Update - January 2006

Following are some excerpts from a report I submitted to our PEF home office this month. Basically, it is a brief historical review of the first phase of the development of the school and the growth of our Project here in Merida. As I was writing the report, I was reminded of the many ways that we have seen God bless this work over the last 6 or 7 years.

Overview
The Mérida Project Account was established to manage special funds associated with the work of Bryce & Noreen King in Mérida, Mexico. The primary function for this account was that of funding for the “Centro Educativo Blas Pascal” (CEBP), a Christian Junior/Senior High School being developed in Mérida. A secondary function of this account has been that of the management of funds received for Short Term Work Projects such as work teams and short term internships for individuals interested in investigating a call to foreign missions.

In the Spring of 2000, Robert Taylor approved CEBP as a special project in order to allow the King’s to raise funds needed to develop the school. These funds would be solicited and managed by the Kings to be used for the following activities:

1. To subsidize the CEBP operations budget for a period of 5 years beginning with the 2001-02 school cycle and ending with the 2005-06 cycle.
   
2. To receive and distribute funds for the construction of additional physical facilities to accommodate the needs of the school.
   
3. For the purchase of equipment, furniture and other materials necessary for the school to function effectively.

The goal for this phase of the project was that of getting the school equipped for service and providing a subsidy for operations until the school could become locally funded. The goal was to have the school operations budget locally funded by the end of the 2005-06 school cycle. Because about half of the construction of new facilities would be done through the use of work teams from US Churches, the Kings requested that this account also be used to manage funds received for this purpose.

Project Summary
In order to be accredited by the Secretary of Public Education, prior to the opening of the school it was necessary to adapt an existing building to house the Science Laboratory and to put together a small library. We also needed to adapt existing facilities to function as classrooms, administrative offices and workrooms.

We spent a great deal of the winter/spring 2001 making these adjustments and were able to have the Junior High accredited when the school opened in the Summer of 2001. Accrediting for the Senior High School was achieved in the Spring of 2002.

When CEBP began the 2001-02 cycle, local funding provided about 60% of the operations budget. It was necessary to construct 4 additional classrooms in order to accommodate students for the 2002-03 cycle. Clark McNutt was able to secure funding and laborers to construct the needed facilities in the Spring of 2002. In the Spring/Summer of 2003 two additional classrooms were constructed using work teams and local labor. Construction began in the Summer of 2004 on one final building that will serve as an Art Room and improved Science Laboratory. Work continued on this building in the Summer of 2005 and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of January 2006.

In order to finish this building with local labor, we were able to secure a no-interest loan from a friend in the amount of $18,000.00 to be repaid by December 31, 2007. In November 2005, we began making monthly payments from the Mérida Account in the amount of $500.00 to service this loan. After finishing this phase of construction we will seek to raise funds to pay this loan off quickly (hopefully by December 2006). With the termination of this structure we will have the facilities necessary to accommodate the basic needs of both schools.

With increased enrollment and the improved facilities we have been able to increase tuitions and the percentage of local funding for the operations budget. We are at about 85% local funding for the 2005-06 school cycle. We just finished developing our 2006-07 budget projection and, if we are able to achieve our enrollment goals, we will be at 100% local funding for the operation of the school. Praise God!

I would like to mention that one means of subsidizing the school was through the use of PEF Missionaries Tim Jewett, Byron Morris, Noah Roberts & Julie Moore to fill needed teaching and/or administrative positions. In our projected budget for 2006-07, Mexican staff will fill all positions… an additional reason to worship the Lord.

Phase 2 Project Request
Having completed our goals for the first phase of the development of CEBP, Noreen & I would like to request approval for a phase 2 project. This phase will also involve a 5 year plan that includes the following:

1. Raising funds to finish paying off the loan for construction (currently $16,500.00).
2. Raising funds for the establishment of a Christian College:

• We will need to have our current Director complete a PhD Program. This will cost approximately $15,000.00 over the next three years.
• We need to provide scholarships for our current staff in order to bring them to Master’s Level. I will submit a projected budget and plan for this by June 2006.

3. We are planning to expand the use of the current facilities to include afternoon and evening programs. We will submit budget requests for these projects as they begin to mature. Currently there are three projects that we are considering:

• A children’s soccer club or recreation program (afternoon).
• An English Institute (afternoon/evening).
• A Continuing Education Certification Program (evening).

In addition to the continued use of this account, our goal is to continue to offer opportunities for young men & women to test their call through summer and/or 1-2 year service opportunities under our supervision. We are also hoping to promote the development of opportunities for Americans to study Spanish in Mérida in the context of an established ministry.

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Well, there it is! I hope that you can rejoice with us as you look at where we have been and as we begin to consider the direction we will be taking in the future. This last week Noreen & I have been in meetings discussing next year's school cycle... pre-registration for Junior High begins soon. We've been meeting because we already have all of our slots filled!

We are currently discussing the possibility of opening a second 7th grade group. For this to happen, we will need to have a minimum of 50 students enrolled. We currently have about 28 students on our list... please pray with us regarding this decision. Pre-registration starts February 6 and ends the 16th.