VBS in the jungle

After three failed attempts we finally made it to Segundo Jerusalem. We tried to go on Christmas but Jennifer was sick. Then we tried on New Years Day but due to heavy rains we couldn’t get there. Then last weekend we were planning on going but the rains kept coming and the road flooded. It was chest deep. Then this weekend, even though the road was bad and we had to rent a van, we finally made it.

 

Our van

We went with one prayer. That we may be a blessing to them. Segundo Jerusalem is a small group of families living together in community. It is too small to be called an offical community so it is actually a barrio or neighborhood. We have visited them before and they are always amazing to us. They are open, warm and inviting and we always leave with loads of plantains and papaya. They teach us Shawi words and ask lots of questions. Every time we visit, we leave encouraged and blessed. For this reason, we just wanted to bless them. 

 Eating some lunch on our porch.

Resting during the rain in our house.

We arrived Saturday morning and the first thing they did was offer us a house to stay in for the weekend. What a blessing to have a place to rest and get shelter from the rain. Then the men went to work. They are working to build a new church building. First they needed lumber so they went deep into the jungle, cut down a tree and milled the boards with a chainsaw. They are very talented with a chain saw. All the wood is cut so the men were working on hauling it out to the build site. I volunteered to go with them. After 45 minutes of walking through mud and standing water we finally came to a pile of boards 42 feet long.  Then it started raining and it took five of us an hour to carry one board back to the build site. I miss my local lumber yard. 

 One of the women preparing lunch.

After lunch of dried fish and rice the real work began, a Bible school for the kids. The rest of the afternoon was filled with Bible stories, games, songs, and crafts. At first the kids were scared to death of us. They wouldn’t respond to our questions or participate. The pastor told me the kids are not accustom to strangers and they were scared. But little by little they warmed up to us. Sunday morning, we continued with more stories and songs and by Sunday afternoon the kids were singing all the songs with motions, saying the memory verse, and participating in the games.

The kids really touch my heart this weekend. We provided lunch both days for them and I am glad we did. I asked Sunday morning if any of them had breakfast and not a single one had eaten. We quickly tapped into our stash of granola bars and gave the kids a least a little something to eat. They had never jumped rope or played with a Frisbee. They had never heard of Abraham and Isaac. And they had never experienced a Bible school. I pray that we were a blessing to them but in reality they completely blessed us. To see the joy on their faces as they learned the stories, to watch them spend hours on a craft with complete patience to make it perfect, to hear them recite a Bible verse and sing songs, I can not describe how full my heart is today.

Our kids also had a blast this weekend. We asked them what was their favorite part of the weekend and they responded, "everything!" 

Henry loved playing in the dirt with the other boys.

Maggie climbed on everything.

Lucy was a leader of songs and games. 

 Our new friend Daili with her craft.

 Jennifer working hard to prepare.

My new friend John Kennedy.

  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Matthew 18:3-5

Children in need

Recently someone asked me what is the hardest thing about being here in Yurimaguas. After some thought I realized it is so difficult to find our place here. There are so many needs and we can not even begin to meet them all. The most difficult thing is finding our direction when we want to run everywhere at once. As a result we have spent the beginning of this new year in prayer for God's direction and He is responding.

Traveling on the Cachiyacu River in canoe

Last weekend I visited the community of Santa Clara which is just off the Cachiyacu River in the heart of the district of Balsapuerto. It is a large community with around 30 Shawi families. It is three hours on the road and two hours in a canoe to get there. The reason for the visit was to visit a feeding program that our mission has there as well as check on some agriculture projects. Our mission has five feeding programs in communities that struggle with malnutrition among children. We provide a meal for the children after church on Sunday. One meal a week is not a lot but for some of the children it is the only meal they get on Sundays. For them it is a lot. 

The boys Sunday School class

In Santa Clara there are between 60 and 70 children on an average Sunday. During the sermon at church the kids have a separate Sunday school time. There are two classes, one for the boys and one for the girls. I spent some time visiting each class to observe what was taught. There are no children's materials or crafts or snacks. The teachers have one of the blue pocket Bibles with Psalms, Proverbs and the New Testament in Spanish. They read a verse, talk about it and the kids memorize it. I am not sure how much they understand because a lot of the younger kids do not speak Spanish. Spanish is taught in the schools in the community so the older kids do speak it. After half an hour the kids return to the church to recite the verse together in front of everyone. As I reflect on my childhood I remember growing up in the church and what a privilege it was to have Sunday School. We learned songs, did crafts and learned the stories of the Bible.  The children of Santa Clara do not know these stories and it really touched my heart. What an opportunity and responsibility we have to teach our children!

 After church the kids received their meal of noodles and sardines

As we were traveling back we stopped at the village of Nuevo Junin. I was not able to visit their feeding program but I was able to talk with the pastor in charge of it. He told me they have 120+ children every Sunday but I also learned they have no Sunday school program. They did have one but the teacher quit because it was to difficult. They told me they thought the program was important and they want to restart it. God has put in our hearts to help the churches with their children's programing. This weekend I am planning to take the whole family for three days to a community for a Vacation Bible School. It is a small community with only 30 children but we are nervous as this will be our first overnight adventure as a family in the jungle. We are also nervous about running a VBS for 30 kids while taking care of our three at the same time. Additionally, it is currently the rainy season here and we just learned this afternoon that the road is flooded and impassible.  The only other way to get there is the river - but since it is flooded, it is extremely dangerous right now so that isn't really an option either.  Please pray that the water subsides and we are able to reach the village and these children with the Word of the Lord.  You can also pray for us as we are seeing more needs for children's ministry and we are seeing God open doors for us to help in this area.
 

Many Blessings

We are so blessed! I say it all the time but do I believe it? Do I realize how blessed we are? Not really. So many times I take things for granted. The little things such as food, clothes, education, and health. Unfortunately, I am usually completely oblivious to God’s many blessings unless He shows me those who are less fortunate. These days our lives are surrounded day in and day out by those who are less fortunate.

The last two weeks I have spent a lot of time with our Shawi friends. I have traveled the rivers and spent time in their communities. We have attended a church anniversary. And this last week we had a Bible training here in town for 30 Shawi pastors and leaders. I spent the week just talking and getting to know them. After spending the majority of two weeks with our Shawi brothers and sisters God has opened my eyes to many things and I am still processing it all. 

Last weekend we were invited to a church anniversary in a community. The anniversary lasts two days and people travel from the whole district to attend. I talked with one person who traveled three days in a canoe to attend. The men dressed in their Sunday best as the woman dressed in their traditional dress and painted their faces and feet. I had the honor of preaching for the Saturday morning service and we stayed for a baptism service in the river that afternoon. Ten young men and women were baptized. It was an amazing day of fellowship and celebration. The men and women of the community had to sacrifice a lot to prepare food for all the visitors. Having extra food is a blessing. 

Then last week during the Bible training I got to know the Shawi men much better. As I meet people it is important to know where they live. After I ask I always look at my map of the district for their community. They were so interested in my map because I am sure most of them had never seen a map of their area before. Soon I had 20 men gathered around me looking at my small map. So I went and made 30 copies of the map and returned with one for each of them. They spent the next hour studying the map and discussing it with each other. There is no actual map of the Balsapuerto district so my map is homemade and they helped me by adding some missing villages and correcting some mistakes. I had a great time learning more about their rivers and communities. Maps are a blessing.

Some of the Bible teaching was about the nation of Israel and one of the guys asked me, “Does Israel exist today?” “Well, yes,” I answered and they asked, “how long does it take to get there?” This gave me an idea, so I ran home and returned with a globe. It blew their minds! “What is all the blue stuff?” they asked. When I responded that it was water they said, “wow, there is a lot more water than land.” I pointed out Peru and Israel and said that if you could fly direct it would take around 15 hours in a plane(just guessing). It seemed like very little time to them considering it takes longer than that to get home in a canoe. Roads are a blessing.

Then one of the older guys pointed to Europe and asked, “Is that the beginning or the end of the world?” I was so confused by the question I had him repeat it three times and then I realized he thought the world was flat. I explained that the world was round and that was why the globe was round and that led to an interesting conversation about how the sun only shines on half the earth at a time and the cause of day and night and many other things. Education is a blessing.

When I visit a church it is common that there is only one Shawi Bible in the whole church and the believers share. I began to research the Shawi Bible and ask about the need for more Bibles. The men told me that the biggest problem is that the Shawi Bible is incomplete. The New Testament is complete but they only have portions of the Old Testament. The men speak Spanish but the woman do not and this makes it difficult to teach from the Old Testament. The Spanish Bibles they have are an old version called the Reina Valera and due to the use of old Spanish words they understand little of it. I can relate because I don’t understand it either and I have to use a more modern translation. As a result, it is a huge challenge to read and teach from the Bible. Complete Bibles in our language is a blessing.

By the end of the week I had spent six days in a row with some of the men. One of them, a pastor of a community 12 hours up river, brought his wife and two of their children along on the trip. I took notice that none of them had changed clothes all week. Then it hit me, the clothes they were wearing might be the only clothes they own. The ability to buy and have clothes is a blessing.

This same family is still here in Yurimaguas. The mother got really sick at the end of the week and went to the emergency room (the doctors are all currently on strike here so ER is the only option unless you can pay for private healthcare). The hospital said she had a urinary track infection and sent her home with some antibiotics. She has laid in bed all this week and not eaten anything. Yesterday Jennifer was talking with her and upon examining her found an abdominal mass.  This morning Jennifer took her back to the hospital and explained everything to the doctors and it looks like she may have a tumor. I am unsure how someone goes to the ER with stomach pain and they don’t actually examine her stomach (likely they were brushing people off due to the strike). Healthcare is a blessing.

My family and I lack nothing. We are so blessed! Even more we are blessed to have the opportunity to be here. We have the opportunity to be God's hands and feet and to share his love. We have the opportunity to help our Shawi brothers and sisters. I am praying for extra food, better roads and easier travel. I am praying for better education and healthcare. I am praying for Bibles that can be understood. But even more I am praying that through it all God's love and glory would be known throughout the jungle. 

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength."                 Philippians 4:12-13

Some videos from the Church Anniversary Services:

Set a drift

There we were, drifting down the river.  A half hour earlier we had noticed our motor was leaking oil and was dangerously low so we shut off the engine to avoid damage.  There were six large sacks of charcoal and eight people in the boat, all of us huddled together under a tarp to avoid the rain. We were still two hours away from the nearest port town and I had a sudden feeling of helplessness. I had no control over the situation but then again, do we ever really have control over our lives? I couldn’t help but reflect on how I had gotten into this situation.

The day before I had left Yurimaguas. I stopped in Munichis to pick up a companion and we drove another hour to Santa Lucia, a small port on the Paranapura River. In Santa Lucia we hitched a ride in a canoe three hours up river to a Shawi village.

The port in Santa Lucia

Our plan was a short trip to visit pastors, agriculture projects and a building project. Our first stop was fruitless as the pastor was out working in his fields for the day. But the next stop was only a 45-minute walk so off we went through the jungle. The views were stunning.

 Hiking through the jungle

By early afternoon we reach the next village and visited with a Shawi brother-in-Christ about his cacao trees. He fed us lunch of boiled plantains, boiled eggs and a bowl of chicha. Chicha is a common drink made of dried corn that is ground and then boiled in water. All the water is from the river but is safe to drink in chicha because it is boiled. It can actually ferment if left to sit for a few days but the Christians all drink it fresh. He invited us to stay the night so we left our stuff and walked on to another village where they are building a new church.

 The new church

We checked on the project and met with some of the believers there to encourage them, while drinking more chicha. It was late in the day so we returned to the original village where the pastor was now home from his fields. We discussed his chickens and his needs for his church while drinking more chicha. I shared a piece of candy with his four-year-old daughter and she wanted to return the favor by offering me a large winged ant. It was a queen leaf cutter ant. They grow wings and take flight this time of year and are a local delicacy. Normally they cook them but I noticed the one she was holding was still moving so I turned it down. She just shrugged her shoulders, popped the whole thing in her mouth and crunched it up.

 The house where we stayed

After returning to our base my companion asked me if I have ever had a cold bath. “Of course,” I replied, “I live in Yurimaguas where water heaters don’t exist.” “No,” he said, “That’s not cold water, that is medium.” “The river water here is from the mountains and is much colder.” I explained to them about water heaters and that in the United States we always use warm water, but most of them just looked at me strange like I was lying. Then my companion spoke up and said he had been in a shower once in Lima with two knobs. He proceeded to tell a long story of adjusting the handles every which way and burning and freezing and screaming and we all had a good laugh. About dark I walked down to the river to bathe and I have to say, he was not lying. It was cold. The problem was the path to the river was knee deep water and mud from a recent rain so by time I returned I felt the bath was worthless. We had another bowl of chicha before crawling into the hammock for the night at the late hour of 7:00pm. What else can you do without electricity? I realized that I had not eaten anything all day except lunch and six bowls of chicha. I would pay for that as six times I crawled out of the hammock in the pitch black dark to use the bathroom that night. And of course by bathroom I mean some nearby bushes. The nighttime view was breathtaking as there was lighting and thunder in the nearby mountains and bright stars overhead.

Traveling in a canoe

Waking early the next morning our host offered to take us in his boat to the next village. It was two hours walk or 20 minutes in boat. We gladly accepted his offer. At the next village we visited Pastor Roque’s house. If you remember from our last post he eats the bones. He is a good man of God with a heart for evangelizing his people. Every chance he gets he travels the rivers preaching in villages, many hearing the name of Jesus for the first time. I had no reason for the visit except that it felt wrong to be this close to his house and not visit. We ate breakfast together and he showed us his cacao field and his chickens. We listened to his jokes over a couple of bowls of chicha before we returned to our host’s house.

We were planning to hitch a ride from a passing boat back to Santa Lucia but our host said he wanted to go there to sell some of his homemade hardwood charcoal and would give us a ride. Loading up his boat we took off just after noon but were soon flagged down by another boat. A man had a boat loaded with sacks of corn, his family and a live pig that was flopping around everywhere. His boat was over loaded and water was splashing in faster then his wife could bail. He asked if we would take his family to get some of the weight out of his boat and since we were both headed to Santa Lucia we agreed. But not more then an hour later there we were floating aimlessly down the Paranapura River.

Soon we heard a noise and around the bend came the guy with the wild pig. After much discussion we tied a rope to his boat and he towed us for two hours back to Santa Lucia.  Luckily, the only store in Santa Lucia had the gasket we needed for the engine and we spent the rest of the afternoon repairing the motor for our host so he could return home. I slept well that night not only from exhaustion but also from the knowledge that our God always provides what we need. 

 Our tow home

Cultural Experiences

Some random cultural experiences from the jungles of Peru:

A couple of weeks ago we decided to grow plantains at the farm. It is not to difficult but it requires starts. For those of you who, like myself,  know nothing about plantains, they don’t grow from seeds but rather the starts from an existing plant. The majority of healthy plantain plants have numerous starts growing around them so getting started is not difficult. All we had to do was find someone who had plantains, ask for starts, and then dig them up. They look like this:

We had been out to a community to church and began asking around and soon we found someone who had plenty of starts and had a field only five minutes from the road. I told him I would be there the next morning and he said he would be there too. So early the next morning the guys that work at the farm and I loaded up and headed for the village. When arrived he was not home. We explained the situation to his wife and asked where their plantain field was located. She responded “por el central.” Which means in the center, away from the road or deep in the jungle and possibly an hour our two walk from the road.

I feel then need at this point to explain the time anomaly of jungle life. For the native people time means little and distance means absolutely nothing. They don’t have a concept of miles or kilometers so when I ask them how far away something is they always respond in time. For example, when I ask how far away is your village they respond 6 hours in boat. But the problem is no one owns a watch so no one actually know how long it takes to go anywhere. And since they don’t own a watch they don’t really understand how long is a minute or hour. As a result, if they say it is an hour walk that could mean 1 hour or 3 hours, no one knows, and if you ask someone else they may say 2 hours. It also depends a lot on who is walking because somehow the barefoot short legged natives walk twice as fast as me.

So when the guy told us it is a five minute walk it could actually be an hour. Who knows? We gave up on him and headed to another person’s house that we know has plantains. We had to cross a river to get there. I had crossed the river in this spot before and there has always been a dug out canoe. But this time the canoe was MIA which only leaves one other option. Praise God the river was low and only chest deep so we took off our pants and walked across the river holding our stuff above our head to keep it dry. Finally, we reached the house and of course he was not home. But his wife told us where the field was and to help ourselves to the starts. The problem was her directions to the field where a little shaky. She said, “go to so-and-so’s house then take a left then a right.” I had no idea what this meant but one of the guys with us is Shawi and knew where so-and-so lived so off we went. The guy leading the way went first and for some reason decided to walk twice as fast as everyone else(because he's Shawi). Soon we came to a fork in the path and our leader was no where in sight. So we do what everyone does in the jungle when they are looking for someone, yell real loud. But he did not respond, so we yelled and whistled and yelled some more and finally we just had to decide which path we thought looked the best to walk down and at that point I was sure we were lost. But we walked for a little bit and came to a plantain field and there was our leader standing there. I asked if he heard us and he didn’t respond, but just stared at the ground. Why? I don’t know. I can’t figure the culture out sometimes. Many times when I ask a question to a Shawi they just look at the ground and ignore me. That means either they don’t know the answer or they don’t understand my Spanish or they don’t want to answer. Either way it is frustrating.

We spent the rest of the morning digging and cleaning the starts and hauling them back across the river half naked to the furgon. The worst part was that we needed 300 starts and we only had 166.

We really haven’t landed on a home church yet. We have lived here a little over three months and in that time we have visited 6 churches. It is hard to have a home church because we are always getting invited to visit other churches. It is part of our life here. And it is not just simply visiting, every time we visit a church we are asked to stand up and say something or to preach.  The churches in town are more formal and will often ask in advance for me to preach (although sometimes only ten minutes in advance), but when we visit a church in the native communities it is just assumed that I will preach because I am the visitor. Many of the churches here in town have very loud music and most have service at 8:00pm Saturday or Sunday night that often go till 10:00pm. It is so hard to go to a church that blows your ear drums and doesn’t start till after our kid’s bedtimes. So we’ve been looking for a good church and the other night decided to visit a new church that one of our friends, who works here at the Hogar, attends. It starts at 7:30pm so we already liked it before we walked in the door. It was a quiet little church on a dirt road with about 30 people. When we go to church we stick out a little bit. First we are tall and very white, second we have blue eyed blond haired children, and third we always have a few extra people with us. Typically, we bring some extra moms, kids, or babies from the Hogar. So when we walked into church they had to scramble to find enough seats as we took up about a third of the church. Right away they asked me to stand up and introduce everyone and explain why we were there. They asked us some questions but where very friendly and accommodating.  We sang some beautiful hymns with an acoustic guitar and hymnals and we really enjoyed some quiet intimate worship time. Then the preacher gave a short and precise message from the word of God. We sang a closing hymn and finished at 8:30pm. Even with the visiting afterword we were still home by 9:00pm. The kids enjoyed it as well. We may have found a home church.

Last weekend I had big plans, but they fell through. There are some communities I have been trying to visit on the Cachiyacu River. Normally it is 6-8 hours in boat to reach them but there is a new road being constructed to the capital of the district Balsapuerto. From Balsapuerto it is half an hour walk to one community and hour and a half to the other (that is jungle time so who really knows?) As a result, I decided it would be easier to go by road and save 4 hours of travel time. The road was supposed to open the 15^th of November so I planned a trip last weekend with Davidcen who works at the farm. We planned on meeting with some of the believers that have cacao to check on their progress and attend church Sunday morning to encourage the believers. When we got to the new road, which is two hours from Yurimaguas, we were met with a large wooden gate across the road. We asked the workers and they told us that the road is finished but has not opened because they are waiting for the regional governor to come, inspect, and inaugurate the road. That was supposed to happen last week but the governor has not made it out yet.

Changing our plans, we decided to meet with some of the guys in that area that have cacao. We stopped at the community of Nueva Yurimaguas to talk with Pastor Orlando. He has about 2 ½ acres of cacao and it is producing well accept some of the pods have spots on them. I said, “can we look at it and where is your field?” “Oh, about half an hour walk,” he said. You know what that means, an hour later we arrived at his field. 

We sat in the field and discussed his cacao while eating the pulp from the cacao pods (photo above) and then prayed together. When we returned to his house his wife had prepared lunch. She had killed a chicken to make chicken soup. Killing the chicken for us is like killing the fatted calf. And one of the men with us, Pastor Roque, made the most of it. I watched him eat two bowls of soup, 6 boiled plantains, and a chicken leg, bone and all! It was a first for me watching someone eat bones but he is good humored so when I razzed him about it he told me the bones are the best part of the chicken and that I am missing out. It still wasn’t enough for me to try it.

The next day we headed back out to the same area for church. We visited the church in Segundo Jerusalem. It is a small community of believers that still don’t have their own church building but they are in the process of building one. They will spend four of five days cutting and milling all the wood with a chainsaw to build the structure. Then they will install a metal roof for protection from the rain and sun. It doesn't sound like much but it will be one of the nicest buildings in the community. We wanted to visit them and encourage them in their building project. They of course asked me to say a few words and to pray for the service. They also asked me to sing which I did not understand completely so I agreed to it until Jennifer stepped in and explained to me what was happening, so then I politely declined. It was a great time in the community as they were so open and friendly with us. We stayed and visited after church while drinking chicha with the believers and asking each other questions. They even taught us some Shawi words. I think they really enjoyed laughing at us as we tried to pronounce them correctly.

They were having a soccer game in the afternoon and invited us to stay and play but we declined as we had to go back to Nueva Yurimaguas and find Pastor Roque and take him back with us to Yurimaguas. When we got to Nueva Yurimaguas they somehow knew that there was a soccer game in Segundo Jerusalem and next thing I know we had 16 people in the back of the furgon headed back Segundo Jerusalem. That beats our previous record of 12 people. 

By the time we finally had the furgon headed back to Yurimaguas we had 11 people and a pile of plantains, yuca, corn, and pineapple that were donated by the believers for the Hogar. What a great day it was of worship and fellowship with our Shawi brothers and sisters!

A Trip to the Market

Just for something fun and different we decided to to a video post this week. Here is a video of our trip to the market. It is where we shop and get the majority of our food here. This market is called the Bado and it is right outside our house seven days a week from 3:00pm to about 7:00pm. It is right beside the Paranapura River so it is easy access for those bringing products from their communities to sell in the city. Sorry for abrupt ending, ran out of space on the phone. 
A little slice of Yurimaguas life for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

We do not lose hope

I sat in church all alone thinking about the difficulties of life here. Not just problems like cold showers, no toilet seats and having parasites but more the emotional strain.  My family was in church too, but just not sitting with me, we couldn’t find seats together. The church was full because today was the church anniversary. A day full of special songs, guest preachers, and celebration. I didn’t feel like celebrating. All I could think about was 2 Corinthians chapter 4. In July of 2015 we lived in North Carolina for a month for cross-cultural training. One of the teachers made us memorize the first 12 verses of this chapter and it was suddenly flooding back into my brain. “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose hope.” This is so true. We serve in a ministry that without God is hopeless. Two rows in front of me sat Jennifer with Henry and two other children from the Hogar. Their mother and father are both in prison. The boy just turned four and the first three years of his life he lived with his mother in prison. To this day he is more comfortable in prison than out. We know this because Jennifer takes them twice a month to visit their mom. Their mom will be in prison for two more years. The girl is eight and has problems with authority and trust issues. 

Lucy is sitting in the back of the church with the Shawi women. On one side is her new best friend, a 14-year old with a baby who ran away from home. We have written about her in the past and if you have not read Jennifer’s post, Pray for Esther, please do. On the other side of her is a family member of a man that just had his leg amputated. He had a tumor the size of a volleyball. He is recuperating but will someday return to his village. It is a 12-hour boat ride from Yurimaguas. His future is uncertain as the only thing he has done in his life is work in his fields to provide food for his family. Now, without the leg, that becomes next to impossible.

Maggie is in the front of the church with one of Susan’s girls. She was abandoned at birth and lived her first 11 years at the Hogar before being adopted by Susan. She is sweet and loves Maggie but struggles in school and has abandonment issues.

Finally, someone comes to sit by me. It is one of Susan’s boys. He was born with a cleft pallet and almost died of malnutrition. Now at 14 he is healthy but talks with a lisp and has a scar on his face from the surgeries. He also has a scar in his heart as he struggles with anger. He is mad at the world and who would blame him.

On stage the administrator at the Hogar is singing a special.  She has a beautiful voice but her life is full of pain as well. She has a host of personal issues that many are out of her control. Despite this she pours out her heart to God trusting in Him above all else.

Every day new people walk into the Hogar and into our lives. Every single person has a story and most are of brokenness. Broken homes. Broken relationships. Broken bodies. Broken lives. Right now we have a lot of court cases here at the Hogar. A family of six siblings under 12 removed from their home. A 13-year old is here because her mom was beating her. Another 13-year old that is pregnant. We have a 9 month old with a cleft pallet due to have surgery next month and his mom has abandoned him twice. And the list goes on…

The Hogar Materno is not a children’s home or an orphanage. It was designed to help on a temporary basis. We have 5 dedicated staff members that cook and clean, three full-time and two part-time. Here mothers, high risk pregnant women and malnourished children can get a clean bed and three healthy meals a day.  We are not capable of having a family of 6 children here. We don’t have the staff to care for them. 

It is easy to loose hope here. Everyday my heart is broken. Everywhere I look I see injustice and pain. I often cry.

The child we brought back from the jungle two weeks ago has fluid on the brain. His mom has refused the surgery and they are back in their village. I am perplexed.

Again I run 2 Corinthians 4 through my head. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” To a non Christian this is nonsense, but to us it makes perfect sense. Our hope is not in this life. This life is temporary and will soon end for every one of us. So to face adversity, difficulties and trials is not devastating to us. In fact, it is expected. Since our hope is not in this life when we are hard pressed we are not crushed, and when perplexed we are not in despair. Our hope is in the eternal and NOTHING can take that away from us. And that is our message here at the Hogar. Everyday we have the opportunity to share this hope, the greatest gift of all time.

I am not alone in church. God is there too, confirming that, even though He has called us to something so difficult, He provides the strength and hope we need to get through the day.

“For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”