Growing together: Afterschool program and Bible study thrive in Venezuela

Since “Mi Pequeña Lucecita” (“My Little Light”) preschool in La Caramuca, Venezuela, was shut down, efforts have intensified to expand both the afterschool tutoring program and the Sunday afternoon youth Bible study, writes Pastor David Ernst in his latest newsletter.

“We have met with some success and there is, in fact, some overlap between the two groups, with some of our new afterschool students attending the Bible study,” the missionary shares.

Pastor David’s wife, Luz María, has enlisted her granddaughter, Anyi Garrido, along with Yusmelvis Salas, a young woman from the neighborhood, to assist with the afterschool classes.

The Sunday youth group continues to learn how to “sing” in sign language, a meaningful skill in a country where an estimated 1.2 million people are deaf, including around 15,000 with congenital deafness. In 2004, more than 3,000 deaf children were enrolled in the national public school system.

Sunday afternoons are dedicated entirely to prayer and Bible study.

The afterschool program provides remedial instruction in language skills, mathematics, and other subjects, while also incorporating daily Bible reading and prayer. “Many of our students have basic learning disabilities as well as having to deal with a shortage of teachers and the legacy of two years of closed schools due to the COVID-19 crisis,” Pastor David explains.