In spite of this rough beginning, she has bright eyes and is a content child. She stole all of our hearts from the beginning and we love having her in our home.
She has a long road ahead as we try to nurse her back to health and help her gain weight. She is on a diet that requires a special formula every three hours and several vitamins and supplements. Please pray for her in the days ahead.
Yesterday as I was completing the stack of paperwork that comes with receiving a new child, I looked back through my records and came to a sober realization. Since our home has opened we have said “Yes” to 11 children (the 10 who are in our home and Esperanza who passed away in January). During that same time, we received 96 calls for placements. So, for every child to whom we have said “Yes” there have been about 8 children to whom we said “No”. That hard number shook me…badly.
Each of these children is not a statistic, but a real life that we have turned away from our home. There were reasons why we said “No”, and I am not saying we made the wrong decision. I honestly believe we have done the best we could at hearing God’s voice when deciding. But that doesn’t take away the sting of wondering where each of those 85 children are now.
We are surrounded by needs, and as the word of our ministry continues to spread, the number of people seeking help increases. There are very few days in which we do not receive a new request for help or to accept another child.
These types of situations are the hardest things I have ever faced. To be confronted with a child in need of a home, knowing that we have the skills, experience and care he needs, but knowing that our staff and finances are stretched to the max. Do we open our home to one more? And one more? And one more? At what point to we overstretch ourselves and cease to provide the quality care and individual affection that each child needs? If we grow too large, won’t we become like the places to which we hoped to offer an alternative?
Still, it is hard to say that little two letter word… “No.”
As I walked back out of Hermano Pedro, I passed lots of people waiting to see doctors. Many of them had special needs. I want to confess something, to my shame. I walked out with my head down, not looking to the left or the right. I didn’t want to see the need. I didn’t want to see the parents carrying older children because they could not afford a wheelchair. I didn’t want to see the broken wheelchairs or makeshift crutches. I didn’t want to see the twisted limbs or the seizuring children. If I did, I knew I would need to do something, and I just felt overwhelmed.
Then, this afternoon, I ran into a man that I met two weeks ago. I first met him as he was going door to door looking for work. He was carrying with him his paperwork, including references from past employers and his background checks which showed no criminal activity. He asked me if we had work available, and when I told him that we did not, he began to cry (something you rarely see from men in this culture). He told me that he had a six year old son with special needs and he had been laid off two months prior. I told him we would arrange to come out and visit to see what we could do to help, but in the business of the last two weeks it had been pushed aside until a later date.
Then today I went up to out town’s health clinic to receive my final rabies shot following my run-in with the stray dog last month. As I was leaving the clinic I heard someone yell my name. I turned and found this father, Manuel, running toward me. He asked me if I had any work available now, and I told him I did not. He explained that he was out again and looking for any small jobs he could do to earn enough money to feed his family for the day. He once again started to cry and it suddenly hit me how desperate this man was. (I know. I’m an idiot for not being aware much sooner.)
I brought him back to our house and we fed him lunch. While he ate, he explained that he did not know what to do. He had been able to find a few small jobs that paid a dollar or two, but nothing significant. He also explained that he and his family would be evicted tomorrow unless they could come up with Q.500.00 (about $65 rent). He told us, through tears, that they had no food or money and that he felt like a failure as a husband and father. His wife had just told him this morning that she didn’t want to live any longer.
His son, Manuel, is indeed deaf and is unable to speak. Both he and his sister were well behaved and the parents were loving. But their situation was desperate.
So, we have committed to help long-term and are trusting God for His provision. If you would like to help by sponsoring the following, please let me know at daryl@hopeforhome.org:
New hearing aid molds – $35.00 one time
Food and hearing aid batteries – $42.00 each month
Rent – $65.00 a month until we can help Manuel Sr. find work
You can visit Manuel’s sponsorship page at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uUa_-hGGFBdyLA2lgO2k9m4PLlkk3YDsrIyAHiDbAKk/edit?usp=sharing
Or, you can see all the children awaiting sponsorship by visiting: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6aLp2H6ERsfQllkeldhMzBSdFU&usp=sharing
Would you please pray for me? I truly need God’s help so that I don’t look away from the need. I also need His help so that I don’t look at finances when deciding whether or not to accept a child into our home or when deciding to help a family. I am weak and foolish and need to look to my Jesus who is both strong and wise. Sometimes I forget that.
On a brighter note, in about 3 hours our family will be heading to the airport to pick up Brittney, who has been in the States for the last five months! She has now completed her student teaching requirements and all the required work to receive her double degree in Elementary Education and Special Education. We are so proud of her, and even more excited to see her again!
That is all for now! Blessings from Guatemala!
Daryl, Wanda and the Crew
