November 2018 Newsletter

NOVEMBER 2018 NEWS

As we share this month’s news, our cup overflows with gratitude. In the last year, your financial support for our mission has increased nearly 100%. Thank you!

As a result, we’re helping more than 1,000 at-risk children in Venezuela and Colombia improve their grades, enrich their lives through skills courses, eat healthy meals, and experience the love of Christ – a milestone number of students. You’ll read their stories below.

And we have plans to do more, reach more children, in the coming year.

In the days ahead, we’ll share end-of-year messages with you. As you read them, please prayerfully consider how you may support the work God has called us to do. We remain ever-committed to faithful stewardship and ever-grateful for God’s provision through you for the work of His kingdom.

GIVE A GIFT TO HELP REACH MORE CHILDREN

When you shop, use our Amazon Smile link for purchases. Amazon will donate a portion of what you spend to Andean Aid!

STORIES FROM OUR HELP & HOPE CENTERS

WE WELCOME REFUGEES

In Colombia, students at our Help and Hope Centers are working hard to finish the school year well, while Venezuelan students are beginning a new school year. Ten new Venezuelan refugees are attending our new Aeropuerto Help & Hope Center, bringing the total number of refugees being served at our Cucuta locations to 90.

PASTOR TOBON WITH 5 OF THE 14 NEW COMPUTERSPURCHASED FOR THE AEROPUERTO HELP & HOPE CENTER.

FROM SUGAR LAND TO CUCUTA:
CHILDREN HELPING CHILDREN

This past summer, we learned that our good friends and supporters at the First Colony Church of Christ had a surprise for us: the children who attended Vacation Bible School there raised $1,200 for our Aeropuerto Help & Hope Center, which was itself established with a generous gift from First Colony! Staff used the money to purchase two keyboards, a guitar and 14 computers. There was much joy as the children began using the instruments right away in the worship band (see above photo).

THANK YOU, FIRST COLONY CHURCH OF CHRIST AND CHILDREN WHO ATTENDED YOUR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL! As you have learned about giving to others a portion of what God has given you, you’ve brought happiness to many children who can’t wait to put these gifts to use for the God who loves them and toward a better future for themselves.

PASTOR TOBON MAKING A NON-ELECTRIC LAMP

LIGHTING THE WAY SO OTHERS MAY SEE

AEROPUERTO

Pastor Tobon is the leader of our new Aeropuerto Help & Hope Center in Cucuta, Colombia. He’s also a gifted innovator who’s implemented energy-saving solar lighting at his church.

Pastor Tobon’s ongoing concern for Andean Aid staff and students in Venezuela, where lengthy electricity outages have become routine, gave him an idea: he would teach others to make lamps to light their homes without electricity using recycled materials. Specifically, old batteries.

Pastor Tobon will travel to Venezuela to instruct communities and our Juan Christiansen School in how to make these. Thank you, Pastor Tobon, for sharing your ingenuity with our loved ones across the border. And thank you for teaching the children about the love of Christ and the hope He brings to their futures.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Psalm 119:105

ALVARO RODRIGUEZ

AEROPUERTO

4th Grade student Alvaro Rodriguez lives with his stepfather and two other families in his grandmother’s home. Alvaro’s mother, who moved to Bogota five years ago to work, calls twice weekly to catch up with him. It’s been a difficult journey for Alvaro, who struggles to study in a house where so many people live, and it’s even more challenging because there‘s no place to do homework.

Since attending our new Aeropuerto Center, Alvaro has found the proper place tostudy, and is motivated by the other students. Pastor Tobon, the leader of our Center at Aeropuerto, mentors and helps Alvaro with his math.

LUNA SANGUINO

AEROPUERTO

Luna Sanguino, 10, is a Venezuelan refugee living in Colombia. Her mother has been looking for work, and her father does his best to find temporary jobs. Living expenses are high, and there isn’t money for books or other homework materials.

Since coming to our Aeropuerto Help & Hope Center, Luna is receiving the materials she needs and doing well in school. One day, Luna wants to be a veterinarian because she loves animals. She believes that realizing her dream will help her family have a better life.

JOHAN GARCIA

Nine-year-old Johan Garcia lives with his parents in a small rental house in Cucuta. His father hasn’t worked in two months, and the family gets by on borrowed money and promises of repayment. Paying for food, electricity, gas, and water has not been easy.

When Johan goes to the Help & Hope Center, he forgets about all these problems,instead finding a respite where he can do his homework and be inspired by other students. “I would like go to the university, but of course I know that is almost impossible in this country,” says Johan. Still, Johan prays that one day he will attend the university and become a pediatrician.

CRISTHIAN BONILLA

PALMITA

Cristhian Bonilla, a student at our Palmita Help & Hope Center in Rubio, Venezuela, has faced an uphill climb at school ever since he can remember. The 15-year-old is only in 6^th grade, a result of being born with a learning disability. In addition to his struggles in school, Cristhian’s father passed away when Christhian was only ten, and he went to live with his grandmother. His mother has searched hard for work without success.

At Palmita, the pastor and his family have become Cristhian’s second family, and the Help & Hope Center has become his second home.Christhian loves to serve in the church and help teachers distribute educational materials to the other students. Christhian also likes to serve food on meal days, a task that earns him a reward of plenty of nutritious, hot food. The pastor’s wife says, “We are so glad we can help make Christhian happy, and now he is a son to us, too.”

DAYANA MICELL RINCON GALVIZ

CAMILO DAZA

Dayana Michell Rincon Galviz, 9, lives with her mother, sisters and five brothers in a tiny house without comforts. Her mother works selling chickens, and does not have time to take care of the children. Dayana’s father, who left the family, helps financially from time to time.

Dayana and her sisters have to make food, wash clothes and organize the house; they are always alone, After school, once they have tidied their house, they come to the Camilo Daza Help & Hope Center in Cucuta to do their homework. At night, they wait for their mother to arrive.

Dayana dreams of being a normal girl like others who can go out to play with friends and always have the company of their mothers. She wants to study to be a teacher.

ANGELA PENARANDA

CAMILO DAZA

Angela Michell Picon Peñaranda is a Colombian girl, 11, who lives with her grandparents and younger sister. Angela’s mother left nine years ago and began another family; her father has also abandoned the home.

Angela attends our Camilo Daza Help & Hope Center, and is very happy with everything she learns there and with the love she is shown.

YASNEY DE MAR QUINTERO

CAMILO DAZA

Yasney del Mar Quintero, 10, Yasney lives with her mother, who is single, two brothers and a nephew in a small wooden house with a dirt floor. At the moment, Yasney’s mother does not have a job and her uncle brings them food. Yasney, who is studying 5th grade, dreams of meeting her father one day and studying to become a teacher.

COMMUNITY SKILLS TRAINING

At a sewing class, young girls are learning to make clothing. Your donations have enabled us to hire teachers for a variety of courses that help members of at-risk communities enrich and equip themselves for a better future.

SUPPORT THE WORK OF ANDEAN AID WITH YOUR GIFT

PHOTO FOR ANDEAN AID BY YOSHUA OROZCO/REINO ART

IN RUBIO, THERE IS DARKNESS

Rubio, Venezuela, where we operate three Help & Hope Centers, is suffering very lengthy power outages, sometimes lasting 32 or more hours. Cooking gas is unavailable and people, including our own staff, the children and their families, are making fires to cook their food. We are asking God to free the people of Venezuela.

NEWS FROM THE JUAN CHRISTIANSEN SCHOOL

SNAPCHAT SELFIE BY INGRID ZAMBRANO

A TEACHER WITH A PASSION FOR CHILDREN
IS EXPANDING HER OWN FAMILY

Our senior teacher at Juan Christiansen School, Ingrid Zambrano, is in her 23^rd week of pregnancy. “So far everything is normal,” says Ingrid, who’s expecting a girl she says she’ll name Lucia Isabella. “I keep eating healthy and taking all the vitamins the doctor sends me, and taking all the necessary care.”

Ingrid continues, “We have a 5-year-old boy named Tomás Andrés, who is super happy about his new little sister. At this time, I ask God for a lot of patience, since my husband works in Cucuta and we do not have much time to share. But we know that in this time of crisis, the sacrifice we are making is a blessing.

We would appreciate your prayers for the good health of baby Lucia, that she would be born healthy and without any complications or health conditions. May God continue to pour out his blessings and mercy on my family and my loved ones, that we do not lack His provision. I am very grateful to you. God bless you!”

JORGE CONTRERAS WITH ANDEAN AID TEACHER ROSMARY AND FIELD DIRECTOR GABY ANDRADE.

HELP & HOPE CENTER STUDENT WINS SCHOOL SPELLING BEE

Andean Aid teacher Rosmary Godoy and Field Director Gaby Andrade were invited to join a panel of judges at a spelling bee held at a public school in Buenos Aires, Cucuta. The winner was Jorge Contreras, who attends Andean Aid’s Help & Hope Center in Buenos Aires and also takes community skills training classes.

CONGRATULATIONS, JORGE!

PARENTS AT THE JUAN CHRISTIANSEN ACADEMY

A SHOW OF STRENGTH AND SACRIFICE

Last month, Andean Aid, along with staff and teachers at our private Christian school, the Juan Christiansen Academy, were faced with a difficult decision. They were to vote on a government proposal that would allow parents to pay lower tuition fees as long as the government could take over the school.

As seen in this photo, the parents voted overwhelmingly to maintain the current tuition level so that the school can continue to operate independently, an outcome that stunned officials given these are exceedingly difficult times for Venezuelan families.

Join us in continuing to pray for these brave parents, as well as our staff and school. We await an ending to this story that only God can write.

GROWING POWER:
ORGANIC CILANTRO AND WATERMELON

Farming instruction continues at Juan Christiansen School, where the soil is very rich. Students till the dirt, plant organic crops, maintain the beds, then take the bounty home to their families and communities. Another way Andean Aid is helping build the child, the church and the community!

COFFEE FARM OWNER WILSA CACERES

“GOD IS WALKING BEFORE US.”

By Gaby Andrade, Director of Field Operations

I want to share with you how great is our God. After months of fervent prayer and many legal filings, the 62 invaders who had taken up residence on my mother’s coffee farm, effectively driving her off her own land, have abandoned the property! Even amid the precarious political situation in Venezuela, God handled this dangerous problem.

After the Fiscal del Tribunal authority told the invaders that if they continued on my mom’s property, they would go to jail, all 62 people who had built dwellings on her land went away. Unfortunately, the land is now without trees and coffee plants, but we will start again. Thank God doing this will be easy since He is walking in front of us.

Thank you for your prayers!

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. A land in rebellion has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.”

Proverbs 28:1-2

THANK YOU, ANA CARILLO and MISION ALIANZA EVANGELICA!

DELIVERING BAGS OF FOOD

Ana Carrillo, who serves on the board of the Civil Association for Andean Aid, also works with the Mision Alianza Evangélica to deliver bags of food to those in need. Ana and the organization decided to allocate 60 bags of food to our Help & Hope Centers at La Palmita, Florida 2000, Villa Bahareque, and to the Juan Christiansen school.

Despite this gesture, our people didn’t know how to reach Villa del Rosario in Cúcuta where the bags of food were to be picked up. So Andean Aid provided the transportation through one of our students’ parents who has a truck.

Staff from our Centers rode in the pick-up truck, and when we reached Cúcuta and crossed the bridge, we took a bus (provided by Andean Aid, too), and at last, got to the church where we would find the food.

Inside, Pastor Dagoberto prayed for us and read the Bible as he passed out the food. It is just for the present, but to eat even a bit is still a mighty blessing! Thank God for it. And thanks to Andean Aid for providing the transportation to pick up the food.