We still have our men. . .

With all I post about the new women's home, I don't want to forget to update you on the men at Casa de Esperanza.

All four travel every Saturday up the volcano to Santa Maria de Jesus to continue their studies.  This is quite an expense, but one well worth it.  It is quite the process to get them all up there, requiring a taxi and a pick up truck, but our workers do it diligently, arising at 4 am to start the process of preparing the guys and getting them breakfast.

Moises and Osmi both graduated 9th grade and are working on a Bachelerato en Sciencias y Letras, the equivalent of a high school diploma.  They both seem academically prepared for the challenges they face and I am very proud of them.

In addition to working on school, Moises is practicing walking with the help of a companion for balance.  Carrie Cook, a physical therapist who visited with the communication team, assured us he was ready for this, and I can see steady improvement.  He still prefers his wheelchair because it is faster and easier to "shuffle around sitting" but is encouraged to do his therapy by the promise of Coca-cola.  (Moy will do almost anything for a Coke.)

After his serious illness when his appendix rupture, Osmi is recovering quite well.  His relationship with Jesus has never been better, and while I hate what he went through with the illness, I rejoice that it drew him closer to Him.  It also seems to have further cemented his friendship with Ali, a young lady who is quite fond of him.  They are such a cute couple, she is a good woman, and I'm watching to see what God does with their friendship.  Please pray for them.

Osmi and Kevin, one of our companion caregivers, also have the idea to start a small business selling mugs customized with photos.  They had put of a sign and had not gotten any takers.  When I get back, they will receive a "small business loan" to make some sample mugs with generic photos of Antigua.  I think people will buy these, as well as the samples will demonstrate the quality of their work.  There's a lot to do to develop this idea, but I'm proud of them for coming up with it and hope I can coach them well.



Fidel surprised, no, astonished me when he asked if he could go to school on Saturdays too.  If you have followed us through the years, you might remember what a struggle it was to get Fidel to finish 9th grade. He maintains his interest in computers and design, and the director of the school, Pastor Rey, developed a plan where he can just work on is computer skills.  He will not receive a diploma, but at 33 years old I am pleased he still wants to learn more.  I hope to be able to get him a good computer with video and graphic abilities so he can really put to good use his talent.  And he can do PR for our ministry!

Fidel's reycling business is an example of many ministries working together.
Bethel Ministries provided the power chair.
Dick Rutgers has kept him in batteries.
Beeline wheelchairs make his cart.
And the barrels he uses are part of a donation for Cross Ministries in Iowa.
I love when the Body of Christ works together.

Fidel also continues to run his recycling business.  It is painful how little money he receives for so much work, but he is content to have work.  What really saddens me is the number of Guatemalas I know who subsist with recycling as their only source of income.

Finally, Roberto is working on basic academics on Saturdays with a private tutor.  He continues to struggle, especially with remembering letters, numbers and symbols, and I believe this is due to damage he received in the fall that left him paralyzed.  Our goal for him, however, is to socialize with typical adults his age and develop his social skills.  We also are blessed to have a psychology student doing a practicum with us, and she is working to help us better understand Roberto's intellectual abilities and his neurological limitations.

No, Roberto isn't doing hard time on the rock pile.  
He's voluntarily breaking up some of the concrete chunks
that were removed when we built the addition to the house.
Now they can be disposed of properly.

Both Moy and Roberto continue to help with household chores.  Roberto's attitude has so greatly improved about doing this that he sometimes receives "bonuses" to his monthly allowance for going above and beyond.  Moy does it because he has to, but, after all, that's why I clean my house, too!

I can't praise the staff God has given us enough.  To Him really is the glory for assembling such a team of remarkable people who serve Him by serving our guys, and I thank him daily for each of them. They love the men and the men love them.  They truly are Jesus with skin on to us.

Coincidence in timing? I think not. . .

Melany

Just after I learned that a speech therapist, a physical therapist, and a nurse would be coming to work with us on the Communication Systems project, I was contacted by a mom in San Pedro (where the boys' house is located) asking me to work with her daughter Melany.  She was ten years old and had been in the preschool class at the local public school for 6 years.  This year the principal had decided that she was too old to attend.  Could I help?

Bryan

While our Outreach Center is not ready to open, the guys are all gone from their house on Saturday mornings, so we are meeting there each week to work on basic number and reading skills.  After the first week, her mom asked if her friend's son could come.  He, too, has a developmental disability, and while only 8, had also been told he could not continue in the local public school.

So, each Saturday Bryan and Melanie meet me at ten o'clock for two hours of school, and appear to love it.  They both come with their older sisters (the mom's work at a local home "factory" weaving baskets) and are learning basic concepts such as shapes as colors, to read their names, and recognize numbers to 10.  How I wish it would be possible to work with them daily, but the time for that is "not yet."

The psychologist, Gloria, and the head social worker
for the community formally greeting the team
to thank them for coming.

About the same time, I received a call from the psychologist who works for the mayor's office in a nearby town.  They had some children with special needs there, and heard I could help.  Would I?  As much as my mind wanted to resist, my heart wouldn't let me, and I promised to bring the team from Illinois who were coming to work on communication with me to see their students.  One time.  Yep, only once.

The "Awesome Threesome" whose visit encouraged me
to say "yes" when asked to help in this community.

Well, of course, it has grown into more than once.  The children captured my heart immediately.  All attend the local public school, and all basically are ignored in their classrooms.  From what I understand, the principal of this school is a caring woman, but they have no idea how to teach children with developmental disabilities.  I'm not sure they even believe they CAN learn, but at least these children are treated kindly at school, which I can't say about most places.

Eli and Dani working with José Raul

But God has not left me alone to deal with this.  Through my connection with the psychologist, I now have a student who is doing her field work in psychology working with me.  Eli is amazing.  She works in the men's and women's homes, as well as helping at the center in Santa Lucia each Thursday afternoon.  Juli, from our women's home, would like to study occupational therapy in the future, and is happy to come with to work with the kids each week.  Finally Dani, who is a companion-caregiver for our men, donates one of his days off to come and volunteer with this project.  He's trained as a preschool teacher, but wants to learn better ways to teach kids with special needs.

Juli helping Heyner use a communication device.
We had been told he was unable to speak.
We have learned he was just afraid to,
because he does not pronounce words well and was picked on.

So, between the two centers, we are serving about ten families and their special children.  I'm not sure that the academics we work on are why God has brought us here.  I believe the impact we are making is in demonstrating to the families and kids that the children have value, and that they are important to the God who created them.  He has a plan and a purpose for their lives.  They are not accidents of nature.

Our "theme song" is "God has seen your need and brought us to you.  You matter.  He cares."

The first time I worked with Heyner, he put his head down on the table
and refused to look at me.  Here he is proudly displaying the square he had colored
as part of my evaluation. (Look at that smile!)
In 40+ years of teaching, I've never seen a child color the square as a rainbow.
 I can't wait to see the artist in him emerge.

Isn't that what it means to love one another?

If you build it they WILL come. . .

Hijas del Rey (Daughters of the King) Home
San Pedro Panorama, Antigua, Guatemala

We took possession of the house across the driveway from my house on January 1.  Little by little we began purchasing furniture and supplies to equip it, and on Jan. 7, (Marilyn) Juli Salazar begin serving our ministry as our first Guatemalan volunteer.

We spent a lot of time bargain hunting for furniture, and
we able to even find "delivery service" to Antigua.

Juli has previously worked in a good friend's home for children with special needs, but had left hoping to find a job as a bookkeeper, her area of study.  After numerous promises of employment which never materialized, she began praying about what she should do next.  On Christmas Eve, Juli surprised me by saying that she believed God had told her to volunteer with us Monday through Friday to help run the new women's house.  Since I had assumed I would be largely responsible for overseeing the new home, this was a huge blessing.  She has been invaluable for her maturity, wisdom and spiritual discernment.  In fact, it was she and her mother Brenda (who just so happens to run our men's home) who named the home Hijas del Rey.

Petronila and her family on their first visit to the home.

Petronila was the first young woman to come to live with us.  She is from Santa Maria de Jesus, graduated from New Life School, and has completed high school. Born with Spina Bifida, she needs a wheelchair to help her get around, but that does not slow her down.  She continues to amaze me by independently doing things I anticipate she will need help with, and does so joyously.

There are few job opportunities for her in Santa Maria and she was looking to "spread her wings" and hopefully find a job.  What beautiful wings they have proven to be.  She is very interested in hair dressing and fashion, and one of the local schools offers training in this.  It just so happens that a non-profit we are partnering with, DIGNA, provides job training for individuals with special needs through this same school.  We hope that in the future we can work something out so she can study there.  We realize there will need to be physical modifications, but after watching "Petris" live with us I don't believe they will stop her.

We really need to get a swing at the home.
This is one of Griselda's favorite pastimes.

Petronila has also proven to be a great companion for our second lady, Griselda, who is 18 years old and has Down syndrome.  Griselda aged-out of New Life this year, and if she had stayed home she would have been left alone unsupervised all day.  While we have discovered that she is well able to take care of herself, a young developmentally disabled woman alone all day in the village is definitely at a risk for being abused in many ways.  So, Monday through Friday, Griselda she lives at Hijas del Rey and is continuing her education through tutoring.  She has excellent daily living skills, and cheerfully helps with housework.  I can't wait to see what skills she is able to develop with time and attention.

The group that went to lunch to welcome Deborah.
Our friend, Mark, is the one with the (grey) beard.

Just a few weeks ago I received a call from a friend, Mark Richard, who runs Beeline Wheelchairs.  Mark told me about a mutual friend, Debora, a 38 year old woman who is deaf.  She had been married but her husband was not a good man and abandoned her and her three year old son. Debora was understandably despondent and depressed.  Did I have any idea who could help?

Debora with her son Luis

I have known Debora and her mother, Dona Mari since before moving to Guatemala and this news broke my heart.  Of course, I said, "Bring her to us," and then sat wondering what I had gotten myself into.  The next Sunday Debora,  her son Luis, Doña Mari, and Debora's dad, Noe, came for what I thought would be a visit.  I was a bit taken aback when she appeared with suitcase in hand, but again knew God had a plan.

Doña Mari, Noe and Luis

Doña Mari would care for Luis in Mazatenango (about 2 hours from Antigua) and Debora would stay with us.  When she heard I was in the home, she decided she didn't need to check it out because she knew me.  She just wanted to come.  Seeing her wretched my heart.  She had been a vibrant, beautiful young woman the last time I had seen her, and the terrible experiences she has lived through have aged her.  But still, there was a spark of life and determination in her eyes.

Debora with Paquita, the teacher of the deaf at New Life
Paquita teased me that she saw me sign more in one day
than she had in weeks at the school.  

I had been told that Debora had never been to school and did not know sign language.  While she has not had an academic education, she has learned a significant amount of Guatemalan sign and, because she has lived her whole life among hearing people, reads lips very efficiently.  She and the other women have developed their own style of communication, as she teaches them sign, and they get along well.  My sign is not good at all, but we manage, and she was excited that I knew any sign.

The most touching experience with Debora was after she went to church with me the first Sunday.  Though we have less than 200 members in our church, we have a lady who is a sign interpreter who comes out from Guatemala City each week.  She is only too happy to translate the service for Debora and a deaf couple in our congregation.  After the service that week, Debora was beaming.  She shared with me that this was the first time in her life that she really understood what was happening in church and she was so very excited to be included.

God is teaching me much about the healing power of Christian community as I watch Debora slowly heal and come back to her old self.  While she misses her son terribly, she is recovering her sense of identity and knows she is valued by us and her Creator.

Living with women has been very different from my experiences with the men. For one thing, while it took three years for there to be three residents in the men's home, it only took about three weeks for the ladies to all arrive.  Evidently God has had this in the works for a while.  These women are caring and creative, and always seem busy with something.  They regularly come across the drive to check in with me, and even make sure I eat healthy meals!  It is so sweet and I am enjoying female companionship after years with only men.

Please hold our women up in prayer.  While we are on a honeymoon now, I know challenges will come.  With the help of God we will be prepared to meet them, and we depend on your prayers as we do.

Our Current Needs

While regular, general support continues to be our most basic need, there are a few current needs with which we could use some extra help, as well as larger upcoming needs we will have to find funds to address.  Would you pray with us that God will continue to meet our needs, and respond if He leads you to do so? 


Current needs:

• Medications are running about $500 for the men in Casa de Esperanza.  Your regular donation of $25 a month would go a long way towards helping in this area.
• Each weekend, we spend about $60 for transportation to get our men to school in Santa Maria.  This comes to about $250 each month, but we think it's worth the expense.  Do you?
• Gasoline to get to our ministry projects in Santa Maria, San Pedro an Santa Lucia cost about $30 a week.  Can you help keep us on the road?
• Speaking of being on the road, we need to make about $500 for car repairs once again.  The roads here really tear up a vehicle, and ours is no exception.  
• With four guys in school and four women working on developing a business, we need to purchase two computers, one for each house.  These will total about $1000.  Or we would happily accept used laptops which still work.
• Mario Juarez, who has been a companion-caregiver for more than two years has begun studying physical therapy at the university.  We are sponsoring his tuition and supplies which run about $100 a month.  In return, he will work for us one year after graduation for each year we sponsor him.  Those of you who have met Mario know what a great investment this is!

Anticipated future expenses:

• Our current vehicle is a 2001 Mazda MVP which has served us well, but has seen better days and just about come to the end of its road-worthiness.  We anticipate a new vehicle will cost us between $6000-$7000.  With two homes and three ministry sites, this is not a luxury but a necessity, and we need to start saving toward this purchase.  If you would like to donate toward this, just designate that your donation is for a new vehicle, and we'll keep you updated as to how this fund is growing.
• The refrigerator in the men's home is making noises that no machine should be making. It will cost about $700 to replace this.  

Though these seem like large amounts, most of our donations range between $10 and $50 a month.  This may not seem like a lot, but when God puts it all together it adds up.  We appreciate your prayers, encouragement and support.  

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.

This passage from Proverbs 16:9 describes my weekend.  After a long two weeks of working with North Americans (who I loved to be with), I got home Friday afternoon, changed into my pajamas, and settled down with the expectation that I was not going anywhere until Sunday.  Well, I knew I had to take the truck in for minor maintenance, but that was only to the corner so it didn't really count.

Then, about 5:45, Mario called me from Casa de Esperanza.  Fidel and Moises had encountered a little girl alone in the street in front of the men's house.  She was about 6 years old and appeared to them to have Down Syndrome.  What should they do?

As I was telling him to call the police, I was convicted that I needed to go over to the house.  Mario confirmed this for me when he said he could not find the number for the local police (we rectified this!).  Grumbling somewhat that I just wanted one full day to rest, God brought me up short with the realization that I was complaining about leaving the comfort of my warm cozy house when this scared little girl was sitting shoeless out in the street.

Yes, even missionaries are selfish at times.  Thank goodness we have the Holy Spirit to convict us.   Resolving that situation took the rest of the evening, and I returned home about 10:30 pm, frustrated and discouraged.  Nothing was done to make sure this little one would be safe, though the police who responded were sympathetic and concerned.

 So much for a quiet night at home.  But at least I had all day Saturday to kick back and do what I wanted.

Then, I awoke early Saturday morning to a message from Brenda, our house manager, saying her grandmother had passed away in the night.  As much as I wanted to stay home, I knew I had to be with the family.  Here, in Guatemala, wakes take place in the home, and all the family, friends, and neighbors come to pay their respects.  Food is served and you actually stay for quite a while visiting with those who had come.

Since Brenda's family considers me family, I needed to be there.  As I greeted each of the women in the family, they each clung to me and sobbed.  I had the honor to weep with those who weep many times while I was there.  I don't understand why my particular presence was so comforting, but I believe it was, and I was grateful to be there.  Once in a while, fleeting thoughts of the weekend of rest I was giving up to be there passed through my mind, but quickly left.

As I was settling in to spend the afternoon, Brenda received a call from our guys who were at school in Santa Maria de Jesus.  Their classes had gotten out early, and they had called their driver to come pick them up, but he was in Guatemala City since he wasn't schedule to meet them for at least another hour and a half.  What should they do?

Of course, I went to get them, and took them back to San Pedro.  You can't imagine what a process it is to load four men who cannot walk, and then load four wheelchairs (two of them heavy electric chairs) into a pick up.  Mario and Dani, our companion-caregivers who were with the guys, did so smoothly and without complaint.  When I thanked them, their response was that they were happy to be there.  We drove home, and they did the entire process in reverse.  This transport took at least and hour and a half, and was hard work for them.  And they laughed and joke the whole time with the guys, showing patience and care as they lifted each one of them from the car and put them into their wheelchairs.

Once again, God brought me up short with the example of the selfless service of these two young men to their companions who needed their help.  They had gotten up at 4:30 am to get the men ready to leave for school, and here, at 2:30 pm they still had not had lunch.  And they served with joy.

And I realized, how in the course of the day, God had taken away any resentment I had of my day being interrupted and replaced it with the joy of being right where He wanted me to be.  I got to bring Jesus into difficult and painful situations, as well as just provide everyday care for the men I love.



Finally, this morning, God made sure I didn't miss the point.  Pastor Luis preached on the feeding of the 5000, but with a very different slant.  In the context of the "big story" he pointed our that just before this, the disciples had just returned from being sent out two by two to minister as Jesus had taught them.  They returned to Him full of exciting stories of the miracles they had experience, and Jesus was taking them to a place to rest, alone with him and away from the crowds.

Imagine how they felt when they got to the other side of the lake, and once again a multitude was waiting for them.  The people were interrupting their time with Jesus.  Couldn't He just send them away?  Couldn't they just this once have time alone with Him?  Was this desire to have a break the motivation for their concern that they did not have enough food for the people?

He contrasted his with Jesus reaction.  He welcomed them.  Mark said he was filled with compassion for them.  And, as far as his disciples, He pushed them to feel this compassion also, saying "You give them something to eat."  He taught them to use the paltry resources at hand and surrender them to God.   To allow God to use their inability to show His infinite ability.  And all received what they needed, and their was just enough left over so that each of the disciples could receive one basket of food to feed themselves.

And so it is with our God.  He may ask us to give up what we have, what we planned to use for ourselves, to meet the needs of others.  But he always provides just enough to meet our needs, too.

So it is with my weekend.  I did not get the rest I had planned, but I feel refreshed enough to face another week.

Afternote:  Once again Sunday night, the little girl with Down Syndrome appeared alone outside our door.  Once again I went over and the police were called. Though they tried to involve the Guatemalan version of Child Protective Services, she was once again returned to her mother.  I am dealing with anger and frustration, but know this is God's issue to resolve. 

I am happy that she knows that our home is a safe place to come to but praying for guidance as to what to do if this happens again. 

I am learning to be careful when I pray, "God break my heart for what breaks yours," because He does just that.  Please keep Maria in your prayers.