Greetings brothers and sisters of Creekside Christian Church! We are excited to share with you an update on the ministries and construction of Iglesia del Nazareno Pueblo Nuevo.   

Between January and July 2021, we were unable to advance in the construction as we had originally planned, due to the restrictions in construction caused by the pandemic. We also had complications in the legal procedures with the local authorities. Finally, in July 2021 we were able to resolve issues with local authorities, so we are already on the way to meet our objectives for our project. We thank God, Compassion, and the donors for all the resources and the patience for this project.  

Thus far in the construction process we have hauled, layed, and compacted stone materials, and carried out compaction tests for where the main auditorium will be built. We are in the process of planning with constructions crews.  

Challenges: 

• A great challenge was the pandemic. There were restrictions for several sectors in the town, some of them in the construction sector. This caused a great delay in the construction work. We had to wait for the right time to start. 
• Maintaining communication with the children was a big challenge at the beginning of the pandemic because our ability to connect digitally is very limited. We have been communicating through calls, meetings, and in some cases, visits. 

Learnings: 

• A great learning experience was to carry out all the procedures related to building permits in the municipality.  

• Another learning was the process related to the work for excavation and foundation, and working in accordance with the engineer’s indications. 

Impact on the church:      

• Because of our sponsors, we are able to fulfill our vision of being a church that significantly impacts families to win them for Christ. We have been able to win new souls for Christ, in this mostly Catholic area, thanks to the start of this project. 
• It is fundamental for us to contribute to the community in the bio-psycho-social and spiritual aspects and thanks to the sponsors and the sponsorship of children of the Compassion program, we are becoming a reference for the community. We are showing a gospel not only of words, but of power and love for our neighbor attending to their needs, with a new building.

Impact on Compassion program: 

• Our church contributes significantly to the integral development of the children since during these months they have had access to telemedicine, and monthly food delivery, which has been of great help to the families. Due to the pandemic many have lost their jobs. 
• Our children have received medical evaluation and have been able to heal the detected physical illnesses and begin treatment for the most severe cases.  
• Parents and church leaders have been trained on how to implement a psycho-pedagogical curriculum that helps to improve the cognitive abilities of the children and overcome the backwardness in the areas of language, social skills, and fine and gross motor skills found in the children.