Carcelén School Project

Acts 2:44-45 (NIV)
 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

The purpose of this letter is to recruit 100 friends who will help with a crisis situation here in Ecuador.  Let me briefly explain the rather complicated, sensitive and urgent mission challenge that is affecting our local efforts to reach people for Jesus Christ.

The Situation

This past June the Carcelén Nazarene Church here in Quito had to close the operation of its school called CEN (which stands for Nazarene Education Center). This school was an important ministry tool to educate and reach local children in this part of Quito. The principle reasons were:

• CEN started the school year in debt from a poor enrollment the previous year.
•  CEN’s enrollment was about down 40% from previous years because of newly implemented governmental financial incentives, which had the result of encouraging parents to put their children in public schools.
• Despite careful administration of CEN and drastic cuts, the 2009-2010 school year ran $20,000 in debt.  This was paid for with church funds and loans.
•  Finally, the government passed a law that mandated that all teachers’ salaries be doubled.  This law closed all possibilities of continuing with the school.

I was brought into the situation in an advisory role a year ago in August when I came back from furlough.  The previous pastor resigned the church a few months later.  In January I was appointed to give leadership to the church to help them transition through this crisis. 

The decision to close the school was especially complicated because Ecuadorian law requires that we pay all teachers a severance pay based on their years of service.  This total is $38,000.  Money was never set aside to anticipate this.  Thus, the church was in a situation where it could not afford to run the school, but also could not afford to close it.  Given the doubling of the cost to run the school, it was decided that we could not continue and would seek money to pay the liquidations/severances.  This was due on June 30.  Obviously we did not have this money at that time.  After some rather intense negotiations, the faculty agreed to accept their severance in two payments, the first at the end of September and the second at the end of December. 

The Church’s Response

There are considerable legal consequences associated with not paying the debt which not only affect this local Nazarene church, but the reputation of the Church of the Nazarene in Ecuador and its ability to minister here.  In addition, the church could lose its property and assets if taken to court for non-payment.  For this reason, we have pursued every means possible to raise the money.  These efforts include:

• The local church gives 75% of its income toward the debt.  The rest provides for utilities and other necessities.
• The Church of the Nazarene here in Ecuador has sold several pieces of property and others are for sale.
• We regularly sell lunches after church events.  This raises about $60 a week.

There are other fund raising events planned including a garage sale in a few weeks, but this is a large debt, especially in the economy of a developing nation where the average wage is $250 a month. 

Request

With this explanation, I am praying for and seeking 100 friends who will give $150 toward this project.  Will you be one?  By doing this, you will help us get out of debt and help us focus on our principle purpose of reaching lost men, women and children and making Christlike disciples. 

The church’s goal is to first pay off the faculty liquidation/severances.  Second the church needs to pay back a $7,000 loan, which was taken out during the past school year.  We are praying that we can be debt free by the end of 2010. 

How to Help

To make it easy to give to this project, I have set up an online payment system. You can go to http://web.nazarene.org/goto/stanhall.  Once here, click on the box that says, “Make a Donation.”  From here, follow the directions.  If you want to write a check, make it out to “General Treasurer” and send it to:  Church of the Nazarene, Global Ministry Center, 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, KS 66220.  In the memo section write, “Work of Stan Hall.”  Your donation is tax deductible.  For Nazarenes, this project qualifies as a 10% giving project. 

Seeking 100 people to give $150 seemed to us like a reasonable way of spreading out this debt over a number of people.  Obviously, a gift of any size is appreciated.  Also, if you know a friend who would be interested in this project, please send this email to them.

Thank you so much for your love and help in the global work of God, your friendship, and your very best financial investment.  I will keep you informed on how our Lord used you to provide a miracle for these Ecuadorian saints.

Blessings from one rescued by Jesus Christ,

Stan Hall