Education Initiatives

Pastoral Training

We were excited to host a group of 5 pastors from the Southwestern Ohio District of the Church of the Nazarene in March 2022. They provided 3 days of training for about 80 pastors and leaders from the district surrounding Chisec, Guatemala. Another group of U.S. pastors is scheduled to come in Feb/March 2025 to do additional training for pastors on the district.

Thrive Women's Conference

We were able to partner with the US/Canada Nazarene Women's Ministry to host the first Thrive conference in Guatemala (called "Mujeres Virtuosas" by the local women). The Thrive team worked with a group of women in the Chisec Central Church of the Nazarene for a year to plan and host almost 400 local women for 3 days of inspiration, encouragement, and spiritual development in early June 2022. This was a tremendously successful event in the lives of the women in Chisec.

A second Thrive event was held in the village of La Planada in May 2024, where approximately 180 indigenous women were ministered to.

Youth Groups

A growing number of youth groups have come and partnered with El Puente over the past two summers. They have helped pour concrete floors for families, helped improve the local medical clinic in Chisec, distribute food and clothing to needy widows and families, provide tutoring to local students whose education has lagged, held children's activities and VBS in at least 5 villages, and collaborated with the local Central Nazarene youth in Chisec in community evangelism and trash pickup.

It is awesome to see these passionate young people invest their time and energy in ministering to the local communities.

Children's Ministries

We are pleased to continue to partner with the Refinery Church in Columbus, Ohio, in the Life Center ministry in the community of La Planada. As part of our Education ministry focus, El Puente is privileged to partner with the Life Center ministries, combining those with our other ministry foci. For example, in La Planada, we have hosted many teams who have invested time/energy in the education activities of the Life Center, have visited many homes in the village and provided food/clothing/prayer for the families, and who have provided concrete floors to many of the homes in the community (including many of those of the children in the program). We also were very excited to provide the well and water tanks for the community, improving their access to water year-round. We believe the Life Centers + El Puente is a "1+1=3" partnership for the future of the children and community.

The first year of the Life Center in Chinaboquil, sponsored by Springdale Church of the Nazarene was very successful - the average assessment test scores in math, language, and Bible studies increased by over 7 percentage points during the academic year. The Springdale team this year started construction of new classrooms at the church to support the Life Center activities.

In 2024, we also started two additional Life Centers, bringing the total to four, in Se'Cuachil (sponsored by West Chester, Bethel, and NewStart Nazarene churches) and Belen (sponsored by Amplify Church of the Nazarene).