Rosa Irma Lobo’s school began with a simple need: there was no kindergarten in her community of Cojutepeque, El Salvador. Rosa grew up attending a Christian school, and the privilege of learning about God’s word from a young age shaped her deeply. Her heart’s desire was to share that same privilege with the children in her community of Cojutepeque, El Salvador who may not have an opportunity to hear about God’s love. So, with God’s help, she opened a school. Now, nearly three decades later, she continues sharing about God’s word with students in her school. Her story is not primarily about education strategy or enrollment numbers. It’s about what God does when one person says yes and keeps saying yes, even when the journey is difficult.
A Nation in Transition
El Salvador’s educational landscape has been shaped by dense cultural, political, and economic challenges. For years, pervasive gang violence and crumbling infrastructure pushed families toward painful choices. Some pulled their children out of school, some children entered the informal labor market early, and many left the country altogether.
Rosa does not shy away from the hard parts of her story. Government changes drew students toward public schools. Teachers left for better-paying positions. There were seasons when she stepped in to teach the classes herself, as she puts it, “just to keep us moving forward.”
Things are slowly improving, but progress requires Godly people of vision and determination.. The next chapter of education in El Salvador is not about simply keeping schools open, but about making them places where children flourish academically, spiritually, and emotionally. This is the work God has called educators like Rosa to, and it is not easy.
Transformative Partnership
Three years ago, God brought Edify into Rosa’s story. She’d heard about Edify’s trainings from another school director, and when she finally attended, something shifted. The leadership training and Christ-centered social-emotional learning training gave her and her teachers new tools to care for each student holistically. “We saw a fifth-grade girl, once suicidal, find love and hope through her teacher’s support,” Rosa shares. “We’ve seen students finally feel like they belong instead of being outsiders.”
She dreams of “an El Salvador full of professionals who put God first in every sector of society.” The vision of Flourishing Godly Nations is built through stories like this. A grandmother discipling the next generation, trusting God will use what is faithfully planted.
Edify exists to walk alongside school owners like Rosa, providing training, capital, and education technology. But the transformation Rosa describes is not the fruit of a program. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit working through people who are willing to be equipped and sent.
Bearing Fruit
Rosa’s dedication to God, faithfulness, and grit are paying off. Her students are carrying the Gospel into their homes. “We are raising up little pastors,” Rosa says, “[the students are] showing faith in every home and it’s spilling out into the community.” Their teachers’ faithfulness is overflowing classrooms and inspiring families and communities. And it all traces back to God, who used one woman who saw a need in 1997 and trusted Him to meet it.
