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Monday, March 30, 2015

ReMoved

I  was captivated by this film that we saw the other day at a workshop that was held by the government agency that oversees the different hogars in Guatemala. I was able to grasp just a little bit more as to why the children at the orphanage act the way they do. Sometimes their misbehavior is because of the turmoil that's inside of them. I did not see or experience what they have seen or experienced. My heart has been so overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. I don't know how to help. All I have been doing is praying and asking God to help me to love them through their actions and defiance.

I hope that this video can also help you the way it has helped me; to see the children here in the hogar a little differently and a bit more of compassion.


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

EDUSI - Helping others out of poverty

Living here in Guatemala I have had the amazing opportunity to meet so many people who truly capture the essence of love. I'm not talking about the emotional love that people first think about, I'm talking about the verb, the action of love. Mathew 22 says that we must love our neighbor the way we love ourselves.


I met Professor Erik when I came to Guatemala. He works at a nearby private Christian school. He has a mission that God has given him and that is to help the women of the small town of Santo Tomas to get out of the cycle of poverty. How does he do this? by providing education, healthcare and job training. The most amazing part of this is that the word of God is being preached.




Once a month there are workshops that are held in the community hall of Santo Tomas. Erik organizes them and looks for speakers who will present a specific topic to inspire the women. There are over 70 women who regularly attend the workshops.

Recently, Erik was being charged a fee to use the community hall and he also had to rent chairs. After a lot of prayer he was able to use a house in town. He recently renovated it and he is getting it ready for the next meeting with the women. There's one small problem; since he is renting the house he needed to figure out a way to have chairs donated instead of renting them each time. Since the house is smaller that the community hall he will need to split up the women into groups depending on the area whee they live and host the workshops 3-4 times a week.


I have a friend in California whom I met when I would sell jewelry at events. She is a super talented person. When she heard that we were in need of chairs for the meetings she decided to do a fundraiser to help us out. She made three different style bracelets and for each one she sells she is going to donate $2 to our cause. This is amazing because I believe that God will bless it. If you are interested, CLICK HERE for her virtual store.