About the Briones Family's Ministry:
An invitation to preach in Anapra started the ministry in 1999. The extreme spiritual and financial poverty in that place caught the family's hearts. Antonio couldn't stop going. He started teaching adults to read and write by the shade of his family van. The first place they had was a room made with cardboard and palettes. After 3 years of work and prayer, the Briones family's ministry received a more specific vision: “To break the circle of poverty with God's love, through education and the knowledge of Jesus.” The parents had started to ask for an education for their children. Antonio started selling watches, spending his savings, and making bricks for a school building.
In 2002 the old shack burnt down. It had been a particularly hard year for the Briones family, and their funds were running low. They were starting to pray and rethink their mission when a youth group from FUMC in Manhattan KS found itself in Anapra without a project to work on. Christians in Action linked them to the Briones family, and the foundation for a Christian school was laid –literally. Antonio was reminded of the verse in Ecclesiastes: Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days, you will find it again. The school was named after Charles and John Wesley's mother (her name is spelled with one “n” in Spanish). Years of preparation, hard work, structural building, and official paperwork followed, and the school became certified and officially recognized by the Mexican government.
The Susanna Wesley UMC in Topeka, First United Methodist Church in Manhattan KS, Centenary UMC in Granville OH, as well as individual church members of the church in Mexico, have supported the people of Anapra, through their friendships, love and prayers, their missionary visits, and the sending of school materials, scholarships for the school's children and teachers, etc.
In 2008 the children were tested by the Mexican government for academic achievement. The school entered the top 25% of the city's schools. In 2009, the children tested so well that the school entered two top ten lists: it became the #1 Christian school in Juarez and #9 school in the city. The Briones family is very proud of the children of Anapra, and continues their ministry at the Susana Wesley school. They are currently building a home in Anapra.
