Iglesia La Atravesada
March 2022 Update
Hello brothers and sisters of Monat and Connect Church! We are excited to share with you an update on the ministries and construction of La Atravesada.
We currently have 20 adults and 80 children regularly attending church events. We have had virtual meetings with the children and their guardians, sharing the Bible with them. We haven’t held face-to-face groups due to the increase of COVID cases, people are afraid of getting infected. Nonetheless, we have held virtual classes with small groups of children and offered them support in their school activities. For Christmas, parents were given gifts and toys for the children, but unfortunately an in-person program could not be carried out due to the pandemic. Thanks to God, we have been able to preach to more families and reach their hearts. We are able to deliver food baskets and toys to families in the community.
We’ve enclosed the entire building with sidewalls, the doors are placed, bathrooms are finished, and ceramic and taps are installed. The two classrooms where the children are going to be taught are finished, the pastoral office is also finished and everything is painted. By the Will of God, on Saturday, February 12, we had the first meeting with parents and children so that they could visualize the progress of the construction and had biblical training with the entire board.
One fear we had was when we made the agreement with the engineer, we had fears that maybe he was not going to take it seriously and that things would not go well. The challenge was to trust. God guided the engineer and the teachers in the right way and the construction progressed quickly.
In the next couple of months, we will be working face-to-face with parents twice a week at the church. We will connect the electricity and water; we have to ask the electricity company and the water company to make the connections. A challenge that we have is to put a fence around the entire land, so far it is only closed where the construction is placed. Also, we are constructing a playground for the children.
A parent shares with us that a very close friend did not have anything at home to eat this month, his wife does not have a job since she is a housewife and takes care of their children, and she cannot work. The parent shared information about the church and all the help we give so his friend went to the church and that day the baskets of food arrived to be distributed to the families, we gave a basket of food to the man. He could not believe it and he cried from happiness. He said: “thank God we will be able to eat for a week”. We invited him and his whole family to the inauguration of the church. He told us that he wants to know about God and serve him. It caught our attention because when we carried out a census, people were opposed to registering their children because they did not believe in God. They thought that we were going to steal their children, but little by little people are learning about the project and attending church to worship God.
Praises
- Thanks to all the donors, because of their mercy the children can receive their tutoring, the word of God and their baskets.
- Thank you for all the support to the Compassion team for their patience with us. When we don't know something, they are there to help us and teach us. Thank you for every training you provide us.
Prayer Requests
- Pray that God would touch each parent’s heart to attend services and draw closer to him.
- Pray for the spiritual life so that it continues to strengthen us and for us to remain firm in everything that we are working for.
Update Photos
Christmas gifts given to parents for children.
External part of the finished church
Finished bathrooms use for men and women.
part of the church multiple area for use by parents and children.
sponsored girl making Christmas letter to her godparents
girl praying to God, thank you for the life and health of your family
