I am very excited about what is going on with our Porvenir library. To bring everyone totally up to speed, we started out with 4 libraries and only 2 exist now. One is located in one of our church member’s homes. It is called Biblioteca de Cristo. I go and facilitate a kids event every other Saturday in that library. Our other, much larger, library is called Porvenir. I facilitate an event there every other Saturday and Rachel is in charge the alternate Saturdays. It is located in the community above where Greg and I live. It occupies the part of the second story of the police station.
When we started the library project we really had no idea what we were getting into. It happened much faster than any of us had planned on, but we went with it and thanked God for what seemed like an incredible opportunity. I am convinced that the library project is still an incredible opportunity, and there is so much potential in these locations. I have been placed in charge of the kids events that are hosted in the libraries. I absolutely love it. As an education major with a masters in curriculum development I have thoroughly enjoyed using the gifts that God has given me. I think it is hard for any woman to leave her career, but I feel like this small part of our ministry is something God was preparing me for all along.
We have decided to treat Porvenir like our guinea pig. Rachel, Greg, and I met this past week and discussed something that I want to share with you, our supporters. We hope to jumpstart, in the very near future, a type of reading incentive program. The whole purpose of the kids events is to provide a safe atmosphere for children to learn and to promote reading comprehension, something that many people lack here. After all of this planning, I wish that I had earned my masters in reading, but I am trying my best to pull from contacts I know and research the subject to the best of my ability. Rachel is helping me in this endeavor and we would appreciate your prayers.
The summer months are quickly approaching for the Peruvian kids (December-February). We really want the program to be on track by then. Right now we have a lot of work to do. We are soliciting community restaurants and businesses for donations as prizes for the incentive program. We are cataloging all of the books and keeping a wish list of newer books (we have a long way to go in stocking the library for all reading levels). We are creating reading charts, facilitating reading comprehension tests, and developing a reward system. Like I said, there is a lot of work to do.
We will be returning to the states in a month. I am so excited. I hope to report some really good things about this jumpstart. Please keep this project and the children of Peru in your prayers.