The construction of the new SEMILLA building began in late July of 1998. The seminary has been in rented quarters since its beginning and will soon have a permanent home.
     Work force: Menno Loewen, a Mennonite from Belize, is the foreman. He owns a construction company in his country and has come to Guatemala as a volunteer with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) to help with two construction projects. In 1997 and early 1998, Menno directed the construction of the educational center for the Mennonite K'ekchi' Church in Alta Verapaz. Early in 1998 Menno and his wife Mary moved to Guatemala City so that he could lead the construction project for SEMILLA.
     Daniel Thut, former director of CASAS, serves as Menno's assistant. He is the contact person between the SEMILLA office and the construction project; he is in charge of purchasing, and also promotion of the project.
     Henry Thiessen, another Mennonite from Belize, is working as supervisor of the hired workers and volunteers. Karla Hernandez from Honduras is helping coordinate the volunteer groups.
     Volunteers: Much of the work has been done with the help of volunteers since the beginning. They represent a broad spectrum of Mennonite churches. Some are professional construction workers, but most of them have other jobs. However, all have brought the conviction that God has given them an opportunity to contribute to the Kingdom.
     Description of the project: The building project consists of three buildings. The first will be used for the offices of all the SEMILLA programs. It will also have a library and a room for the sale of books published by Ediciones SEMILLA. The second building will have a kitchen and dining hall, and classrooms on the second and third floors. The third building will have three floors. The first will be a work and storage area.
     The second and third floors will have apartments and a dormitory area for students. There will also be an area to house SEMILLA guests. If we continue at the present pace, we hope to move some of our programs to the new buildings by the end of 1999 and to be completely moved into the new facilities by early 2000. We give thanks to God for the many persons who have contributed towards making our vision become a reality.

So far we have had volunteers from Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, United States and Canada.