Summer 2018 Newsletter

Kiko, Leah and Maria, with their Menlo host families at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

2018 started off with the arrival of Kiko, Leah and Maria, Colegio Alfa & Omega secondary students, to Menlo Park as a part of Alfa's Study Abroard Program.  Next we welcomed David Villarreal, Minister of Missions and Pastor of the Hispanic Ministry, Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, Texas to the DBF Board. David is our first board member outside of California and brings a wealth of missions experience to DBF.  Colegio Alfa & Omega has also begun the Light for the Future capital campaign which will complete Jorge's and Encarnita's vision to add the final two years of the Spanish education cycle to the Colegio Alfa & Omega's curriculum.  We at DBF will devote much of our effort and energy towards supporting the Light for the Future project. And then in September, Missionary Félix Ortiz from Agape (Campus Crusade for Christ Spain) will lead eight Menlo Church members on a five day pilgrimage on the St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago) from Lugo to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. From there, part of the group will go on to Dénia. It's been a busy and intense half year but all of us at DBF see God's blessings every day and give thanks to all of you who support His mission on the Costa Blanca.

Kiko, Maria and Leah in Santa Barbara at Winter Break

Building Bridges between Denia and California!

This past January, Sue and I, along with two other Menlo Church families, the Koonces and the Lanigans, became the host parents for three Alfa & Omega high school students from Dénia. The Spanish teenagers spent the following three months experiencing American culture - California Style.  For the full story, please click here.

Pastor David Villarreal, DBF's Newest Board Member

Meet New DBF Board Member - David Villarreal

We are super excited to announce that David Villarreal has joined our board. David is the Minister of Missions and the Pastor of Hispanic Ministry at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, Texas and volunteered at Colegio Alfa & Omega from 2006-2008. For more info about David, please click here.

Secondary Students at Alfa & Omega

Light for the Future! - Alfa & Omega Baccalaureate - We need your help!

Thanks to our generous donors we have raised $31,000 of the $40,000 necessary to obtain the permits, licenses and architectural drawings for the new classroom building. We could really use your help in raising the remaining $9,000 so please consider making a donation today. For more about information about Light for the Future please click here!

The St. James Way  (El Camino de Santiago) in Galicia

Camino/Dénia in September

In September, our close friend Félix Ortiz from Agape (Campus Crusade Spain) will lead eight members of Menlo Church on a five day 100 kilometer pilgrimage from Lugo to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. Then from Galicia, part of the group will go on to Dénia to visit Colegio Alfa & Omega and attend a Sunday service at the Trinity Baptist Church. We will meet with Jorge, Encarnita, Eunice and others as well during our visit.

Announcing New Board Member

The Denia Bridges Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of David Villarreal to its Board of Directors. The Board provides leadership for carrying out the Foundation's mission to promote and support Christian education and youth leadership in Spain.

David is currently the Minister of Missions and the Pastor of Hispanic Ministry at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. He also serves as a graduate assistant for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. David has served in Dénia as a Volunteer and English teacher at Colegio Alfa & Omega where he served from 2006-2008. David is married to Rut Calero from Dénia and together they have three beautiful children: Lucas (7), Elisa (5), and Joanna (1). David's father-in-law is Antonio Calero, former co-senior pastor of the Trinity Baptist Church of Dénia.

"I am very excited to welcome David to the Board of Directors," says Scott Johnson, DBF Board President. "He brings to DBF both a wealth of missions experience and a passion for what God is doing on the Costa Blanca in Spain."

2017 End of Year Newsletter

Scott and Sue in the Alfa & Omega Prayer Garden with Jorge and Encarnita

It's been a busy 2017 at the Dénia Bridges Foundation. Sue and I were able to spend two weeks in Dénia this past September catching up with many old friends and learning more from Jorge and Eunice about the plans for the new Baccalaureate program at Colegio Alfa & Omega. We have also been preparing for the three Alfa & Omega students who will come to Menlo Park, CA in January and then for a five day Camino de Santiago trip next September, led by our friend Felix Ortiz from Agape. We will continue from Santiago de Compostela to Dénia for a weekend visiting with Jorge and the various ministries. We continue to be amazed at how God changes the lives of the students, parents, international volunteers and mission/university teams on the Costa Blanca.

On behalf of the faculty, staff and administrators of Colegio Alfa & Omega, the leadership of the Trinity Baptist Church and the board of the Dénia Bridges Foundation we wish you peace, happiness and joy this Christmas and throughout the New Year.   Scott and Sue

PHOTOS FROM A GET-TOGETHER IN DENIA WITH THE ALFA & OMEGA STUDY ABROAD STUDENTS COMING TO MENLO PARK AND THEIR FAMILIES. SEPT 2017

Quote from Junior JT Harris
"It has been an amazing experience here in Dénia, sharing the love of Christ with these kids. Having the opportunity and experience to play basketball in Spain has been great for our team and a lot of fun." 

Eunice Pastor will become the new Executive Director of Colegio Alfa & Omega

After 38 years as Executive Director of the Colegio Alfa & Omega, Jorge J. Pastor has announced his upcoming retirement. Jorge and his wife Encarnita’s vision when establishing Alfa & Omega in 1979, was to provide an alternative to the existing educational options on the Costa Blanca using innovative pedagogical methods as Spain transitioned to democracy following the death of Franco. The project began with the Montgó Pre-School which is widely acknowledged as a ground-breaking milestone in the region and over time has evolved into one of Spain’s leading primary/secondary schools. Colegio Alfa & Omega is now in the process of adding a baccalaureate program for college bound students.

Stepping into the role of Executive Director is Eunice Pastor Sendra who for the past 12 years has served as head of Alfa & Omega’s primary school. Eunice, trained as an elementary school teacher and holding a master's degree in School Mediation, has spent 20 years at Alfa & Omega. In her new role, Eunice will lead a senior administrative team consisting of Maria Eugenia Utor, Candida Garrido and Hugo Walthon. New initiatives on the horizon are a dual American baccalaureate, robotics and programming with LEGO and the continuation of several innovative projects already in progress.

“We founded Alfa & Omega upon the principles of respect and the development of each child’s unique personality.  Because each child is different, we closely align our teaching with each child’s particular learning style and interests. And although Alfa & Omega is a private non-profit institution, we welcome all students who are open to our beliefs and lifestyle without regard to gender, religion, social class and ethnicity,” the school said in a statement. 

(Translated from the original story published August 30, 2017 in lamarinaplaza.com.)

DBU Will Award Honorary Doctorate to Jorge Pastor, Executive Director of Colegio Alfa & Omega

Dallas Baptist University announced that it will award an honorary doctorate degree to Jorge Pastor, executive director of the Colegio Alfa & Omega and senior pastor at the Trinity Baptist Church of Dénia (Spain). In a letter dated July 16th, 2017, the president of DBU, Dr. Adam C. Wright described Jorge as an incredible servant leader among his community in Spain and around the world and that the university would be pleased to recognize his influential leadership with this honor. He added that Jorge's commitment to sharing the Gospel, teaching the scriptures and Christian education is an inspiration to so many.  DBU will confer the honorary doctorate during its summer 2018 commencement services in Dallas, Texas.

Families from First Baptist Church of Cabot Lead Summer Camp Session at A&O

The First Baptist Church of Cabot, a regional church near Little Rock, Arkansas, recently sent a team of families to Dénia to staff one of the 2017 summer day camps at Colegio Alfa & Omega. It was a special opportunity for the Arkansans to share the love of Christ with the local campers.

Alfa & Omega Secondary Students Spend Month in Texas

A group of secondary students from Alfa & Omega spent the past month in Waco as guests of families of the Columbus Street Baptist Church (CSBC).  The Dénia youth participated in all of the summer CSBC youth activities, making long term friendships and truly experiencing the love of God in a very real way.  We would like to thank all of the CSBC host families for their generosity and the love that they showed our students during their time deep in the heart of Texas!

The newly formed Pastor Cabrera Foundation, assumes the management of the Alfa & Omega School in Dénia

The Alfa & Omega School has begun a new phase in its history. 

The Trinity Baptist Church of Denia has created the Pastor Cabrera Foundation whose honorary chairman is none other than former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

Jorge Pastor, president of the foundation explained that Mr. Carter’s honorary chairmanship is due to the close relationship that several of the foundation’s board members maintain with the former American president.

The new foundation will manage all aspects of the Alfa & Omega School which provides a unique and outstanding Christian education to students around the Valencian Community.

The board of the Pastor Cabrera Foundation

The church unanimously approved the creation of the Foundation and the transfer of the school in recognition of the historic work of Joaquín Pastor Cabrera, son of the pioneers of the Protestant church in Dénia and one of its first pastors. Jorge Pastor explained that the church strongly believed that creating an independent private foundation was the best way to manage the school going forward and that the change of ownership will not affect the daily life of students nor the routine of the faculty and will not alter the academic direction in anyway. Jorge will continue to serve as the Executive Director of Alfa & Omega and Senior Pastor of the Trinity Baptist Church along with Antonio Calero.

The secretary of the Foundation and one of the senior administrators of Alfa & Omega, Ms. Maria Eugenia Utor, emphasized that in addition to administering the school’s educational program, the Pastor Cabrera Foundation will direct its efforts towards developing both local and international partnerships that deliver programs and resources that help the underserved to escape from lives of oppression and extreme poverty. Outside of Spain the foundation will initially focus its efforts on Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Mozambique.

Closer to home, the foundation is embarking on the development of a two year baccalaureate college preparatory program at Alfa & Omega which requires significant resources for building new facilities and hiring additional staff. And the foundation will also begin raising money for a permanent endowment that will provide scholarships for needy families in the local area.

Leadership

In addition to Carter, the foundation’s leadership team consists of:

President: Jorge Pastor Mut

Vice President: Jorge Manuel Pérez

Secretary: Maria Eugenia Utor Martínez

Vocal: Eunice Pastor Sendra

Vocal: Antonio Calero Closed

Vocal: Juan Negre Gómez

Ex Oficio: Manuel Sarrias Martínez

Joaquín Pastor Cabrera

About Joaquin Pastor Cabrera

The name of the foundation recognizes one of the pioneers of the Protestant Church in Spain, the Dianense Joaquin Pastor Cabrera. An active leader of the church in his youth, Joaquín Pastor Cabrera studied theology in Barcelona in 1947 and upon the completion of his studies was sent to Dénia to be the 6th pastor of the church, thus beginning a new era for the Protestants in Denia and the rest of the country as head of the Religious Freedom Commission of the Evangelical Baptist Union of Spain.

Joaquín Pastor Cabrera died on January 24, 1977, leaving behind a legacy of works and projects, currently reflected in both the doctrine of the Trinity Baptist Church and the teaching philosophy of the Alfa & Omega School.

DBF's 2016 End of Year Update

Feliz Navidad from Dénia!

As we reflect upon 2016, we are grateful for the many ways people like you supported Alfa & Omega this past year.  Your prayers, your hard work, and your financial support made a huge difference.  Alfa & Omega continues to thrive in the Costa Blanca.  ¡GRACIAS!
 
We are pleased to report that in Denia Bridges Foundation’s inaugural year,16 donors provided $15,000 to Alfa & Omega which supported the following two projects:

• Student Scholarships
• Classroom Renovations

DBF donors helped fund badly needed these classroom renovations!

DBF donors also helped provide need-based scholarships to A&O students!

Our goal for 2017 is to double both the number of donors and the total donations!
 
As you plan your end of the year giving, we hope you will join me and my family in supporting the following projects for 2017:

Student Scholarships:
The Spanish economic crisis is still very real for some families in the Alfa & Omega community. Many families from the church community can no longer afford the tuition.
 
International Volunteer Program:
Young adults from around the world come to Dénia to serve for 6-12 months. Many use the time as a gap year. This program is tranformational for young adults.
 
Bachillerato Program
A&O needs seed funding to launch the building project for the two-year college preparatory program.

May you be blessed
With the spirit of the season, which is peace,
The gladness of the season, which is hope,
And the heart of the season, which is love.”
 
Scott Johnson
President of the DBF Board

www.deniabridges.org

Our mailing address is:
Dénia Bridges Foundation
PO Box 7749
Menlo Park, CA 94026

Pastor Jorge Pastor and the Dénia Ministries receive a Texas-sized welcome at the Dénia in Texas celebration.

On Saturday, August 27th, DBF welcomed Pastor Jorge Pastor at a celebration for Texan alumni of the Dénia ministries which include the Alfa & Omega School, the Trinity Church and the Christian Conference Center. It was an unbelievably nice August evening on the Wallace family's beautiful farm in central Texas, about an hour from Waco.  We had over 40 Dénia alumni of church mission trips, the summer Baylor University student summer trips and the international volunteer program from all over the Lone Star state. There were representatives from Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, First McKinney Church from McKinney, Texas, Tolar Baptist Church from Tolar, Tx, as well as a lively group of Baylor University students.  As Pastor David Villareal from CABC said, it was a special time for reminiscing, fellowship and vision casting.

Jorge Pastor outlines three specific needs: the new two year baccalaureate program, upgrading the international volunteer program and an endowment for student scholarships. Jorge also unveiled a new English video of the Dénia Ministries. Pastor David Villareal did an excellent job translating Jorge's remarks into Texan!

Jorge made the long trip over from Spain to meet with us joining three former students of Alfa & Omega including Rut Calero of Waco (David Villareal's wife and daughter of Pastor Antonio Calero of the Trinity Baptist Church of Dénia), Jake Wallace of Cranfills Gap and Clara Johnson of Menlo Park, CA. It was a special night for all of us as we shared experiences in Dénia, many life changing.

Thanks to Alison Sterken from Tyler who took these great photos!