Sayulita Camp & Transforming a House to a Home

Sayulita:

We spent July 5th-10th in Sayulita at at a Christian camp with the kids from the orphanage.  Sayulita is a small beach town about 4 hours outside of Guadalajara.  We were able to treat the kids to a summer vacation.  For a lot of the kids this was their first real vacation and their first time at the beach!

A friend let us use their cabins for free

 during our stay in Sayulita.  So we had

four cabins about 10 minutes away from the beach in a tropical jungle.  Absolutely beautiful!  During our time there we led Bible studies with the kids in the morning and then spent the majority of the day at the beach in complete awe of God's beautiful creation.

From "Casa" (House) to "Hogar" (Home):

I really believe that there is a huge difference between a house and home.  I believe that every child needs a place to call home.  A comfortable, relaxing, functional place where they feel safe and well "at home".  And this is what we want for our kids at "Niños en Victoria".  We want their house "casa" to be a home "hogar".  

Over the next month or two we are going to be doing various projects to transform this orphanage into a home "hogar".

--Moving all of the wild animals onto cages on the roof

--Putting down grass in the backyard area instead of the existing dirt/carpet

--Redoing the kitchen with new fridge, cooking pots, silverware, cups, etc

--Dining Room- large kitchen table & chairs/ closed off with mosquito nets

--Classroom upstairs with new concrete, tables, whiteboards, and education materials

Once we have these improvements done to the house we will start our schedule where we will be giving Bible studies through the book of John as well as teaching the kids.  The majority of the kids do not know how to read so we are splitting up into groups to teach the kids the ABCs, how to read, how to comprehend what they have read, mathematics, etc.  

I am so excited to start all of these projects at this casa hogar.  We are learning so much about what it truly means to run an orphanage.  God is teaching me what it looks like to take in orphans and love them--He is showing me how He took me in and loved me.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  Hebrews 13:8

"Jesucristo es lo mismo ayer, hoy y por los siglos."  Hebreos 13:8

The First Month in Guadalajara

Things have been pretty busy these past few weeks in finding a place to live and in setting up the internship/training with an orphanage down here, but God has been so good and so gracious to us in all of this.  His sovereignty has really been made so clear to me over these past few weeks.

I recently moved into a small house that is about 5 blocks from the orphanage we are working with (Niños en Victoria- Kids in Victory) and about 7 blocks from the house of the 2 guys on my team.  This barrio is awesome!  There are always kids playing soccer in the street and our neighbors (a 4 year old girl and 6 year old boy) are always coming over wanting to play.  I love it!

BLANCA ESTELA:

I’m living with a 19-year-old girl, Blanca, who grew up in an orphanage.  Her parents were put in jail when she was 11 years old.  When she was older she worked in the office of the orphanage.  She has decided to join our team in starting our orphanage!  What an amazing teammate- a girl who actually knows what these children are going through!  I am so excited to live with her and to grow together.   We’re planning on going through a Bible Study each night.  I’m excited to see how God is going to work through this discipleship!  Also starting in August she will be entering the prepa (high school).  So we will get the opportunity to help her and support her with her education as well as with her spiritual growth.

NINOS EN VICTORIA:

The casa hogar (orphanage) that we are working with has about 20-25 boys living there from the ages of 2-17.   Only 4 of the 20 are in school.  There are chickens, ducks, gerbils, roosters, and rabbits running around everywhere.  They never know if there is going to be enough money to pay the rent or to buy food.   There is no order or structure.  The director (Fernando) and his wife (Blanca) are so full of joy and love for the children.  This couple comes from a life in the prison, violence, drugs, alcohol, and prostitution.  Jesus has completely transformed their lives.  They literally have nothing, no money, and no material possessions.  All they have are these children and they love them with all of their hearts.  We are so excited to work with them and really transform this casa hogar!  

Over the past few weeks I feel like God has been teaching our team so much. We’re learning (and continuing to learn):

-how to discipline children out of grace and truth in love

-how to teach teenagers the ABC’s and how to read

-how to work with the government to get the children enrolled in school

-how to give a kid hope when he has none

Just in the past 5 days we’ve really seen a lot.  I’ve heard some of these kids’ stories off of the streets.  Two days ago I broke up a fistfight between a 14 year old and a 12 year old.  Another kid (12 years old) last Friday had a huge breakdown.  He freaked out over one small thing and it quickly escalated.  He started saying how all of the kids there had to die and started punching the ground uncontrollably.  Then he ran upstairs and tried to jump off of the balcony.  Darren and I were able to control him and get him off of the balcony.  He was out of control.  We were able to move him to one of the bunk beds and we held down his body as he convulsed uncontrollably.  His fists clenched tightly.  His eyes were different.  He was yelling and shaking.  I found a knife stuffed down in his sock.

We had no idea what to do.  Not a single clue.  All we could do was pray.  And we prayed.  Not even knowing what to pray.  Tears running down our faces, we prayed.  This kid is probably the sweetest kid there.  Always laughing and joking around.  Always obedient and a hard worker.  I love him so much.  All we could do was pray for him.  And after a good 45 minutes of praying he finally started to calm down.

These kids have some rough pasts.  Growing up in the streets with no one to trust.  Parents in prison.  Raped and beaten by their parents.  Growing up believing that they don’t have a future.  Being told they're stupid and worthless.

Please pray that these children would have hope in Jesus Christ.  He is the only one that can change these kids’ lives.