PO BOX 8644 St. Joseph, MO 64508   www.christnationministries.org  816‐984‐5846 

  Helping us just got easier 

by DaRonn Washington

From talking with many of our partners there have been a few great suggestions on how to help their giving easier. We took those ideas and made some changes. Now these options are available to you.

• Direct withdrawal for your monthly gift. Several partners that have asked if we can make available automatic withdrawal from their checking account. This year we are able to offer this option. Many times, because our lives are so busy, we can forget to give our monthly gift. Now with the option of automatic withdrawal you do not have to remember.

We can schedule an automatic withdrawal from your bank account or bank card around the date that you specify. Email us at: cnministies@gmail.com for more information.

• Reminder program. Maybe you do not want to have money withdrawn directly from your account but would like to have a reminder when it is time for your monthly gift to be sent in. We have currently implemented a program where you can let us know around which week you would like to give your gift and we can send you a reminder letting you know that the date that you need to send your monthly gift is coming up. Email us at: cnministies@gmail.com for more information.

• Online giving. In the market society we live in today it has become more and more convenient to make payments and give to charitable organizations online. We wanted to make sure you were aware that you can do the same when giving to Christ Nation Ministries. On our webpage there is a link where you can give a tax- deductible gift online whenever you would like. Visit this site to give online: https://www.wolcresources.com/con tribute/?desig=washington

Angie and I would like to say again thank you all for all of your suggestions on how we can make the giving process easier for you. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to contact us at: cnministries@gmail.com

DaRonn Washington cnministries@gmail.com (816) 984 5846

Christ Nation School

A good part of December and all of January you could pretty much guess what my daily work schedule would consist of: planning, directing or promoting Christ Nation School. Last year we started the school with great hopes of reaching 50 students. At the beginning of class we found ourselves doing our best to reach 30 students. The effort was admirable but I must say that I was disappointed in the results.

I even considered not doing the school in 2010 because of the tremendous financial strain it was placing on the ministry. But as we prayed about 2010 we felt more and more that God wanted us to continue with the project. Therefore, we dedicated December and January to building a great school staff and investing as much as we could in communicating about the school. Today, February 1st, was the first day of school and we had 84 students, preschool to 8th grade. The parents were thrilled, the children we excited, the teachers were enthusiastic and, personally, I had a hard time keeping a smile off of my face. This week is the last week of publicity and we are planning that we will have over 100 students in our second year.

An interesting change we made this year has been to add an English focus. Fifty percent of our classes are English. At the end of their time at our school our orphanage children, as well as the other students in our school, will be speaking English. It should open many doors for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten class.  Our school starts at preschool. 

8th grade class room.  Our school this year goes up to 8th grade.   

Right now we have 84 students which is almost 3 times more than our 30 

students last year.  

Come and teach with us:If you are interested in teaching in the possibility of teaching in our school please contact us at:  

cnministries@gmail.com   

Christ Nation Church Update

Church growth. One of the most exciting things that has been going on in the ministry as of late is the growth in the church Angie and I pastor in Cochabamba: Christ Nation Church. When we started the church we saw a significant amount of growth in the first year. As we entered 2009 it was a tough year for the church and rather than growing we saw our numbers decrease dramatically. With the decrease in momentum we started to evaluate the reasons for such a change. We made a couple of changes as we looked at 2010.

First, we saw that the majority of our congregation was middle-aged Bolivians. We appreciate that, but then we saw that 80% of the general population of the our city are youth age. So we changed the way we dressed, the music that we had for praise and worship, the way we preached our messages and I personally took over the messages in the youth group. It seemed that overnight the changes started to make an impact. Now the youth group and the Sunday morning services are packed. It feels good to be growing again.

December activities in Christ Nation Church. December was a busy month at church. We hosted our 3rd annual volunteer appreciation banquet to celebrate all of the volunteers that have served in the church during the year. We had a special time of testimonies and fellowship. We also blessed the volunteers with a basket of goodies and a whole chicken (we do this every year). Besides the volunteer appreciation banquet we also had our New Year celebration. A few years ago we noticed that our members were not taking advantage of the opportunity to get together on New Year´s Eve and

usher in the New Year together. We decided to start the tradition of having a New Year´s celebration party with games, fellowship and sharing of the church’s vision. For 2010 our focus is “Building the House of God”. Like always, this event was very well attended and we all had a great time.

Marriages being strengthened. An exciting thing that has been taking place is a focus on strengthening marriages. For years our church has not had a very effective marriage ministry. We decide that strengthening marriages would be one of our main focuses in 2010. This January 27th was our first meeting and several of the couples in our church attended. It was a fun time together. We are planning to continue monthly meetings. If 2010 continues to be as fruitful as these first few weeks have been we are looking forward to great things in Christ Nation Church this year.

 

 

 

 

To see more pictures visit our website at: http://christnationministries.wordpress.com 

 

News from The House of Dreams By Angie Washington 

 

New Orphanage facility. Many of you have been following our activities in the House of Dreams Orphanage and our recent move. We shared with you a little more than a year ago about the great facility that we found and how it was perfect for us. It was perfect for us until 10 months after we had been in the facility the owner asked us to move out because she wanted to try to find someone to buy the property. Since we did not have the funding to buy the building we decided that moving was the only option. So around the end of November we found our orphanage orphaned. But, as usual, God provided for us and we were able to move into another facility that is a much closer to our ministry base. The kids have been there for just over two months now and it

is working out just fine for us. If you missed the pictures and updates of the new house you can visit the House of Dreams Blog site and see it: http://houseofdreamsorphanage.wordpress.com

A wonderful Christmas. Wanted to give a special thanks to everyone that helped buy Christmas presents for our children. We sent out an email for a special campaign to raise funds for Christmas presents for the orphanage. Angie and I have always tried to make the best Christmas that we could for our children and because of several partners stepping forward we were able to do just that. If you missed the update you can visit the blog page and see pictures and read the testimonies: http://houseofdreamsorphanage.wordpress.com

School has started. It is school time again and many of our kids are off to school. Many of your know that last year we started Christ Nation School. One of the main reasons we started the school was so that our children in the House of

Dreams could get the best education we could possibly give them. This year Bernancio and Yamil started kindergarten. With those two we have 10 of our children attending our school (Bernancio, Yamil, Carolina, Roberto, Emilin, Gabriel, Jose Luis, Anne, Jhoselyn and Estefani). We wanted to say a special thanks to all of you that helped with buying their school supplies. Today Angie and I were in the school supply store all morning buying the different supplies they needed. It does not cover all of their expenses to attend school but it is a great blessing to have some help.

Please pray for us. As you can imagine in this type of ministry there are always needs. Thank God that up to this point our children have never lacked. Our biggest prayer is volunteers. We are looking for people that will come and serve both long-term and short-term working with our kids.

Angie and I would like to again say thank you for helping us make dreams come true in the lives of Bolivian orphans.

Washington Family Update

By Angie Washington

We are grateful to you for the prayers that you make specifically for our family. It makes a huge difference to know that we are

covered and that you are before the Lord regularly on our behalf. I am pleased to inform you that our family is healthy and safe. Keep up those great prayers!

The kids are growing so fast! Our oldest, Raimy, will be 12 years old next month. That is just weeks away! She is in 6th grade and loves school. Yesterday her great news of the day was she was so excited that her teacher was going to let her choose her own books to read. She is devouring both Spanish and English chapter books. Her favorite genre is adventure where the children are the heroes. Aside from reading she writes mountains of stories. It will be interesting to see where this literary lean takes her.

Timothy is the eldest son. At 10 years old he is completely enthralled with electronic games, designing contraptions on the computer and all things Lego. The detail with which he constructs is amazing. He continues to be a logical thinker and a snap at math. This year he is in 5th grade. I am so glad that he has two very good friends at school, one of them sitting in the desk next to his.

Gabrielle is never at a loss for words. The girl regales us with her chatter from sun up to sun down. Her outgoing nature wins her fast friends wherever we go. We have been told that she has no accent at all when she speaks Spanish. This year she is 8 and in 3rd grade. She has a large collection of My Little Ponies. It is fun to eavesdrop on her as she plays to hear the fantastic imagination being lived out with those pastel toys.

Tyler is 3 years old and all boy, yet not above cuddling with his mama. After a rough and tumble wrestling match with papa or big brother he comes looking for my lap. He has finally decided which language he prefers. It has taken him a while to not always mix the two. He understands both perfectly but prefers to speak in English. Though, I must say, it is so cute to hear his little Spanish words, too.

In other news, we continue to wait for the adoption of our fifth child. You can follow my blog at: www.angiewashington.com for more detailed updates.

Angie

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thank you so much for supporting us.

We appreciate your decision to give a financial gift towards the missionary work we are doing. If you are a United States resident we are able to offer you a tax-deductible receipt for your giving if you following these instructions:

1) Make your check payable to “Word of Life Church”. 2) Mark on the envelope of your gift (not on the check) “for Washington Bolivia”. 3) Send your check to Christ Nation Ministries P.O. 8644 St. Joseph, MO 64508.

Automatic withdrawal: Many times people ask if we are able to automatically withdrawal their gift on a monthly basis using their bank card. We are able to do so but for security purposes we would rather arrange this personally rather then sending your information through the internet. Contact us at cnministries@gmail.com and we will give you the details.

If you are not a United States resident simply follow the above instructions but remember that your gift will not be tax-deductible. Angie and I would like to thank you again for choosing to help us financially. We appreciate your willingness to help in a practical way