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February 1992 Newsletter
COLOMBIAN CHRISTIAN MISSION, INC.
Dale and Jeanie Meade, Missionaries
Preaching Christ from the Amazon Jungle, through the Andes Mountains, to the Caribbean Coastal Regions.
Volume 20, Issue 2 February, 1992
TO EDUCATE A CHILD
February is the month when classes begin in Colombia. Once again our Christian Day School is back in session. Some one hundred plus students are beginning their classes. Most of these students come from the homes of the poor and disenfranchised Colombians. Many of these children have been abandoned by their fathers. Since the parents lack money and political influence, they are unable to get their children into the Government schools. Other parents want to avoid the political nature or immorality common in the public schools. In Colombia, education is often viewed as a privilege, not a right.
Most of the students in our school would not be able to study if we did not offer them the opportunity. But since we have always attempted to make the work in Colombia indigenous, meaning that it is self-supporting, self governing, and self-propagating, we have chosen to support the school primarily through tuition. This has worked well. The school has functioned for years without significant foreign monies.
There is one shortcoming of this plan. Even though our tuition is much lower than that charged by most private schools, it is still out of reach of many of the very poor. That is where you can step in and help. Each year we offer you the privilege of providing an education for a poor Colombian child.
You could give food. That would help for today and certainly be appreciated. You might even build them a house. But by providing an education today, you will be giving that child a way to support himself in the future. You will provide him or her with a sense of dignity and self-worth. In other words, you will provide a future.
Again this year, tuition for the entire school year is merely $90.00 For that modest sum, you can enable a Colombian child to study for the next nine months. When your money is received, you will be assigned a child. You will be the only person providing economic help to that child. The entire $90.00 will go to the education of your adopted child. Not one penny will be deducted for overhead. You will receive a picture of your young scholar. Later you will get a copy of his or her grades, along with a note of thanks.
Why not experience the joy of sharing today? Help break the grips of poverty by providing a future. Sponsor a Colombian child today! Simply send $90.00 for your scholarship, clearly designated as such, to the Colombian Christian Mission, P.O. Box 95, Rittman, Ohio 44270.
THE ELECTRONIC OFFICE
Last month, we launched a new project. We hope to eventually develop an electronic office for the missionary effort in Colombia. This would enable us to facilitate many now tedious tasks and thus use our time for more important things, such as evangelization. We began raising funds for a scanner, a device that will allow us to copy books or tracts directly into our computer. In this way, we can adapt and rework printed material without having to retype it all. We can also include picture and drawings, reshaping and retouching them electronically. The scanner will be an important part of our publishing ministry. So far, we have received only about one tenth of the money needed for this project. We are hoping for increasing donations as many of you present this project to your church or Sunday school class.
Without the scanner, every time we want to adapt a previously printed book, we would need to type it all into the computer before we could even begin our modifications and improvements. Every time we want to include a picture, we would need to have it drawn to size by an artist or shoot the picture with a camera. The process has to be repeated every time simply because the size has changed. With a scanner the picture can be stretched to fit or retouched on screen. Can you image the work involved in typing a one hundred page book into the computer? This is time that could be better spent teaching the material included in the book, as opposed to using so much time in producing it.
We cannot simply run out to Berean's and buy the material we need. Our Brotherhood produces very little didactic literature in Spanish. As a result, we have written and produced virtually all of our teaching material, beginning with basic tracts and Sunday School material, then going all the way through our leadership training manuals. In the past this has all be done on a K-Mart typewriter and a mimeograph machine. But as I realize how quickly time passes, I have been gripped by a sense of urgency. We must reach Colombia soon. We must be able to teach in areas where it is entirely too dangerous for Americans to travel. Only good teaching material can enable us to do this. And only you can help provide that. Why not become an evangelist in Colombia today-by providing the equipment on which to produce teaching materials that will in turn teach hundreds.