This spring, May 2023, we gathered our Latin and North American staff in Panama for the Edify Regional Conference. We enjoyed days filled with staff worship, strategy meetings, and countless testimonies. We also had the opportunity to visit some of Edify’s partner schools, including Colegio Bilingüe Hashem Reina. This school recently established a partnership with Edify, and is led by proprietor Nancy Knight de Zuñiga.
A Sunny Thursday Morning
That sunny Thursday morning, we made our way to the school, just north of Panama City. After piling out of the van, our team quickly found themselves walking through a high-five tunnel of smiling, bright-eyed students of all ages who lined the entrance. We entered the school’s large gathering room, and Latin American worship songs followed behind us as the students began singing of God’s goodness. We instantly joined them in worship and sang together.
The time of worship came to an end, and a peaceful quiet rested over the room as Nancy, the school proprietor, took the stage, smiling from ear to ear with a microphone in hand. She began sharing the humble journey she and her husband, Rubén, took in creating the school. Over the past year, Edify has had the gift of partnering with them through training, growing the seed God had planted in the community through Nancy and Rubén, and watching it grow more than we could imagine.
“I was working part-time at the church while my husband was full-time [as the pastor]. We received a word from God to begin the school project, so we began the first classroom in my husband’s office… At this point, we had only 12 [students], from Pre-K to Kinder.”
The Mighty Power of God
Colegio Bilingüe Hashem Reina has continued to experience the mighty power of God, who accomplishes immeasurably more than we could imagine. Since then, the school has grown in student enrollment for the last four to five years. “Many of these same students from the beginning are still in attendance,” explained Nancy. In time, 12 students multiplied to nearly 103 and expanded to grade 7.
As the partnership continues to deepen, we stand in awe of all God has done. Not only were they recently approved to enroll students through grade 12, but the school has also begun to provide free music lessons on the weekends. This initiative is intended to have students develop their God-given talents for the Kingdom. Nancy shares the heart behind the idea, “I desire to form young leaders that are highly prepared, creative, and committed to God to transform this city. I do it by sowing the Word, and equipping and teaching [students] to achieve this goal.”
Further Impact
Just as the impact on students’ lives has grown, so has the ripple effect within the community. The couple recently opened a clinic in a room of the school to serve young women in the community who are either pregnant and need health check-ins, or have children suffering from illness, completely free of charge. If there is a greater medical need, the school and church come together to collect funds to provide the needed care.
It’s astonishing to think this all began as an empty office space in a church — a simple offering to God. What a privilege to partner with them! As we walk with Nancy, Rubén, and the school in years to come, our prayer is that the school continues to grow and every bit of space is filled with His goodness.
Let us always remember the miracle-working power available to us in Christ. “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 (NLT).