The education ministry gave us until the end of June to locate to a larger school facility, and until March to inform them of a plan for the move. They required more rooms and larger rooms than the present building have. The team has explored all available options. The present Montana hotel has been our choice for some time, but the owner just will not be reasonable in price--saying he would take no less than 1/2 million dollars for it with a $150,000 appraisal. Other available facilities are too small. Building all new from ground up is too expensive and has security and transportation issues.

Jose recently found a former dental clinic for lease, and it has quite a bit of space. What it lacked was an auditorium and some classroom space. The owner has offered to build those to our specifications. The team is now negotiating the details for us to take over this facility and have the new construction finished by June 1. It will require about $600 per month in additional rent compared to what we have now, but we really did need the additional rooms and a larger auditorium.

The present plan is to sign a long-term lease which will include space for the school, the church, and the preacher school plus some dormitory and storage space.

Some additional furniture and appliances will be needed. These include tables, school desks, 2 gas ranges, a refrigerator, marker boards, and other miscellaneous items. We plan to ship these to La Palma in mid-May, so if you have items to donate, please let us know. They will ship from SW MO. We especially need more school desks--both large and small, and cash to cover the additional rent. Please be generous in contributing to this great mission work.

Some of the team spent today in Ocotepeque, Honduras with Jorge and Gloria and the sponsored children there. More details of the days' activities will come later.

God bless you, Ralph