Susannah Wesley School

We have been working on the expansion of the Susannah Wesley School in Quinta Linea for a little over a year. Several short-term work teams have come to Paraguay to help with this project. We first would like to share the history of the school, then we would like to share photos of the project progression. Enjoy seeing how God is working in a small section of the interior in Paraguay.

The Methodist Church in Quinta Linea was built in 1993 and immediately began to attract a community of believers in the area. However, as is the case in many Latin American countries, the local Catholic church strongly condemned the "evangelical" church (as Protestants are referred to here) as non-christian, and persecuted the members. This persecution even reached the local school, where the children of the families attending the Methodist church were ridiculed by fellow students and teachers. Some of the families approached the local Pastor and asked if a Christian school could be started so that their children would not have to be exposed to the persecution. In response to this request, a church in Alabama donated the funds to build a three room school and hire two teachers. From this humble beginning the Susannah Wesley School is now considered to be the best school in the area, and many of the same families who ridiculed the Christians are now sending their children to the school.

Original school. The two rooms on either end are used as classrooms. Originally, the middle room was to be used as as office. As the school has attracted more students, the middle "office" is now being used as one of the classrooms.

The school began with only 2 teachers, each teaching 3 classes per day. With the additional number of students growing to 150, an additional teacher has been added to the staff.

However, the success and popularity of the Susannah Wesley School is not without its own problems. We now have almost 150 students attending the school, and a strong desire to expand the grade levels beyond the current offering if 1st through 6th grades. The closest secondary school available is in the town of Yrybucua which is a 2 1/2 or more hour walk. Needless to say, only those who can afford alternative transportation such as a motorcycle can attend. Therefore, an expansion plan was outlined and the Methodist Church of Paraguay put the project high on it's list of projects for short-term work teams from the States. In 2001, funds were donated to buy the property needed for an expansion, but with the events of September 11th, the school construction was put on hold. In 2005, the Church received a donation to fund the majority of the construction, and the project was initiated. Plans were prepared for an expansion of 6 classrooms plus bathrooms and short-term work teams from the States began coming to Paraguay to help with the construction.

The construction is now almost complete and the expansion of the Susannah Wesley School is almost a reality. We will soon have large, well lit classrooms for grades 1 through 6 as well as classrooms to start secondary school with grade 7. The existing building (the original 3 room school house) will be converted to an office, a library and a small kitchen for preparing mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks for the children. In addition, a Bible based adult literacy program has already begun in the evenings to meet the needs of the adults in the community. Through the love, prayers, hard work, and donations of Christians in the States; the long-awaited dream of expanding the Susannah Wesley School is finally coming true - to God be the Glory!!