End of year update and prayers for the new school year.

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. I know this year Thanksgiving looked different for many of us. However, the Lord still sits on the throne and is good to give us our daily bread.

We are thankful to start construction again on the Christian School of Bocachica. Before Covid put the island on lockdown we were finishing another classroom. 8 months later we received permission to start construction again. Below is a photo of the doors and windows going in. The floors are currently being installed.

November wraps up another school year for the children. This school year held many challenges for both the school and the students. Due to the lockdown and the island being forced to stay home and not work, the parents couldn't afford to continue to pay their monthly tuition. This put a hardship on the school, which uses the tuition to be a self-sufficient school as the tuition funds to pay all the teachers' salaries.  You can see the fruit of the Lord in the teachers who worked for months with out a proper salary. They believe in the vision of the school and worked tirelessly to get school work online. They also did home visits with the children to ensure that none of the children fell behind in their school work. The children just took their end of grade tests and we are happy to report that the school hit all benchmarks.  

End of year testing

Graduating ceremonies look different this year. Socailly distancing
and masks. Due to these restrictions we can't show all the kids toghter. 12 kids
graduated from kindergarten to first grade this year.

We just recieved word that the goverment in Colombia is preparing it's citizens for the possiblity of another closure. The school has been advised that the school will not be able to open in January like they had hoped.They have been told to prepare for an opening sometime in February. Once the school opens they will also welcome a new group of preschoolers. The school will house preschool through 4th grade.

Teachers for the Christian School of Bocachica

Each year we try and fundraise a couple of times a year to build a new classroom. With Covid, none of our fundraisers could take place for 2020 .  Currently, we have two needs for the upcoming year. One is for another classroom to be built for the 2021-2022 school year. The other is for a computer lab. This would have been extremly helpful for this year with having to move to online teaching. However, this will be benefical for a typical school year.  The school has to do their end of grade testing on computers each year. This task alone takes weeks to get all kids to finish all sections of their end of grade testing. They have to pay to rent computers and this has turned out to be pricy. The school held a meeting to discuss needs for the new school year. The biggest need for the up cooming year is an English teacher. They have decided until someone is willing to live full time on the island and take this position, they will do English classes virtually. A computer lab will help them connect with an online teacher and do this class virtually. 

Please join us in praying for the island. Pray that the school can open in February. If you feel called to help with the needs of the school that were stated above please considering helping us on this coming Tuesday for Giving Tuesday. We will have a fb post and directions on how to give. Or you can send donations through our non-profit organization at:

Juntos

3706 Union Ridge Road

Burlngton,  NC. 27217

Please memo checks to "School"

Or by Paypal

www.paypal.me/JuntosColombia

Remember 100% of all donations goes to The Christian School of Bocachica.

Thank you all for your support and love to the people of Bocachica. It is a blessing to be part of what the Lord is doing. 

Have a wonderful Christmas season.

Blessings,
The Ariels

Thankful hearts

A beautiful thing to see is those from around the world come together and serve one another in times of need. With the stay at home order in effect, those on the island of Bocachica are greatly impacted. 

We are pleased to say that over the past couple of weeks your donations have helped to feed  hundreds of families. We are working with the local church on the island to donate a weeks worth of groceries to families on the island. The church is doing a great work diligently serving the community. Not only are they giving out food, they are presenting the gospel as well. The locals are very thankful for your generosity and your continued prayers!

We hope you enjoy the photos. Stay safe and healthy.

Love,

The Ariels

Prayer for those in Bocachica

I know many of us are in continual prayer for people around the world. I wanted to please ask you to pray for those in Bocachica. While the stay at home order has been hard on many of us here, it too, is very hard on those in Colombia. However, they do not even have simple luxuries that we have right now. In order to go to a grocery store the locals have to wait each morning for their Cedula number called out. (That's like our S.S. number here.) If your number is called one person in your family may go to Cartegena and get food. However, with the extreme poverty conditions that they have in Bocachica, with out work there is no money to buy food. Emily keeps us posted daily. She said the island is in full panic. The locals are very scared of the virus and concerned that they will not be able to feed their families. The pastor of the church has advised people to stay off of social media and to avoid the news. He thinks it is instilling more fear than educating them about the virus. Emily mentioned that the stores in Cartegena are price gouging and have very limited hours. They have to wait in long lines just to get into a store. Not to mention some farmers from around Colombia have stopped some shipments of produce. Therefore making prices on fruits and vegetables go higher. 

Nate and I were able to send money this week to the church to help with this need. With this money they were able to buy bulk food and distribute it to the locals. We know this money will only last for a short period of time. I know God is in control. I know He hears our needs and gives us our daily bread. Please pray for those on the island to have faith like never before, for patience with the stay at home order, and trust in the Lord during this time. Please pray for the church as they bear the burdens of many and are trying their best to help. We have attached photos below. 

Thank you for joining us in praying,

The Ariels

Want to help with a food donation?

Checks can be mailed to Juntos memo: **food**

3706 Union Ridge Rd. Burlington NC. 27217

Or through PayPal: paypal.me/JuntosColombia