“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Deart friends, we are very thankful to have a group of supporters, of brothers that read our letters and pray for us.  In ministry one of the largest blessings is having people to back you up with their prayers. We feel supported by having such a great group of friends to tell about our joys and prayers. Thanks for letting the Father use us!

In this bulletin we have a lot of good news to share, praise the Lord!  To start off, we have received a large gift on behalf of the 700 Club for food.  This has allowed us to give breakfast and lunch to the boys at New Horizons and now, starting this semester, we will give breakfast and lunch to the girls at the Institute.  This is a huge blessing to show the people of Carpio the love of God through a plate of food. The boys of NH were extremely happy to have the opportunity to make two meals on the same day. 

Another piece of good news that we have is that Ciro, who a few years ago was the program director of NH, has returned to help with the Saturday program.  He has a lot of knowledge and experience that is greatly helping us to develop activities and plans.  Now we are able to work not only with the participants but also with the leaders that we have, empowering them so that they can do their job better but, more than this, so that they can get to know God on a deeper level.  We will work in two different groups for a period of about four months, the boys program will continue but we will work simultaneously on a discipleship program about the foundations of what Christian leadership really is. Please pray that this would be a time in which many of the boys, as leaders, can get to know God better.  Alvin will be working with the discipleship program for the leaders along with other members of the team. We pray that God will give them the tools to show a true concept of who God is and how his children should be.

There have also been some changes in the Life Refuge ministries.  Before, the director was in charge of the craft program, counseling, the administrative processes and the Institute, so that was a lot of work for just one person. This is why, a few weeks ago, they asked me to be the new director of the Institute. I want to open my heart and tell you that I feel very happy, very thankful to God for the opportunity and grateful to have been considered for the position- I have a lot of dreams and plans with respect to the Life Institute.  I began the letter with Psalms 37:4 because when I was about three years old I said that I wanted to be a teacher, missionary, and psychologist and the Lord has given me the desires of my heart and has given me even more than what I have asked for. Now, together with Andrea, the other missionary that works in the Institute, we are beginning to plan many things, setting up a mission, vision, values, objectives and beginning to do things in an orderly manner and with purpose to leave a good legacy to the next generations of teachers.

When Alvin and I began to plan our marriage and think of our future, we decided that before leaving as missionaries to outside of our country, we wanted to do something here, to leave a legacy on our land and to be able to help our people and the Lord is opening the doors to accomplish this objective.  How loyal is our God that once again he fulfills the desires of our heart!

It fills us with joy to know that there are girls and boys that are able to move forward in their studies and make a difference.  I ask you all to pray for them so that they may generate change in Carpio and that they may accomplish their dreams of having a better future with better opportunities.

I would like to ask you to pray for some requests:

·         That God would give me a lot of wisdom to direct the Institute and will let me surround myself with people with a vision and passion so that more boys and girls of Carpio have access to new opportunities

·         That the project that will begin with the leaders at NH will empower them to become better Christians and as a result, better leaders.

·         That God help the boys and girls to the Institute with desires of bettering themselves and making a difference in the community.

·         That God would provide for a scholarship fund for the students that finish 9th grade and want to continue with high school.

·         .

We want to thank you again for being with us, for your prayers, offerings, and concern for us and for reading our letters.  You are all in our prayers.

With love in Christ,

Alvin and Chio