by Arlene Jonkman

Apacienta Mis Corderos (Feed My Lambs) continues to grow in Ecuador and throughout Latin America. Funded by Word & Deed Ministries, this ministry is a Christian education project which has been providing Spanish Sunday School curriculum to a growing number of Latin American churches.In 2008, my husband Fred and I shared our workshop and curriculum with churches in San Felipe, in the Mexican peninsula (Baja California). Since that time one of our former students has been successfully teaching the workshop to the teachers from other churches in Baja California. This past year we were invited by the Presbyterian churches in the northern part of Mexico to come and share our curriculum and teachings with the churches in Monterrey and in La Victoria.

Our daughter Erin accompanied us, providing two extra suitcases for carrying more books. With almost 300 pounds of books in tow, we arrived in the airport in Mexico City. The eyebrows of the immigration officials rose as we lugged the heavy suitcases onto the conveyor belts, and they immediately asked us to enter the inspection line. We had to open up the suitcases, but once we proved with our passports that our names were on the books as the authors, they let us enter with all the books without taxing us. Once again we thanked God for his faithfulness in going before us as we cross borders.
Monterrey City is a large city of seven million. The Presbyterian churches are actively trying to plant new churches throughout this city and the north-eastern region. It was a joy for us to meet with all the pastors and church planters on the first morning. We introduced them to the commentaries and the workshop we had planned. Throughout Latin America, there is very little curriculum available to take students through a chronological study of the Bible, while also having Christ-centered content. The pastors expressed their excitement and appreciation for the commentaries and enthusiastically encouraged their teachers to attend our workshops. Fred taught a 12 hour workshop to the teachers of eight churches in La Victoria, a city four hours south of Monterrey. I taught the same workshop to the teachers of nine churches from Monterrey and its surrounding suburbs.

We were privileged to be able to share all of our material with Maricela, who is the director of the children’s ministries for all the Presbyterian churches in that area of Mexico. She works full time helping the teachers of all the churches organize their Sunday School programs and provides them with training and resources. We spent some extra time sharing ideas and materials with her and she will work with all the churches in the future, helping them implement this new program and continuing the training process with the teachers. People like Maricela are the key to the success of our program. They work hard alongside the local people, long after we return to Quito. It is such a joy for us to find local people who have a passion to continue working with this ministry in their respective countries.

Mexico has enjoyed the presence of the Reformed and Presbyterian faith for much longer than any other country in Latin America and we noticed the stability that this has brought to the churches. However, their churches are also facing challenges as many of the youth are being lost to the world again. This reality once again impressed upon us the importance of this ministry. We need to prepare the people working with children and give them tools so they can faithfully instruct the future generations in the truths of God’s Word. The churches will never be stable and strong if the children continue to be neglected, as has been the sad reality throughout the denominations in Latin America.
God continues to open doors in this ministry and we have had the opportunity to teach Christian education courses in seminaries and churches both locally in Ecuador and in Chile, Columbia, Peru and Mexico. We are thankful to see how God has placed the desire to continue this work in the hearts of local people in Chile, Peru and Mexico. We also ask for your prayers as the Christians in these countries investigate the feasibility of having the commentaries printed locally to make distribution easier.
In this past year, the prison chaplains in Ecuador have also begun using our material as the basis of their Bible study programs with the inmates and the children of the inmates in various prisons throughout the country. They have expressed their deep gratitude for this resource.
In 2010 we will be traveling to Costa Rica, Colombia, and to a new area in Peru, the Lord willing. We have also recently received a request for the material in Bolivia. We covet your prayers as this ministry continues to grow. Pray especially for the local teachers in each country as they implement the program in their churches and work with the children. May the Lord continue to use this material to build his Kingdom throughout the Spanish-speaking world!

Arlene Jonkman and her husband, Fred, are Christian education and discipleship mission workers at la Iglesia Reformada del Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador.