Roca de Bet-El Church

June 2016 Update 

We are happy to announce that we have finished building the classrooms and the temple. It wasn´t easy. God strengthened us as we were building, and God provided support from the mother church, project staff from the mother, and from the daughter church, parents, and also the local leadership on the neighborhood and surroundings were involved. Second-floor classrooms and the temple on the third floor are now finished and have equipped. The church members, staff, and children have all the needed facilities to fully implement the program. Everything went according to the plan.

The opening celebration service was held on April 2nd, when more than 500 people met, 200 adults and more than 300 children. A special service was led by our pastor Pedro Cruz, and all our staff led by our sister Veronica Torrez. We also had Compassion Staff supporting on this celebration and all ribbons were cut for opening brand new classrooms fully equipped and new restrooms.

The church celebrated children´s day on April 12th with more than 300 children, they had cake and games to have fun and learn about the bible.

The main learning opportunities we would like to mention is that we were part of the neighborhood leadership and we worked alongside them. The community leaders gave us priority for water connections and for registrations as well as supported our initiatives. This integration of the church with the local leadership was a benefit for the community and children as they see the church as part of their lives instead of a group of strangers.

We would like to thank every person involved in this project to reach Alto Lopez Rancho community for Jesus. The church is a reference point in the area for child advocacy and for the gospel as there are no other churches in the area.

Please pray for all the staff and church members as the construction work was hard and we thank the Lord for his provision.

It is a great blessing to see how American churches are supporting Bolivian churches to fulfill the great commandment. I think this is in God´s plan. At the beginning, when the church members used to have their services in a small rented room there were about 3 families. Now, since they saw the building taking shape, there are more people. Children are encouraged to attend, also their parents, and other community members, people who don´t have any relationship with the student center, as many of them don´t have children yet, but they saw the brothers and sisters working hard to build up the church. I know there is a big party in heavens for everything that is happening with Stadia and Compassion´s support.

Lizbeth Torrico

Mother of Child in Child Development Center, BO723

Update Photos