“Thus far the Lord has helped us”
I warmly greet you, hoping our Heavenly Father will constantly pour out multiple blessings upon your lives and may they flow into your homes, jobs, and ministries.
It fills me with joy and pleasure to write this letter precisely on these dates in which we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for which we thank our Heavenly Father for such a wonderful and redemptive gift for humanity, especially for us who know him and have received Him in our hearts, not because we are good but because of His Grace that has allowed us to be made His children. To Him be honor and praise!
With deep gratitude to the Lord, I share with you that we successfully finished the 2021 school year, protected by His mercy through this ongoing pandemic that has dramatically altered our lives, especially the lives of children and youth who for their development need to be able to share with others of their age.
The 2020 school year left many children below the necessary academic level, nevertheless, during the beginning of the 2021 school year we were able to bridge the gap for their grade level and firmly believe we have been able to help them adequately advance throughout the year with the hope that next year, 2020, we will be able to help them reach an even higher level. We have worked hard, preparing in all areas, to get off to a good start next year, but we recognize all attempts are in vain without God’s blessing, so with His help and in His Name we will begin.
Something that all of us, administration, teachers, and parents, greatly missed was not seeing and hearing the noise of the students. Without them the school was in silence, which reminded us that they are the reason for our work, our effort, our goals, and our ministry. It has been very sad to see and know how much the students, too, have missed their school. They would constantly express that they wanted to be taking their classes in the school building, eating together, and playing together. It has been difficult for everyone.
Fortunately, we were able to attend pre-school and first through third elementary children in person every day, but only for a few hours and in small groups, outside the school, which was of great help because virtual classes were not the best for them since many of them struggle with technology, others did not have a computer or did not have internet. But the worst struggle was not having their teacher or classmates right there with them. The saddest picture is knowing that many of the parents have no knowledge of technology and several of them cannot read or write; it’s heartbreaking.
That is why we are looking forward to what will happen next year, confident that they can receive their classes in person. We will do everything possible to bless them with regular classes on school grounds; that is our constant prayer. We can no longer continue with the current situation.
Despite all we have gone through, we bless God who has always supported us with a constant means of support from Proyecto Fe; with your support it was possible to pay the teachers, who worked hard alongside the parents and with the directors of the different levels of education of this school. For these reasons we have seen good results. Therefore, with all certainty we can say with all our heart and our gratitude: EBEN-EZER, up to this point Jehovah has helped us.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we thank you for your love, interest, and support for this school. Yes, it is worth it. May God continue to bless you as you bless these children and youth. May you enjoy the celebration of Christmas and may the Lord bless all your plans for the year 2022.
Ester Battz
