It has been an exciting few weeks here at our site! The Lord has been overwhelmingly faithful in hearing our prayers and providing just what we need.
In the past few weeks, we had been asking the Lord for more laborers. Last month, some university students studying education got in touch with us about volunteering at our site to fulfill their university's social service requirement. It turns out that all four of them are believers and one of them speaks English!! We're looking to see how we can integrate them into the La Fuente program this year, and we are so grateful for this provision!
Ministries
La Fuente
We have incredible news to share!! We have partnered up with a local English academy that trains students specifically to work in call centers, allowing them to earn significantly more than if they were starting out in another company. This last Saturday, our online high school students and our three high school seniors interviewed for a potential scholarship to study English. We are excited to announce that by God's great goodness and grace, all seven students were awarded scholarships to study English on Saturdays! It was clear how God opened up this door for them, and we are overwhelmed by God's abundant provision. Join us in giving thanks to the Father and in praying for Harold, Julissa, Carlos, Maykel, Mayra, Kevin and Jairo, as they begin a more rigorous study of English.
We held our first La Fuente youth group on February 1, and we are certain that the Lord was leading us and our students. Tony shared about vision for this year, and encouraged all of our students to have a goal or vision for 2020. It was great to see (almost) all of our teens again, and to share a small pupusa dinner with them!
Our normal La Fuente program began on Tuesday the 11th. We were right back at it with math tutoring, homework help and English classes with our two residents! Please pray for our leadership team as we are still adjusting our class schedules to accommodate recent changes and new students.
Pray also for our teens' attitudes and salvation as they transition back into our program. Pray that they would take advantage of every moment spent at our site and that they would come to choose Christ as their Lord and savior.
Our SEVEN scholarship students are already weeks into their new school year at Escuela Cristiana Maranatha. We'd like to share a story about Sandra, who has been with us since she was in 7th grade. Sandra has always shown an aptitude for English and for the past two years, has been in our advanced English classes. She recently thanked her teachers here at La Fuente for teaching her English, then she shared that she is now an English tutor at her new school. We were thrilled to hear this news and we thank God for bringing Sandra into our program so that she could be a blessing to many more. Great job Sandra!!
Online High School
Mayra, Jairo, Kevin and Maykel, our four online high school students are doing great! Every day they arrive at 9:30 to tackle the day's assignments, and to make us laugh as we all go about our morning duties. These are all students who for one reason or another stopped studying in high school, but who saw this opportunity to study at our site guided by our staff members, and they pursued it! And now, they're even working extra so that they can rest from school on the weekends. Great job guys!
La Fuente FC
We have an exciting development with La Fuente FC. Recently, a former La Fuente student named Jonathan got in touch with us. He said he was interested in working on a soccer project with us, so our leadership sat down with him and talked. Turns out, Jonathan feels so grateful for all that he learned at La Fuente, that he wants to come and work with La Fuente FC as a volunteer. He wants no payment; he just wants to give back! This was such an encouragement for our staff and it really showed that while we may sow seeds, it is the Lord that makes them grow, even after three years! We give all the glory to God!!
Interns
We are so excited for the coming months! By the time we write to you next month, our newest interns, Chance, Shannon and Jonathon, will have arrived!! We can't wait to introduce you to them along with some other new faces. Please continue to pray for them and their preparation for their time here. Pray for provision and good family time before they leave for their internships.
Please be praying for another intern, Samuel, who will be arriving for a two-month internship in May. In the same way pray for preparation and provision in Samuel's life.
Also by our next post, one of our two-year residents will have headed home. We are so grateful for Andrea and her heart of service. As a trained teacher, Andrea's help as an English teacher was indispensable in La Fuente. She also helped out with lots of ins and outs of La Fuente like the girls' Bible study, data-keeping, devotionals, kitchen help, cleaning help, and lots of other projects! She led several groups and personally discipled several of our La Fuente girls. We are sad to see her leave our ministry, but we know that God will continue to grow the seeds that she sowed long after she's gone. Please be praying for her last couple of weeks here as well as her transition back home. She is patiently waiting on the Lord for her next steps. Join us in thanking Andrea and celebrating her sacrifice and devotion to this ministry!
Prayer Requests
Help us to pray for more sponsors for our current and future La Fuente students. We are still in need of many more $60/month sponsors and we know that God will be faithful in providing what we need.
Pray for Laura, our site associate, who is steps closer to joining us at the site. Pray that the Lord would put the right people in her path as she continues to build her team of prayer and financial partners.
Pray for our La Fuente teens, that God would keep affirming their hearts in Him and that they'd have good attitudes towards His work.
Pray for the teams that have signed up to come this year. Pray against anything that might cause them to cancel their trips.
Pray that God would help us as we work alongside teams and two new projects.
Pray that God would bless the grand opening of La Fuente Apopa (date still to be determined). Pray that in Jesus' name, the program would be a blessing to the children and their families. We also know that we will feel strong spiritual warfare because of this new program, and we trust God to fight for us!
Pray for all the new members of our team (interns and Salvadoran staff.) Pray that they will be able to adapt easily and that they would shine in each of their positions.
We want to specially thank each and every one of our partners who support us financially. We couldn't do what we do without you. Thank you for faithfully working for the Kingdom alongside us!