The Sierra Centro District in Ecuador distributed more than 7,000 tablets to children from churches around the district. 

The tablets were acquired as part of a district strategy for the holistic development of children in this part of the country. The district is committed to fulfilling the Great Commission and forming Christlike disciples in all the provinces of the district, using resources such as music, sports, and technology.

The tablets include a web browser with a protection filter for child-safe content, applications for their music classes, and access to the district page for classes in the different holistic areas. It also has the Edmodo application through which they can access virtual classes and participate in the orchestra as well as support the musicians of different churches, led by teacher Cesar Carranza. The devices are built-in with the necessary resources for students to access connection and study tools along with apps such as Zoom and Google Meet.

“We are willing to invest in the new generations by empowering the children and adolescents who are with the district so that they can have access to technologies that drive them in their daily lives to improve their quality of life,” said Mario Paredes, superintendent of the Sierra Centro District.

Each tablet is subsidized by a partner organization and personal contributions from other Nazarenes in the United States. The child’s parent(s) or another representative only needed to contribute $20 for the tablet. 

The devices were delivered around the clock. Each pastor received a short explanation of the operation in order to share it with their work team along with recorded tutorial videos to clear up doubts at the time of delivery.

“For the first time, hundreds of children will have had a tool like this in their hands, many of them will now be instructed to handle it effectively,” Paredes said. “But their faces of joy and satisfaction were unparalleled. Our purpose is to bring the Word that gives life to their hearts, to see future gospel ministers and healthy families that form other healthy families. We have seen it throughout these 20 years of work and wish to continue to see it.”

--Church of the Nazarene South America