Praise & Prayer – March 5

Praise

1. For the healthy arrival of Ezekiel James, son of Edwin and Allie Gómez (1^st grade teacher). Ezekiel was born on Fri, Feb 16. Please keep Edwin, Allie, and Ezekiel in your prayers as they begin this new season of life.
2. For Celebrate Colombia on Feb 23! We had a special time enjoying different morning activities with MS and HS students. Then in the afternoon, families came to see our elementary kids perform selections from Rafael Pombo’s plays. All ECA was moving to the beat of Colombian culture!

3. SABER is behind us! We celebrate with our 11^th and 12^th graders who completed their major SABER exam last weekend. As they await results, we pray they have peace and that they will continue to take advantage of these last months of school to learn as much as possible.
4. For the close to 600 delegates from all over Colombia who participated in the OBED convention for Christian educators on March 2-3. This time of inspiration and learning is a key moment in the year for those who serve in Christian schools. We are grateful that our Colombian teachers and teacher aides were able to be a part of this event. We had several teachers and parents investing in others through workshops also.
5. We sold all 60 tickets for the pro-construction piano concert on Thu, Feb 22 with Mary Jane Server. We are grateful for the 1.5 million pesos that we were able to raise with this event!
6. Construction: We have finished pouring the concrete base and columns for the 2^nd floor, and now we are preparing the scaffolding that will support the 3^rd floor. The 3^rd floor concrete base will be finished Fri, Mar 9 if everything goes as scheduled.

We are redesigning the original structure of our multi-purpose sports center to better fulfill the NSR-10 regulation (anti-seismic) and to have an iconic design for the school. Continue to pray for funds since the construction pace is moving faster than expected and we need to ensure the continuity of the work schedule.

7. We received notification that ECA has been reaccredited by ACSI for the period July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2025. The Lord be praised!
8. For Missions Week in January, with the theme “Defending the Fatherless.” Our students filled out commitment cards, and their commitments encourage us to continue working for the neediest. Here are some facts:
   1. Nearly 90% of the students who filled out a card committed to pray for an orphan, orphan ministry, and the orphan crisis around the world at least once a week.
   2. More than 60% of MS committed to share with someone else at least three things they learned during Missions Week.
   3. More than 60% of elementary students committed to ask their pastors to celebrate Orphan Sunday as a congregation in November.

Prayer

1. Fundraising Trip Mar 3-14…support Beth Afanador with your prayers in the coming days as she travels in the southeast U.S. seeking to connect with former ECA teachers, families, and students plus make contact with others who may want to support the ECA building project. There is more information on the El Camino Academy Facebook page about these events, and if you can share this information with any friends or family in the following seven cities, that would be appreciated. Pray that God will move many to be generous in investing in the ECA vision through helping us complete our building project.

2. We still lack the following teachers for 2018-19: PK, 1^st, HS math, HS science, and art. We are also seeking an academic director, a director of development, and a counselor.