With the growth of our ministry and our Pastor Training Program, we needed to find a place to host trainings, conferences, and planning meetings to serve Wayuu communities better. The community of Poromana is just a twenty-minute drive, 8 miles from Riohacha. It has electricity and access to water, and we have great relationships with the families in this community. After prayer and conversations with the church in Poromana, we planned and created a budget to build a ministry center. When we looked at the numbers, it seemed impossible to build this place, but we completed this wonderful project in August thanks to the faithful support of donors and churches.
We named this place Antonio Riveira Ministry and Community Center after the late Pastor Antonio Riveira. Antonio pastored the Church in Poromana and was vital in expanding our training program and promoting our ministry among Wayuu churches and communities. Antonio passed in October 2022. In his place, the church in Poromana named his nephew Edwin Freyle the pastor this past July. Edwin serves at Bread of Hope as our empowerment coordinator.
During the ministry center’s opening ceremony, we unveiled its name, which was a big surprise to the community. They wept and celebrated Antonio’s memory with joy. His sister Isabel Epinayu expressed in tears, “Antonio always dreamed of a place like this where Wayuu churches can come together to grow in the Word of God.”
Our ministry center in Poromana will help Bread of Hope host trainings for our Sembradores (Seed sower) program and hold logistical and ministry meetings in our operations office; this place also has a library open to the community, where the church will host reading meetings to encourage reading among the Wayuu population, especially now that we have the complete Bible in the Wayuu language.
Jose Alfoso Duran “Poncho,” our ministry coordinator in Colombia, said: This place is perfect for training. Before, we used to host trainings in the open under a roof in the community, and we constantly struggled with distractions and the heat. Now, in the comfort of this place, students are more engaged with the teachings, and thanks to the air conditioning, we can have longer training sessions.”
Just as our ministry center in the Zulia community will help us serve communities in the northern parts of La Guajira, this ministry center will help us serve communities and churches in the central and southern parts of La Guajira. We are deeply grateful to the donors and supporters who helped us complete this project through their efforts, finances, and encouragement for the glory of our savior, Jesus Christ.
