When I mess-up, I tend to mess-up big. Case in point, in my last blog I wrote about moving Jan and his family to our town from Guastatoya so that his mom, Claudia, could work in our group home. Now, a mere nine days later, we are planning to move them back to Guastatoya. It only took a few days for us to figure out that she was not a good fit for the work we needed her to do. That, combined with a few other frustrations, has caused us to make the decision to end our working relationship with her and move her and her family back to Guastatoya. I will not go into the details why, out of respect for privacy, but will just say that we feel that there is no other option.
I can honestly say that I made the original decision with the best of intentions. We really wanted to help Claudia and her family out of a difficult situation. Working in our home would have freed her to be employed and bring Jan with her, thus providing a steady income for their family. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. However, I realize now that I made the decision too quickly without taking time to pray and seek God’s guidance. I should know better by now, but I blew it big time. And it has now blow-up in my face. I accept full responsibility for this.
Yesterday, when I made the decision to let her go, I really struggled with the money that had been wasted on the entire process. When all is said and done, we will have spent nearly $600 on moving her down, getting her settled and then moving her back north again. As someone who works with families in incredible need, I cringe at the wasting of resources. In addition, I feel a personal responsibility to those who financially support this ministry. I take that responsibility seriously, knowing that many of you sacrifice each month to support this ministry. That is why Wanda and I have talked and decided that we will personally reimburse the ministry for these expenses. The decision was mine, so the consequences of that bad decision should rest on me, not on the financial supporters of this ministry.
On the bright side, we have contacted Aura who, until recently, worked for us one day each week doing cleaning. She left us because she was offered a full-time job in Guatemala City and needed to better provide for her family. However, this new job requires her to live in the city and only come home to be with her girls every other weekend. She had been a faithful and dependable worker for us who went above and beyond in doing any task we asked of her, and we were sad to see her go. So, when we realized that Claudia would not work out, we immediately contacted Aura and offered her full-time work. She will be heading back home to be with her daughters, praise God! She will begin working for us full time at the end of this week. We already know that she will be a good fit for our home, because she fit so well before. We are glad to have her as a part of our growing team.
The reason why staffing is so important is because we just received word yesterday that we should be receiving the licensing for our group home in the next two or three weeks!!! After two-and-a-half years of working toward this goal, it is about to become reality. Our social worker, Edy Tum, will be coming on staff on May 15 to meet the final requirement for opening our home. We will then be hosting a reception for Guatemalan judges who are responsible for placing children. We want them to see that we are a good facility that is a safe place for placing children with special needs. By mid-June we should be receiving children, praise God!
Please pray with us for God’s provision. As I have already mentioned, the operating expenses for our ministry will increase by nearly $1000 a month on the day we receive our license. We are confident of God’s provision, but we seek Him in prayer and ask you to do the same.
Meanwhile, our ministry to children outside our home continues. Yesterday we took Rufino to his appointment with a dermatologist in Guatemala City. You might recall that he is 23 years old and has a horrible skin condition that affects his entire body. He is also cognitively delayed and has twisted joints in his fingers and toes. I am very happy that we found an excellent doctor to treat him who is kind, patient and thorough. He is also a very accomplished doctor who leads seminars in the US. That made it all the more surprising when he announced that he had never encountered a syndrome like what Rufino has. He has asked for time to do some research and consult with other doctors. Meanwhile, he prescribed eye drops for a nasty eye infection along with a special cream to hydrate the skin.
He also told us that due to the rareness of the condition he could likely arrange for free treatment at a research hospital. He informed us, though, that he wants to proceed slowly to make sure that we do what is best for Rufino. He does not want to traumatize him with a hospital stay unless it is absolutely necessary.
Last week we were once again in San Pablo La Laguna. Each month our ministry there grows. We seem to be encountering a high percentage of seizure disorders in that region, and I have to wonder if there is some kind of environmental factor that is contributing to this high occurrence rate. We are arranging to have both Marta Delores (age 6) and Billy (age 14) come into Antigua for a neurological assessment. Unfortunately, the earliest we could arrange appointments were in July.
We also found a little guy name Michael. He is 3 years old and has Down Syndrome. His mother is 19 years old had has been abandoned by both Michael’s father and her parents. She lives alone and had no food in the house. The two of them sleep on the floor as they have no bed. She takes him for free physical therapy at a local school, but the chicken bus costs her Q100 each month to do so. Due to poverty, Michael is struggling with gaining weight as he should. He is currently unable to walk, but we hope to provide him with a walker to assist his development. We left them a box of Kids Against Hunger Food and promised more assistance by the end of this month. We need to find a sponsor to cover a food basket, and the cost of their chicken bus to and from therapy. The monthly cost would be $40 for all of this. We would also love to find a sponsor who would provide a bed and mattress for $100.00. If you feel led by God to help, please contact me at daryl@hopeforhome.org.
I have more than my share of screw-ups and failures, but God’s grace continues to cover both this ministry and me. This simply shows that He is the source of all good things, not me. (Thank you, God!) Because of that, I can breath a sigh of relief while shaking my head at my own mistakes.
That is all for now! Blessings from San Antonio Aguas Calientes!
Daryl
