at our church. Milton was one of Raul’s Bible school teachers in Quito years ago. It is the first time our church has had the means and the organization to be able to do this and it was such a refreshment. Milton joined us for youth on Saturday and he captured our youth’s attention as he talked about not conforming to the world. They didn’t want him to stop talking!
As we reflect on this last year within the church, we realize that in the last year or two strong bases have been forming. The elders are now supported by a group of men who are serious about their personal spiritual walk and service in the church. We have also seen more commitment in terms of youth group. Instead of having a fluctuating group like other years, we have had a main group of about 20 youth who faithfully show up each Saturday. Lord willing, the team coming down from our church will get to know all these kids during the week of camp.
Thank you for allowing us to be part of this work.
Gratefully,
Raúl and Jessenia
