What a wonderful time we are having serving the Lord here in El Salvador! God is working through His church to bring the Gospel to dozens of people on a daily basis. I want to thank you for the great part you have had in seeing people come to Christ.
On Sunday mornings, we start with a church-wide breakfast that is provided by different church members every week. This is an opportunity to reach new people, and it has helped encourage our church members to be faithful to Sunday school. Last week we had a post-pandemic record attendance in Sunday school.
We are also very encouraged with the response of our church people in giving to the support of missions. This year we were able to add two new missionary families to the number we currently support. One missionary we are taking on for support is Isaac Amaya; he is going to Equatorial Guinea, Africa. The other missionary is Walter Menjivar and his family; they are going to Nicaragua. Praise the Lord!
The church continues to win souls throughout the week in our door-to-door soul-winning programs, soul winning in the town square, and on bus routes. There are five soul-winning programs in which our church members can participate, and many of the soul winners attend more than one each week.
One of the aspects of the ministry that I am personally enjoying is seeing our Bible institute graduates faithfully and effectively minister in the works in which God has placed them. There are two of our graduates pastoring in the neighboring city of Metapán. They are doing a marvelous job reaching that city. One of our graduates is a missionary in Jinotega, Nicaragua. They are about to start a second work. Another is the pastor of a wonderful church in Puerto Cortez, Honduras. He had a big day for Easter Sunday and invited our assistant pastor, Jimmy Trujillo, to preach. We are so proud of our graduates. Some of them have stayed and formed a team with us as lay people in the church. We are grateful for them.
We are at that stage in ministry and life where we look back and are amazed at God’s faithfulness through the years. We look forward, at the same time, and marvel at what God has in store. Each person mentioned in this letter has a story of God’s grace to tell. Each one serving God as a result of the ministry here can point to a time when God rescued them and changed their trajectory in life. They all represent countless souls reached for Christ. God does wonderful and marvelous things through missions giving.
I encourage you to come visit us and see how God has used your sacrificial giving to missions. I know your heart will be blessed, and you will want to do even more for God.
Enclosed you will find a report on the Christian school we have started. I trust it will be a blessing to you.
Thank you for praying for us and for giving to missions. God bless you as you serve Him in your corner of the world.
Henry Gonzalez
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COLEGIO JOHN BUNYAN
Brief History
Two families approached us in 2018, asking for help with homeschooling their children. Six students attended that first year, as Tammie and our church secretary supervised and taught classes to three different grade levels.
The following year, we had 10 students, then 12, then 10 again. This year is our first official school year as a government-certified school. We enrolled 16 students in January of this year and are already one- third of the way through the school year.
We employ 6 teachers, 2 nannies, a secretary, and a music teacher/PE teacher.
Our school is using the church property for classes during the morning hours.
This Year
We are currently expanding the school to a junior high and high school. Please pray as we work toward this goal; pray that we will have the junior high and high school certification in time for next year. We have 4 students in need of going to 7th grade next year. Without the certification of the junior high, they would be forced to enroll in a public school.
Highlighting Two Students
I want to tell you about two students who came to us. One is 12 years old. He had a hard time with distance learning through the quarantine and pandemic months. He did not pass his 5th grade tests at his previous school, and they would not allow him to return. We tested him, and he did very well, allowing him to enroll in 6th grade. He comes from a broken home and is being reared by his grandparents. His grandfather came to the Parent-Teacher Meeting a couple of weeks ago and just cried for joy, telling us how his grandson has changed in every area—behavior, learning, attitude—and even his health has improved. Praise the Lord!
The other student entered 4th grade. He seemed to have learning disabilities, but as the weeks progressed, we have seen him shine in every area. His parents are so happy that he is doing so well.
Every student has a story. Every student represents a family being reached for Christ.
Thank you for partnering with us in this very valuable ministry.
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- Another student who has excelled in our school!
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- Some of the employees in our Christian school
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- One of the students who has excelled in our school–he is enrolled in sixth grade.
