I rarely do a blog update two days in a row, but since I used the entire entry yesterday to share about our trip to Mexico and God’s protection, I thought I should take some time today to catch you up on our ministry. There are so many opportunities that are presenting themselves in the form of needs that we are a little overwhelmed. At the same time, we are blown away as we see God expanding our ministry.
On Sunday afternoon our family took a cake over to Marcos Antonio’s house to celebrate his 14th birthday. We had a great time with Marcos, his mother, Maura, and a good friend of their family. I could never understand their friend’s name, but she was the life of the party. This elderly lady with long, gray braids had an infectious laugh as she tried to pronounce our English names. By the end of the day, we had decided that we wanted to adopt her as our honorary grandma.
The time we spent with them meant so much to Maura. She is a lifelong single lady who adopted Marcos shortly after his birth. Her family does not help her, and she is very much alone. As a result, we have come to understand that one of our primary ministries is to simply be there for her. She needs friends, and we are called to be those friends to her.
That is actually the case for most of the families with which we work. Due to some of the misconceptions regarding special needs, many families of children with disabilities find themselves isolated. Often extended family members will distance themselves, leaving the immediate family alone. In some cases, even spouses will leave, abandoning their partner to single parenthood of a child with significant challenges. Our role is to not only provide resources, but to BE the much needed resources of love, support and encouragement.
This morning I received a call telling me that Jorge and his family were in Antigua for a doctor appointment, and the wheel on his wheelchair was loose. (You may recall that Jorge is from La Gomera and we provided a chair for him about two months ago. We now have a sponsor for his family to provide medicine and food.) I grabbed my tools and headed to the hospital to meet them. Once I finally tracked them down, I realized he needed a new wheel, so I headed to Hope Haven where I was able to get what I needed and repair the chair.
In the process, Jorge’s family connected me with a young man from Esquintla named Yubini. He is 11 years old and has a seizure disorder that has been a severe hardship on him and his family. He regularly has seizures which can make him unable to walk for extended periods. As a result, he needs a wheelchair, but his family is unable to afford one. I measured him for a chair, but we need a sponsor to cover the $90 one-time cost of a basic chair. Would you prayerfully consider providing this fee? If you are interested, you can e-mail me at daryl@hopeforhome.org.
At the same time, I am also searching for a sponsor for a new wheelchair for Henri. He is from Las Palmas and has severe CP. Dick seated him in a chair that some friends of ours donated almost two years ago, but he has now outgrown the chair and it has worn out. The lower elevation at which he lives has high humidity which is very hard on chairs. His chair demands are more significant than Yubini as he needs lateral and head supports. I would like to put him in a chair that has reclining ability, but in order to do that we need a donation of $190. Would you consider providing that?
I don’t like asking for money. In fact, you very rarely see me seeking funds for our ministry. However, these gifts are not for Hope for Home or Hogar de la Esperanza, they are for children in need. Every penny of these donations will go directly to providing the chair each child needs, and no portion of the funds will be used for anything else. This is the policy we have for all sponsorship provided for children, whether one-time gifts or monthly support. So, please seek the Lord about helping with these needs.
While dealing with all of these opportunities, another opportunity came knocking on our door. (Relax, we already have a sponsor for this child!) Last week, a lady name Francisca came to our house seeking help for her child, Alex. Alex is 15 years old, but you would think he was only 3 or 4 by looking at him. I am not sure, but I believe he has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) which has caused him to be extremely small with an aged face and cognitive delays. He is a charming little guy with a bright smile.
After talking with his mother, I realized that he had not been to a doctor for years, so I paid for him to visit our family physician. The doctor determined that he is overall healthy, but in need of extra nourishment. Specifically, he needs more food and some vitamin supplements. We are already providing the vitamins, and we now have a sponsor to provide food and medicine each month.
As you can see, opportunities abound. The family support we are providing through our village ministry is a full-time job. I confess that I am tired and that some of my other responsibilities are suffering. We need more help.
We are in the process of working with a couple of families that are considering joining us in ministry here. There are a few major needs that we have, and I would appreciate your intercession for these needs:
- We need workers and additional vehicles for our 4-wheel drive ministry. Each trip yields more families in need, and there is not enough hours in my day to address them all.
- We need a good mechanic who can address the maintenance and repair issues on our vehicles.
- And I need a secretary/administrative assistant to take care of the office work that consumes so much of my time.
Would you please join us in praying that God would raise of people to assist us in this work? The pay isn’t great (these workers have to raise their own support) but the fringe benefits are awesome, both in this life and the next!
Thanks! Good afternoon from Guatemala!
Daryl, Wanda, and the Crew
