Love & Hope is never a dull place to be as we are always welcoming new visitors and making new connections. In early November, Augustus “Gus” Harper, an artist from L.A. (www.gusharperart.com), stayed for day, leading the kids through several drawing and painting projects. The older girls especially enjoyed learning to draw faces, as the younger kids did their best to paint not only their canvases, but the terrace floor, too.
A few days later, Gus also joined some of the American volunteers and the older boys for a road trip up the coast, then along the Ruta de Las Flores to Juayuá where we visited Reptilandia, ate pupusas and took a dip below the chorros (waterfalls).
On July 16th, Mark Zimmerman ran the Buckeye Trail 50k to raise money for a new truck. After a long search, we finally found it. This new truck helps us run errands around town, pick up kids from school, go to the market, and make it through some of the rough roads here in El Salvador. Thank you to Mark and everyone who contributed to Love. Hope. Go the Distance.
Once a month Gloria, our Social Worker, organizes a night of fellowship and fun for the kids. Our first night was Costume Night. We were highly impressed by all the creative and ingenious costumes, most of which were made with whatever we had laying around the house in our craft baskets and storage areas. Gloria acted as the evening's MC, while Rachel, Justin and Amanda presided as the judging panel. We gave out prizes for each age group and also for the Tios and Tias.
We had a firefighter and Batman.
A giraffe.
A princess.
A hula girl.
A caveman.
Wednesday from The Addam's Family.
A crazy clown.
Several Harry Potter characters.
Little Red Riding Hood.
And many more.
Our second night was Foreign Food Night. Each room was assigned a different place (China, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Africa) and prepared traditional food as well as a short presentation. Of course, there were more costumes as well.
"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1
On July 16th, 2011 Mark Zimmerman ran the Buckeye Trail 50k as part of his Love. Hope. Go the Distance. campaign for Love & Hope Children's Home. His goal was to raise $10,000 to replace our aging Toyota T200 pickup truck. He not only completed the race, but raised 107% of his goal: $10,736.03. He went the distance. And then some. Mark raised $214.72 with every kilometer he traveled.
During the race Mark kept us up to date on his progress as he passed through the various aide stations. He'd quickly grab his phone and tap out some short messages so we could follow his journey.
04:59 AM: 0mi. Oak Grove... it's time.
06:27 AM: 6mi. Snowville rd. Feel good. Pace good.
07:44 AM: 11.5mi. Boston store. Pace good. Feel good. Lotsa fans! :)
09:02 AM:
15.6mi. Pine lane ...turnaround ...pace down legs rubber
10:13 AM: 19.7mi. Boston store 2x hanging in... hanging on... thanks jim
02:53 PM: 8hr. 42min. Been there, done that, got the tech shirt & the medal. All I want now is the 100+%! Thanks for the prayers! Thank you fans! Thank you Jim & Gary! I will be out to cheer for you next time...blessings.
You can read more about Mark's preparation and journey here:
Many of you know Mark Zimmerman as the host of WCRF's Morning Program. Down here we know him as Señor Marcos, or Papa de Tia Kirsten (Auntie Kirsten's Dad!). On July 16th, he will be known as a finisher of the Buckeye Trail 50k. Mark is going to traverse 50 kilometers of the rooted, rutted and beautiful trails of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park as part of his Love. Hope. Go the Distance. fundraiser to replace our ailing and aging pickup truck. He's set his goal at $10,000 and he's almost halfway there! Join his team. Spread the word.
We recently had the opportunity for a team from YWAM to come and spend a few days working with us at the home. They trained at the YWAM base in Belize and were in El Salvador for a few months of out-reach work and offered to help us with whatever we needed.
They spent two mornings supervising the kids while we did staff training, and then tackled the task of cleaning up our yard (which was in definite need of some love) and planting a garden.
They also joined us for a climb down the volcano, El Boqueron, on Mother's Day.
At the bottom are a bunch of rocks that have been painted white. Climbers often rearrange them to say different things. We write wrote, "We Love Mami" in honor of Mother's Day.
And finally, they helped us paint the house of Pastor Luis and his family. A previous visitor had donated the funds for paint and supplies, so the YWAM team made it happen. All in one day!
Last week was Semana Santa (Holy week), and the kids were busy with a variety of activities from making chicks, bunnies, eggs, and crosses, to learning about how the colors of jelly beans represent Jesus, making "Jesus has Risen" muffins, and eating lots of candy!
We had a coloring contest...
Our friends at Casa de Mi Padre (My Father's House) have a wonderful piece of property where we had a Easter Egg Hunt...
And made a homemade slip and slide!
The kids made two kinds of eggs for Easter. First, American style by coloring hard boiled eggs with crayons and dipping them into a variety of colored dyes. The only difference is white eggs are hard to find in El Salvador, so the colors weren't as bright as normal.
Then, Salvadoran style: cascarones, which is a Spanish tradition of decorating hallowed out eggs and filling them with confetti. On Easter morning the kids took their decorated eggs and broke them over each other's heads.
On Good Friday, a tradition in El Salvador is to make Alfombras or "rugs" on the streets with colored salt or sawdust. For Salvadorans, it is a gift, an offering they are making for Jesus. The children went out on Good Friday to look at the Alfombras lining the streets in the neighborhood.
Afterwards, the kids came home and made their own miniture alfombras in front of the house.
The night before Easter all the kids gathered in the Kitchen to make "Easter Cookies" and the older kids watched the Passion of Christ to remind us of what Jesus did for us and the reason we celebrate Easter.
Finally, Easter morning the kids woke to a traditional Salvadoran breakfast of Torrejas, which is the Spanish version of French Toast. They then searched the house for their easter baskets.
Long-term missionary and interim Director Kelly Moore shares today's story.
I am reading an autobiography of George Müller, a German preacher from early 1800s that ran an orphanage in England. He lived without an income, relying solely on God to nudge the hearts of others to give, and his autobiography dates all the answered prayers and provision. It's simply amazing to see the simplicity of his faith. He believed that by not telling others the needs of the ministry He would be able to know that each answered prayer was from God alone. He prayed, he believed, he practiced integrity and God provided. God challenged him more and more by giving just in time or even a few days past worldly deadlines, but He always provided. He called many to a new level of faith and trust in God by being involved in ministry.
I want to be more like George Müller because of his childlike faith and how he recorded all of the stories of provision. The more I think about being more like him, the more I realize I have stories just like his to tell. Stories of how God has provided here at this home time and time again. Maybe I have not recognized them or have not made a big enough deal out of them, but they have happened. And I want to say that my faith has increased and I watch and believe more and more that God will always provide for his children, especially orphans.
Being more like George means getting up a LOT earlier... he believes that one should have 6-7 hours of sleep and rise as soon as you first open your eyes and realize you are awake, not allowing yourself to sleep another minute, because you were bought by the precious blood of Christ and you should not waste another minute of your life. This will give one enough time for prayer in the early morn. He also doesn't believe that the needs of the ministry should be told but to rely on God to place those needs on the hearts of others. It's not a concept I'm familiar with because many people ask us what we need and we have lists of things that we can pass out. He also left dated entries of the many times he prayed for needs and received them so I think I'll start with that.
February 14th. A woman named Alma brought a cake to the home for the kids on Valentine's Day. We met this woman a month ago when she brought groceries to our home. Since that day we have been able to cut our grocery bill 50% saving hundreds of dollars. Today we gave her a photo of all the kids with little hearts as a small token of gratitude. She asked for a list of birthdays and when she realized that one of our children will turn 15, the coming of age for a latin girl, she offered to do all the girls hair and make up for her quinceanera party! We never had to ask her for a thing, God just warmed her heart to want to give. God keeps providing for us in numerous ways through the generosity of so many people. Glory!
February 28th. Alma sent a trunk load of clothing donations and toys. The clothes were so nice and we were able to switch out old and worn out clothes for many kids. The toys have been a huge blessing! We keep them in a toy box and bring them out when everyone wants to play. The kids are entertained for hours with these new toys.
March 11th. Every 15 days we receive a wire transfer from our non-profit organization in the US. They channel the funds they receive to us in order to pay our expenses such as salaries, utilities, groceries, gas, etc. The past two transfers have been half of what our expenses are. After paying our bills with the money from Thursday, we will not have enough to pay salaries on Tuesday. In November I blogged about how I got so worried about expenses but over the past few months I have practiced a different attitude....a faith like George Müller. On Friday morning I climbed up to the Puerta del Diablo and had a conversation with God. I told him, with a smile on my face, that I knew he would work things out and I was going to sit back and wait to see who he used and how he was going to provide for this ministry. I have felt peace through these past few transfers knowing that no matter what we receive, God will always provide. Well, a day later, the team that was staying with us decided to give an incredibly generous donation. One that included enough money to pay our wages for Tuesday and supply groceries, gas and other daily expenses for the following week. They also designated funds for Rachel and the missionaries. It was so nice for them to think of us!!! I never cease to be amazed by how God works out his plan. I love telling his stories. It would bring more stability if I knew we'd always get our needed amount in transfers but for now, the not-knowing and leaving it up to God to supplement the difference is just so satisfying, sweet and a wild ride. I'll take that. He.is.for.real!
March 24th. Today my heart is melted. I am watching the hand of God move and it makes me melt. For the last few weeks I have been praying with our kids during our morning devotionals about our finances. We pray that God would touch the hearts of others and that those hearts would respond to His calling. We also thank Him in advance for His provision. Last weekend our friend Alma brought groceries which were enough to last us 6 days of food. Today (on our last day of food) another group "El Camino" came with groceries and much more! Not only brought groceries but they also brought take-out pizza for lunch, clowns, skits, dramas, games, gifts, pinatas and prayer time. They stayed for hours playing, encouraging and teaching the kids. The coolest part was hearing a child remark, "Look! This is answer to prayer!" I am so grateful to God to watch Him be so faithful to His children as we experience a huge decline in our funds but so many rich stories that increase our faith.
God is completely holding this home together and providing for our every need. A few days ago, we were also blessed by a donation from the Obama campaign when they decided to leave El Salvador a few hours early and gave away their lunch to local children's homes. God used even the President of the United States to show us how he provides.
April 1st. No joke! One of the twins came bustling down the steps after school today bent over with a huge garbage bag of clothing (as if he were Santa!). A classmate's mother was moved to donate them to our home. The group who visited us last week stopped by again and today they dropped off some of the load that they couldn't fit in their car last week, about 20 boxes of cereal, several pairs of shoes and a monetary donation. Rachel and I jumped up and down after they left. And then we decided we should have done that in front of them :). They said they want to come again in April. Wow!!! Friends of mine who personally sponsor me caught wind of our need and rallied family and friends to give. A friend of theirs named Andrew, not even someone I know, started gathering donations and collected about $300 for us. I feel joy, trust and love when I see God use the body of Christ to be the hands and feet of His ministry.
So I urge you, to ask God how He is speaking to you? Is he nudging you to act out in faith somehow, someway? In my human efforts, I could carry on a marketing campaign to encourage the whole world to sponsor a child at Love and Hope Children's Home. However, I can best pour my efforts into prayer and watch myself, the children here and others who give grow in their love, faith and trust in Jesus Christ. So when asked, "what's on your needs list?" I like to respond, "Spend time in prayer asking God how He might use you." And then we see incredible answers!
Here at Love & Hope Children's home it seems we are always celebrating birthdays. It's a privilege to see so many kids experience the excitement of a new year and watch them grow. This past Saturday we celebrated a very special birthday for one of our girls, and our very first Quinceañera. A Quinceañera is a special "coming of age" celebration for girls in Latin America that marks their 15th birthday. It might be most closely associated with a "Sweet Sixteen" in the United States. The Quinceañera celebration is a fancy affair akin to a wedding reception, and contains a brief sermon, a court of close friends chosen by the birthday girl, and a dinner. It's an event that every young girl looks forward to here in El Salvador.
It was a full and exciting day. We'd like to thank everyone who helped out by sending donations, supplies and gifts for the party. Here are just a few pictures we'd like to share with you. We'll have a full slideshow up soon.
For the past six years Ohio Wesleyan University has sponsored a Spring Break trip to our home. Each year they come full of enthusiasm and excitement, ready for all that awaits them in El Salvador. This year was no exception. They painted rooms, cleaned up a local landmark, cooked meals, helped with homework, played soccer with the kids, served a meal in the community, sponsored a night at Pizza Hut, and generally shared a lot of love. Thanks, OWU! You nailed it.
