MISSION MINISTRY AT WORK IN INDIA
Rev. Kenaz Solomon, President of the Tranvancore Church Council, located in southern India, reports that for the past year, the mission has been conducting free medical camps to impoverished and remote villages where no medical care would otherwise be available.  Samuel Solomon, son of the mission director who recently graduated from medical school, is overseeing the camps which are conducted on a monthly basis.  One of the goals of the mission is to establish a small clinic in each village.

Additionally, the mission runs the Congregational Christian Hospital located in rural Palliyadi. Currently, the hospital is served by only one doctor who works in the evenings. Charges to patients are minimal and present income is barely enough to cover medicine, staff salaries, and utilities.  The Travancore Church Council would like to expand the services offered by the hospital.  With improvements, the hospital has the potential to serve 14 nearby villages.  However, some buildings need to be refurbished while others need to be torn down and reconstructed.  Long term support for this project has been requested from our mission in India. 

YOUTH FOCUS IN PHILIPPINES
Youth ministry has been the focus for much of 2002 within the National Association of Congregational Churches located in the Philippines.  An ongoing mission of the NACC is to train youth to become able and enthusiastic leaders of their churches now and for the future.

Youth fellowships have been organized in the various regions of the Philippines.  Delegates and leaders are nominated to attend the youth conferences where they receive intensive leadership training.  The NACC Churches and pastors have made significant contributions to the programs and activities held during the conferences. 

During the first months of the year, youth fellowship events were held in Zambales and on Negros Island. Camps for the youth within the Manila area churches will be held October 30^th – November 2^nd.  A final youth camp will be scheduled before the end of the year.  The NACC, Philippines has requested assistance to subsidize attendance at youth conferences for needy children and churches. 

The Caring Community (the relief and social action arm of the NACC) offers a child sponsorship program as a part of its outreach ministry.  $245 annually will provide education and basic needs for a sponsored child. A relationship between the donor and the sponsored child will be nurtured by the mission through photographs and correspondence.  Donations may be sent monthly, quarterly, or annually through The Missionary Society. “Every dollar given to missions, goes to missions.”

PANAMERICAN INSTITUTE, TIJUANA, MEXICO
The Panamerican Institute began in the early sixties as a program to bring promising Mexican teenagers to the United States to live with American families and attend high schools.  In 1967, Reverend Edgar Welty, a retired Congregational minister, rented a small, rundown house on the Mexican side of the border and began to educate underprivileged children.  These children, from very poor families in the Tijuana area, could not afford to attend schools in Mexico after the free 6^th grade education that was given to all students.  With a handful of students and a miniscule budget, Reverend Welty began a labor of love, giving these 7^th through 9^th graders a very usable knowledge of skills needed for getting a job in the Tijuana area.

Today, the school still serves the same youth, offering a varied and thorough education in bookkeeping, computers, typing, correspondence, documentation, English, mathematics, physical sciences,

social sciences, and Spanish grammar.  With a grant from the Rotary Club of San Diego, an excellent computer lab was installed in 1998 and offers all students the opportunity to join the technical world of the 21^st century.  The lab is also used by the local adult community, for a small fee, raising the educational level of the neighborhood as well.

A new science laboratory was completed in 2001, giving the students another tool to further their knowledge in an outside world increasingly requiring such training.  When these teenagers leave the school, after three years of quite intensive study, each is prepared to either take a job in business, or go on to further their education at the high school level.  Since this takes money, two alternatives are available.  Panamerican Institute offers certain gifted students part-time teaching positions at the school.  The graduates may also work in the area, earning money to continue their education.

Tuition at PAI is approximately $800 per student.  This includes a lunch, which may be the only meal of the day for some.  Since the average weekly wage in the Tijuana area is less then $50 per week, this money enables the school to offer educational opportunities to youth which are not financially available elsewhere.  Students are required to work in the school one hour a day at such tasks as office and library duties, cleaning and maintenance, and as teaching assistants.

PAI also offers a program, Adopt a Student, to anyone interested in financially supporting a student.  The program requests $20 a month or $240 annually.  Donations may be sent through the Missionary Society monthly, quarterly, or annually.  This financial aid will assure the adopted students attendance at school.  Funds are used to provide free lunches, books, supplies, uniforms, transportation, etc.

Several success stories tell of the effectiveness of Panamerican Institute:

● The current instructor of the computer lab is Abraham Bautista, a brilliant 18 year old college student, and graduate of the school.  He is teaching both the students and the community in Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and troubleshooting and repair.

● Silvia Ana Soto is the principal of PAI and the mover behind the continuing success of the Institute.  She spends more time at the school than at home, giving inspiration to the students by her fine example.

● Juana Santos, the President and guiding force of PAI, following the passing of Reverend Welty, has dedicated her life to furthering the success of the institution. Not only did she graduate from the school at 14, Juana continued her education receiving a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

With all the positive successes, Panamerican Institute is far behind equivalent schools in the United States.  The facility is very primitive, using homemade plywood desks, rudimentary toilet facilities, meals of rice and beans, and poor lighting.  PAI needs the basics for proper education:  pencils, paper, typewriter ribbons, computer supplies, eating utensils, and money for new textbooks.  Since students are only as attentive as their stomachs will allow, additional funding to offer a second meal, probably breakfast, would enable these undernourished youth a better chance in school.

The Panamerican Institute is alive and growing.  With our help, the next 35 years will be even more productive and successful.                               

Submitted by Ed Millar, Panamerican Board of Directors