A HOME, not just a house

 It's been awhile between posts, but not because nothing has been happening!

In contrary, LOTS has been happening with more to come.

La Luz Brilla is open, and has become a home for three women, with more coming in the future.

La Luz Brilla will have a capacity of  10 - 14 young women, depending on need etc.

I would like to introduce you briefly to the young ladies currently in La Luz Brilla.

Juliana

Juliana Sontay Herrera. Juliana is a young lady we have known for several years. She is 19 yrs. old.

She has an older brother living several hours away, and a younger brother and sister living in a home for children. Juliana's parents both died when she was young, but even before they died, she had been sent to live with an aunt, and suffered severe abuse for many years before being removed and placed in a children's home. Juliana has problems relating to years of abuse and neglect, has issues with anger, and attachment issues, problems forming and maintaining relationships with those around her etc. However, we have seen growth in these areas in the past couple of years and our hope is, with God, and the knowledge that she is loved, and some practical help, that she can successfully move forward to living on her own.

Juliana is currently working full-time and studying part-time to complete her 'basicos'. Kind of like maybe 9th - 10th grade level compared to the USA system.

Erika y Elizabeth Saraí

Erika Canil Gonzalez. Erika is also a young lady we have known for years. She was one of the very first we became involved with and is very close to us. She is 19 yrs. old. Erika has three younger brothers and a younger sister. Her mother was killed about 10 yrs. ago, and an older sister was killed almost 5 yrs. ago.

Her dad is alive, is an alcoholic and has not been a good father. She is always trying to connect, but is constantly rejected. Erika also has problems with anger and rejection. The amount of pain these girls carry inside is unbelievable.

Erika graduated from 'basicos' last October and is in her 1st yr. of studying to become a teacher.

On May 3rd, Erika gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Elizabeth Saraí. Unfortunately, this is far to common. Guatemala now has the highest birthrate among teen-agers in the world outside of Africa. She is one of 5 young ladies we work, or have worked, with that have either recently given birth or are currently pregnant.

When they grow up without love, they search for it anywhere, and are easily used because to say no would mean being rejected, which they have experienced repeatedly and hurts even worse than being used.

Our purpose for La Luz Brilla was not for single moms, but the Lord provided a house with a separate little 'cuarto de servicio', or maids quarters. It is a small room with it's own bathroom, and separate from the house. We have fixed it up for Erika, and it is a great place for her and Elizabeth and will help Erika be able to continue with her studies.

Marlin

Marlin Venegas. Marlin is the woman that will be 'supervising' in La Luz Brilla. She has experience as a 'house mom' in a children's home, and will be like our eyes and ears for La Luz Brilla. Marlin works full-time and will be like an older more experienced person to come alongside these girls.

Iglesia Heme Aquí Señor

I also want to mention our church, Iglesia Heme Aquí Señor. Since we have started La Luz Brilla, our church has jumped onboard in an amazing way! Members of our church have donated a new refrigerator, a used microwave oven, a large china hutch, many cleaning supplies, kitchen supplies etc. We have pledges for paint, to paint the entire house outside, a new bed, a used computer, and more supplies as we need! 

They also want to know and love our girls, and we will, Lord willing, plan to have perhaps two actual Sunday services each year in the yard at La Luz Brilla!

GOD IS GREAT! All the time!

How can you help?

First, please pray for La Luz Brilla and each of the young ladies there. 

We desperately need people to help support La Luz Brilla financially and would love to find monthly sponsors for individual girls.

For instance, Juliana has a job, but doesn't earn a lot, and with her studies and tuition, supplies etc, there is a pretty good gap. She will use her earnings as much as she can, and we want to be able cover the rest.

Erika will be studying full time, and with a baby probably won't be able to work much if at all. 

And future girls in the home will be in similar situations, they will provide what they can, we want to be able to fill the gaps.

Why oh why La Luz Brilla?

I wanted (promised awhile back I would) to share briefly the vision and purpose for La Luz Brilla.

Really the purpose for La Luz Brilla is to help young señoritas make a successful transition from 'institutional' living, to independent living. Through learning to live by faith in God, and with practical help and training in real life situation.

God gave us the vision for La Luz Brilla over two years ago. We received approval from our mission to begin, and we had been waiting on Gods leading to provide the means and proper timing to begin.

God began revealing the need shortly after we came to Guatemala, through the opportunities He led us to working with lots of high risk youth.

We got to know lots of young people and we watched as they grew and were sent out on their own. We watched sadly as many, really most, struggled greatly. These girls all come from backgrounds of rejection, abuse, neglect etc which creates so many obstacles to overcome. Until you take the time to really get to know these kids you can't really understand how great these obstacles can be.

Here in Guatemala there just really isn't a support system for them.

Our goal is to help, one girl at a time, to grow in self-confidence and security, until she can have a legitimate chance for success in life.

First, we want to love these girls like Jesus does. Unconditionally.

We have found that this is the hardest of all concepts for them to understand.

Until they can believe in unconditional love, they can never fully appreciate, or accept God's grace.

They need to know, and believe, that even when they make mistakes, that love remains.

We want them to learn to live by faith. We believe that La Luz Brilla can help them by watching as it is totally operated by faith and they will be able to see how God provides miraculously. 

We want to help with teaching and training them in basic life skills, budgeting their meager funds, how to shop more wisely, how to pay bills, and the daily skills so many of us just take for granted, yet are anything but natural for them.

We want to be there for them when they fall, and not only help them back up, but help them to learn why they fell, and hopefully learn from their mistakes.

Finally, we hope to watch them eventually go out into the world, provide for themselves and be able to have a stable, God honoring home and family, breaking the cycle of abuse and poverty they have come out of.

They deserve nothing less.

Finally! La Luz Brilla!

At long last, after about two years of planning and waiting for the Lord to lead us forward, La Luz Brilla is now a reality in Guatemala!

After waiting for God's timing, last October we received a gift from a church in Arizona to cover our anticipated costs of start-up to open a home. November / December being so busy, we wisely waited until after the first of the year to begin looking for a house.

Well, we finally took possession of a rental house March 1st and we are moving forward!

The house itself is another God story, orchestrated as only He can, let me try to tell it briefly.

La Luz Brilla - Front of house

In our planning our hope was for an average house that would hold 6 - 8 señoritas and our budget for rent was Q3,500 monthly. (about $460)

We found what we thought was the ideal house. Only 2-3 blocks from our house, would hold maybe 8 girls and the rent was Q3,500! So, we tried to meet with the woman showing it, to discuss it, and after 4 appointments that she never showed up for, we were becoming frustrated at why the Lord was preventing what seemed like an ideal place from happening.

La Luz Brilla - Back of house

 So we decided to look for more options. We knew of another house close by that was empty, but it was larger and we knew would be way more expensive. Other missionaries had lived there previously and had told Sandi before they moved that the owner was very adamant about not having any ministry in the house, it was strictly for a single family to live in. It was also larger than we were originally thinking, and a lot more monthly than our budget, Q5,500 per month. (about $725) Although it was more expensive, it also would hold between 10 - 14 girls comfortably. Well, I was given a number for the owner and decided to at least talk to him. I called and he agreed to meet us at the house to show it to us.

La Luz Brilla - Interior of house

When we met, the first thing I did was explain what we are wanting to do. He was not too happy, he only wanted a family in the house, but, we continued to talk. He began asking questions about the types of girls we would have there and the purpose, vision etc.

As I explained it more and more, he became more interested and by the end he was making suggestions on ways we could utilize the rooms etc!

 I told him we were interested but the rent was way beyond our budget and he said, "well, think it over and we can negotiate!"

La Luz Brilla - Kitchen

We met with the owner a few days later and I proposed a few things. One, the exterior of the house needs to be painted, I said we would paint the house within the first year. Two, I would build a roof over the pila (large outdoor sink where the girls will wash their clothes).

In return, we asked to receive the house rent free the first month (while we prepare it etc) and then we asked for him to lower the rent to Q4,000 monthly (about $525). That is a huge reduction in rent as the original Q5,500 was probably fair for that house and neighborhood.

He hesitated and asked for time to think about it, then after about 10 minutes, he accepted all of our requests!

So....PRAISE THE LORD, as of March 1st La Luz Brilla is a reality!

We have one woman living in the house already, she will be more or less in charge of the house daily. We have another girl ready to move in probably next week, she has already moved some of her things. We plan to fill it gradually over 6 - 12 months.

Please pray for La Luz Brilla as we begin screening girls to live there. Praise God for His provision of this house, and ask for His ongoing provision as we now have monthly bills to meet.

Look for more posts here very soon explaining our purpose and vision for La Luz Brilla!

What a month!

We just finished what may have been our busiest month ever! But, wow, was it great!

We started March 1 with a couple arriving from Alaska to stay until the 27th of March! 

Blaine & Becky Anders.

They had felt led to spend some time serving in Guatemala and Blaine actually googled "Guatemala Missionary". It took quite a bit of bouncing around the web, but eventually he connected with us,    and...praise the Lord, it was a divine connection!

Blaine & Becky Anders

Blaine's experience and skills/talents are almost exactly the same as mine, and he is just a tad crazy, like me, so it was like we had known each other for years! 

He and Becky jumped right in to serving, and started right off doing painting and laying concrete at Las Aldeas Children's Home. Now everyone will not have to run through the mud during the rainy season!

New sidewalk at Las Aldeas children's home

Blaine worked alongside Jorge y Manuel, the maintenance workers at Las Aldeas and, in spite of the language barrier, they became fast friends!

Blaine with Manuel y Jorge

A week after Blaine & Becky arrived, Tim Sloma came to help until the 27th also. Tim had spent 5 weeks with us a year ago and had been looking forward to returning. Well, he hit the ground running because we had stuff going in every direction! 

Tim Sloma

 Not only did we have Anders here, but March 1st we also took possesion of a house to use for La Luz Brilla, the transition home for young women! There was work to be done on it to prepare it for ministry. We also had projects committed to do at Las Aldeas, and I was preparing for a team from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church of Denton, Texas. 

New roof over the pila at La Luz Brilla!

I was so busy trying to keep all things covered, that I didn't get to do much actual work. I guess most people wouldn't mind that, but I don't get to do much construction type work anymore and was really looking forward to it. But, thank the Lord for the Anders and Tim, we got a lot of projects covered that I would not have been able to get done soon by myself.

The team from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church 2012!

Then March 18, the team of 14 from St. Andrew arrived! As always it was so encouraging to have them here with us. They come every Spring and feel like family!

They were able to paint ceilings in two houses at Las Aldeas (very badly needed) and had activities for the kids in the afternoon.

Painting ceilings at Las Aldeas

 Then we all went to Puerto San José down on the Pacific coast to work at Iglesia Monte Sión.

This is a very poor rural church whose roof was ready to fall in on the church, and was filled with holes. The group from St. Andrew raised enough funds to put a completely new roof on the church! So we spent a  few days there beginning the project. They painted the steel beams and roofing with anti-corrisive paint, and began some of the welding the beams and trusses together.

The members of the church and sister churches will complete the project over the next few weeks!

I missed the first day in Puerto San José, due to an emergency with one of our youth, I spent 2 nights and day with her in the hospital, but was able to get her home and then join the team on the coast.

It was a crazy month, but a TON was accomplished and we were greatly encouraged by all who came!

Pay-per-view baptism!

Have you ever been invited to a pay-per-view baptism?

This past Sunday we were!

Okay, maybe not exactly as it sounds.....

Relaxing before the show!

It is truly a wonderful story of God moving in hearts and minds.

Evelyn Tercero is a beautiful young lady, 18 years old, that has been involved in our youth activities for about a year and a half. Evelyn was raised Catholic and while enjoying our group and participating, continued to  attend her Catholic church etc. We have watched over the past year as the Lord has been working in her, softening her heart to just lay her burdens on Him, and rest in his love.

Juliana, Martina y Evelyn

    It has been a joy to watch over the past few months as she has began reading her bible daily and expressing her excitement at new truths being revealed to her! She began attending a church near where she lives and joined a cédula, a small group. Then, a few weeks ago she told me she was going to be baptized,  and wanted me, her 'papito', to be there!

So this past Sunday, we met her at her church to follow them to where the baptism would be held. It was across the city in a 'not the nicest part of town' location.

We took two girls that live with her, Juliana & Martina, with us.

Evelyn confessing her faith

 We finally arrived at the place, a public pool where we had to pay the admission fee to enter!

So, we had to pay-to-view the baptism!

It was breezy and quite cool for here, and the water was pretty chilly!

But Evelyn was sooooooo excited! And we were so blessed to be there as her 'parents'.

Praying in the cold water

 As with things Guatemalan, it took a long time to get things under way, but eventually it started and after a brief talk by the pastor, we watched 6 people be baptized!

Evelyn gave a brief confession of her faith, was prayed over, and then...

Thank you Lord for Evelyn!

 We were so blessed to watch this girl we love follow in obedience the ordinances of God.

Both Sandi and I had tears watching her baptized and seeing the joy in her!

We were all blessed to be witnesses!

Truly, it is a blessing to watch and be witnesses to the testimony of God's grace and love. 

And for us, Evelyn is so special and we are FILLED with joy over this young lady!

¡GLORIA A DIOS!

Full House!

Okay....been a little while since I updated.

January is a time to catch up after the Christmas craziness, but this year has kept us busy so far.

We start each day with "I wonder what today holds?" and with reason. It is the rare day that something unexpected does not occur!

Actually, unexpected occurrences seem to be the norm, so we don't report much because it almost seems routine to just go with what the Lord brings our way!

Earlier this month, while we still had Felicita and James staying with us, and Oscar was back from some time with his family in Huehue, the house was full, all beds were taken. So, I get a call about 8 PM from two of our youth we work with. Their uncle, 17 yrs old, had just arrived in Guatemala city from Huehuetenango. It was his FIRST time in the city! He came to find a place to live and a job so he could go to school.

However, he arrived without a plan of how to do that, nor any idea what the big city is really like.

So, at that time of night there is no way to find a place to stay, the 3 of them did not know what to do, so....call Mike!

Well, we met Noé, and really liked his desire to do better in life. He left home, not knowing exactly what he was going to do, with the desire to study and make something better for himself.

We took him home, because we still had a couch available. The idea was the next day they were going to look for a room to rent, then look for a job.

Well......it´s not quite as easy as it sounds. Through some connections etc. we helped him find a room after 4 days with us. But he could not find a job and was almost out of money. Well, he had to return to his home in Huehuetenango, but now knows what it takes here, and is hoping to return next year and try again! He will be 18 then which will make it a little easier to get a job etc.

So, it really wasn't unusual for us, but changed our plans quite a bit for a week. But we were blessed to get to know Noé, and hope to be able to help him again next year!

Most evenings if the car is outside, I ask Sandi, "Do we need to go anywhere tonight? or should I put the car in?" and she says "we don't need to go anywhere, but as soon as you put it in, you'll get a phone call!"

Hahaha, and that does happen somewhat often!

But, we are blessed to be able to do many things just like this example with Noé, and consider it an honor and blessing that people come to us trusting us to help.

Wonder what will happen today?

The BIG day! NOCHEBUENA 2011

Well, this year Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) fell on December 24th again....hmmmm...imagine that! And, as every year it began early for us. Started arranging all the many things to load and take with us to Casita Benjamín. Then, down to the panaderia to pick up 350 Pirujos (a type of bread). Then, at noon, the bus arrived at our house and we loaded Canastas de Víveres (baskets of provisions) decorations, props, cookies, disposable plates etc. etc. etc.

Then we left to pick up our servant team of youth, and headed to Zona 3 and Casita Benjamin, arriving about 1:30 PM.

2011 Servant team and helpers

When we arrived we unloaded the bus, then the team began decorating the Casita. One of our older youth, Erika, was in charge of decorating! She planned, directed the making of, and installing all the decorations! And the place looked the best ever!

Decorating the Casita

 This year there was even more decorating to do because we added a new wrinkle...some of our program would be held outside in the street! So, we needed some decorations outside, as well as inside.

Greeting outside for the neighbors!

 After the decorating, we had time for one last rehearsal of the drama, then people began to arrive! And then more, and more!

We began with our youth leading singing of Christmas carols outside in the street! We had quite a few neighbors come join us that would not normally have been a part if we just had the program inside!

Some of the people in the street singing carols

 The youth did a great job of singing strongly and there were lots of smiles all around!

The music was directed by Oscar Ávila, and as every year, he did a wonderful job!

Our youth team leading singing in the street!

 After the time of singing was finished, we had all of the children enter the Casita, and had all of the adults remain outside in the street. 

Our good friend Benjamin Melendez then gave a fantastic Gospel message out in the street for the parents of the kids and all of the neighbors!

Christmas Carols outside Casita Benjamín

 While Benjamin was preaching out in the street, our youth were performing a drama of the Christmas story for all of the kids inside. Another of our older girls, Diana, was in charge of directing the drama. It was EXCELENTE!

Our youth team performing the Christmas story!

 We had more people than ever before this year, and more kids than ever too! They LOVED the drama, were quiet and captivated by it!

After the drama, Diana gave a lesson to clearly explain what they had just seen, then led them all in prayer before we served the tamale dinner!

Some of the kids watching the drama!

 While this is all going on, the message finished outside and we had all of the adults enter for the dinner.

Best guesstimate is about 250 people!

Receiving their tamales, ponche and pan

 After our youth team served everyone, then served dessert of Sandi's Christmas cookies, and then collected all of the trash....it was time to present each family with a canasta de viveres, and each child with a gift!

Some of the adults inside Casita Benjamín

 We had exactly enough canastas so each family received one...we gave out 58 canastas at the Casita!

And we had just enough gifts for all of the children, with only a couple left over! We cut it close this year, having a bigger crowd than we had dreamed of! God is good and does answer our prayers!

Happy family leaving with their canasta and gifts!

Lots of happy faces as people were leaving with their gifts! 

Then we cleaned up the Casita, loaded up the bus and returned to Las Aldeas, where our youth live, and had another tamale dinner there! We had made a total of 70 canastas, planning to give canastas to each house there, and also the workers, but after the size of the crowd at Casita Benjamin, we were 12 baskets short for Las Aldeas. 

They will receive their canastas, just a few days late! We will be making more baskets over the next day or two!

It's a good problem to have!

I cannot say how proud I am of all of our youth, They did an incredible job of not just singing, performing and serving, but they loved those precious people and served with hearts overflowing...touching many, and letting people see Christ through them.

All in all, PRAISE the Lord!!! 

People were loved, heard a clear Gospel message, and saw it lived out in our servants.

Thank you one and all for your prayers and support of this impacting outreach!

May God bless you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

GALLETAS!!!

Each year on December 23rd we have an all day activity for our servant team.

It is to make Christmas cookies for the dessert on the 24th, and also to make lots of decorations for Casita Benjamin. 

This is also a day our team looks forward to after working hard for a month, this is a day they get to have some fun (while doing lots of work!)

Enjoying their work!

 We are giving them more and more responsibility, as many of our youth have been helping with Nochebuena for several years, and are older now. We placed one girl, Diana, in charge of the drama the kids will perform on the 24th. That took a lot of work from me! And she is doing great! Others are stepping up and helping each other do the many things needed to prepare. So this day, we let them go at it with minor supervision from me! Sandi made sure the cookie making process went smooth, and other than that, I let the kids do their thing with little interference....well, maybe I got in the way some, and started a flour fight...but really, they did most of the work!

All told we made well over 750 cookies, not counting the approximately 50 cookies Rafael "X-Box" ate by himself! 

OOPS!

At the same time the cookies are going on, half the team was working on making decorations.

Again I had delegated the responsibility of decorations to one of our older girls, Erika. She planned the decorations, made a list of materials, went with us to buy the materials, made some of the more time intensive decorations at home, and guided the process at our house this day. She did a great job, we're very proud of her! She will also be in charge of doing the decorating at the Casita on the 24th. 

Erika guided the team making LOTS of decorations!

 It was a fun day, for the youth to let loose and have some fun while serving. Learning that work can be fun too! This was their time, leading and helping each other. I am sooooo proud of all of them, they really have become a TEAM!

Carols at Kairos

As part of our Nochebuena preparations and activities, we always visit Casa Kairos one evening to sing Christmas Carols and visit with the kids and their families.

If you don't know of Casa Kairos, it is a home for kids with cancer, and their families, that are undergoing treatment at the public hospital nearby.

It was a full house Dec. 20 when we visited.

Some of the people at Kairos

 We took our servant team of youth that we work with, that have been helping us with preparing for Nochebuena. They will be doing the singing, performing and serving at the Nochebuena celebration at Casita Benjamin on Dec. 24.

Hanging out after singing!

After spending close to an hour singing with all the folks there, we served a snack of Sandi's famous Christmas cookies! Then we spent some time just hanging out with the kids there.

Our youth did a great job. We are really trying to just guide them, letting them do the serving and most of the directing, while we stay more in the background. And they are stepping up!

Getting Ready!

Things are coming together rapidly for Nochebuena...like each year, it is a mad dash for a month and a half, but it always seems to work out great!

We have been busy, busy, busy the past weeks, buying supplies, buying gifts, practicing with the youth for singing, a drama to perform etc.

We took a few of our helpers with us to CEGMA, which is like a distribution center for goods where we can buy things in bulk.

We bought all the provisions for the Canastas de Víveres (baskets of provisions) there.

Another day we went to the mercado in Zona 3 to buy all the disposable supplies, plates, cups, etc. We also bought childrens gifts, wrapping paper etc.

Some of the provisions for the canastas

 This year one thing that has helped some is that we are giving more responsibility to some of our older youth that have been helping for several years.One is in charge of the drama, another in charge of decorations etc.

It helps me out a lot, and gives them a lot more sense of really contributing something.

And they are doing great! We've had them helping in some way many days each week!

Wrapping gifts for kids

 Yesterday we had an all day activity at our house to wrap gifts and to make the canastas.

We were planning to make 70 canastas and they take a lot of work each to put together. There are 12 items in each basket, and several of them, i.e. frijoles, oatmeal, rice, pasta, were purchased in bulk, and first had to be packaged into 1 lb. bags.

Making 1 lb bags of frijoles

Then we set up an assembly line snaking through most of the house! A few people would carry baskets by stations where another person would add items to the basket!

It is lots of fun, and lots of work for 70 baskets!

After 70 baskets were assembled, and scattered all over the house, we had a pizza lunch break and watched a movie!

Then it was time to wrap 70 canastas!

Making each canasta special and unique

We had sheets of celophane and lots of ribbon, and let the kids use their own style!

We literally had baskets and people scattered over most of the house, using any available space!

 

Using the hallways

Using the kitchen

Using the dining room

Using the living room

 We finished in the afternoon, and then spent time practicing Christmas carols to sing at Kairos House this week.

2011 Nochebuena servant team
(missing several members in this foto)

So we now have Canastas stacked up pretty much filling our dining room, but only for another week!

Please keep praying for God's blessing on this project, we are expecting around 300 people total between Casita Benjamin and Las Aldeas for Nochebuena.

This coming week, our daughter Felicita arrives, with a girlfriend from college, and her boyfriend James will arrive also! We will also take our group to Kairos to sing for the people, have another all day activity to make decorations and cookies. 

Then the big event!

It's Nochebuena time again!

It's the time of year again gearing up for our BIG Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) outreach!

Actually, we are getting a late start this year due to my trip to the USA, but, never the less, Christmas Eve will still arrive Dec 24 whether we are ready or not! So...we plan to be ready!

Those not familiar with this, what we do is host a BIG dinner party for families that live alongside the largest land fill dump in Central America.

Actually, the idea is a special night for these people. Most cannot afford a traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tamales, much less presents for their children.

This is a very densely populated neighborhood, very dangerous with gangs, drugs etc. It is very dark spiritually as well, and at Christmas time it is even more depressing for the people there.

Servant team 2010

 So what we do is invite them to a Nochebuena CELEBRATION! 

I form a servant team with the youth we work with from a children's home. These kids have very little themselves, but when given a chance to serve those with less, look out! They spend weeks preparing, practicing songs, practicing a drama for the kids, wrapping gifts, making decorations etc!

Then on the 24th, we rent a bus and go into Zona 3 to Casita Benjamin where we have the event!

The kids decorate the place, lead Christmas carols to begin the program. Then while the adults receive an evangelistic message of hope, our team has a program for the children with a drama and songs.

This year the director at Casita Benjamin and I did some brainstorming and decided to try something new. We are going to hold the first part of our program, singing carols and the evangelistic message, out in the street! Right outside the Casita we will set up speakers and are sure we will draw many more neighbors to come hear the singing and the message! I am very excited for this!

Singing Christmas carols

 Then it's time for dinner, and after dinner each child receives a wrapped gift. We will also provide a basket of basic goods for each family. These baskets contain things like, sugar, rice, pasta, salt, cooking oil, soups, juices, oatmeal, and several other items.

Then after we say Feliz Navidad to the guests, we clean the Casita, load the bus up and return to the children's home.....where.....

Serving dinner

...we do it all again!

Well, most of it. We will sing songs, have another tamale dinner, perform the play, and then watch a movie with everyone there!

All told, between both events, we expect to host dinner for between 300 and 400 people!

It is a TON of work, but is even more fun!

One thing each year on top of it all, is the need to raise the funds to provide all of this.

And each year we have seen God come through for us in amazing, and different ways!

This year was no exception.

While in Texas, visiting Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church in Denton, TX, I was able to meet the missions committee there for the first time. I was happy about this as they have helped us with several ministries the past few years, and with us personally as well. I just wanted a chance to say thank you. They then asked me some questions about what things we had coming up, and I shared some about Nochebuena. But, I never asked for their help. 

Then, the very next day, I was informed they had decided to fully fund our project this year!

So...we are off and running!

Check here over the next month for some updates as we have several events to prepare for Christmas Eve, then the big event itself on December 24th!

La Luz Brilla - Coming soon!

We know there are many people interested in what's happening with La Luz Brilla?

We have exciting news!

But first, let me briefly explain La Luz Brilla for those not aware.

La Luz Brilla is the name for the transition house we have been led to open for young women.

Through our work with lots of young people, virtually all of whom would be called 'high risk' youth, we have seen how as they leave the children's home environment, their chances of success are small at best. And things are getting worse here in Guatemala. Especially for women, culturally, economically, security etc it is very tough to overcome. Add to that the issues of childhood abuse, emotional scars and issues, and the odds become very daunting indeed.

Miriam and Yesica

 That's where we are hoping La Luz Brilla can stand in the gap. We want to provide a safe place where girls can finish their education, and learn to live independently, yet with a safety net to catch them when they stumble.

A place where they can live on their own, yet learn about the basic things to make it, like, how to budget, how to realistically live on a meager income. How to buy groceries, how to do the many things it takes to become successful on your own. We would help provide administration, training, education in some basic living skills, discipleship etc.

Marta and Erika

The need is constantly growing, and we have been waiting on the Lords timing to provide funding needed to open a home.

And He has provided!

We have received a gift from Desert View Baptist Church in Gilbert, AZ that will cover 100% of our projected start-up costs!

So, we are hoping after the first of the year to begin looking for a suitable house to rent, and then begin setting it up to receive young women to live there.

We will still need ongoing monthly support to operate La Luz Brilla, but are trusting the Lord to provide as we get started. 

We are planning to start a sponsorship type program where people can sponsor individual girls and follow as they progress through the process to independence!

If you feel led to be a part of this from the beginning, and help provide a chance at success for some young people that might not get another chance, just ask how!

It's easy....