Family

Man I’m behind on the blogging thing.  I’ve had just a few things going on, but I’m going to try to get better!  Since getting married and trying to learn how to be a mom, the thing that has had to go is the computer.  And I don’t really miss it all that much.  But at the same time, I love so far from so many people that I love and I don’t want to give up the chance to keep in touch as well as I can.

I wanted to take a chance to introduce my new family :)  Maybe I’ll also get around to a wedding post one of these days.  But just know that it was great!

Lesther…

This is a rare moment to catch him smiling in a picture :)  But he smiles a lot in real life.  He has a great sense of humor, keeps me laughing, and pushes me back to Jesus all the time.  He understands trusting the Lord in a way that I have never had to, is always challenging me to love people well, and wants other people to know Jesus.  He has a servant’s heart and goes above and beyond to take care of the people that he loves.  He has been a huge blessing in my life, and the Lord is also using Him in this ministry.  He gets these girls and their lives and culture and problems so much better than I do and loves getting the chance to talk to them and show them Jesus.

Angel…

I can honestly say that this kid is the funniest 8 year old that I know.  He has a great sense of humor, but doesn’t laugh at himself.  He is patient until someone notices that he is being funny.  He also loves to scare people and will sneak into my room and wait 30 minutes for a chance to scare me.  He loves riding bikes, playing games, swimming and playing soccer.  He has his daddy’s servant heart and will often do little things like get people a chair or get things out of the car without being asked.  He is stubborn when he doesn’t want to do something and we sometimes have a battle of wills.  He knows way more English than he admits to and is memorizing verses and catechisms with Nicolle.  He loves Just Dance on the Wii and doing anything his dad is doing. :)

Nicolle…

This look doesn’t quite sum up the mischief that makes up this 5 year old.  She is a fireball.  She loves to help me with anything and everything.  We cook together, clean together, run errands together.  She loves reading books, coloring, playing games, using her new whiteboard from Aunt Bethany, and wearing pretty dresses.  She is super active and this year learned to ride a bike without training  wheels and swim without a floaty.  She is soaking up English like a sponge and started in bilingual school this year.  She is a little flighty and has a mind of her own… we are working on concentrating and obeying.  She was the first one to really claim me as her mom and has been my constant companion ever since.  She thinks that she is already a mom and wants to hold every baby in sight, even if they are as heavy as she is.  She really is helpful, as helpful as a 5 year old can be :)

Andres…

I can’t even tell you how this little guy warms my heart.  He is slow to get comfortable and accept people and he spends the least time with us.  But last week he started calling me mama and I’ve never been so excited :)  He is obsessed with his brother and sister and spends most of his time just laughing at them.  He loves books and puzzles.  Last week he got a bike and still has no idea how to make it go… but as you can see, he doesn’t care and is just happy to be like his big siblings.  At 2 years old he is learning English and Spanish and will probably end up speaking the best of all of them.  He loves to cuddle and makes me so happy when he falls asleep on my lap.  He is in love with his daddy and just cannot get enough time with him.  He follows Lesther around not wanting to miss a thing.

Tears

Today we started praying at dinner and when it got to my turn I just started crying.  It has been a heavy day.  The hardest part being here for me and trying to do what God has asked me to do is knowing how to help when people just don’t want or know how to receive it.  And I hate watching kids suffer for their parents poor choices.  But then you have to remember… that parent was once a kid suffering for their parent’s poor choices… and the cycle continues.

A girl that we have been interviewing for PDE has a 3 week old baby.  I love her.  I could cuddle her all day and never give her back.  She really is a little bundle of joy who got a cold.  No big deal, if you’re 5… when you’ve only been in the world for 3 weeks a cold needs a little more attention.  Monday we went to see Doctor Roger who works with Erin, is a pediatrician, and is awesome!  And he gave simple, easy to follow, instructions and medication to this 18 year old mom to take her baby home and care for her and avoid the public hospital (which we avoid at all costs).  So home they go… home with the baby’s daddy’s family even though he is not there and the mom only goes out of fear that if she doesn’t do what they want they will somehow take the baby away.

Today I get a call that the baby is worse and we are off to see the doctor again.  She failed at home treatment because there was no treatment… mom gave her tylenol and just decided not to do much else.  So she could be well, but now she needs more care than mom can give her which means PDE or the hospital.  We were ready to take her, but mom just can’t decide.  She is holding on to selfishness and her desires for her own life more than what is best for her baby.  She is clinging to a man who treats her terribly and isn’t even around, but his false promises keep her grasping for one more chance.

She is 18, but she is lost.  Her family, his family… they are “around”, but that means nothing.  They do nothing to support or help her… it was like pulling teeth to find someone to go to the hospital with her.  And in the end, she was calling me for more money…. for this, for that.  And I had to say no.  And I hate that.  But I can’t be your money tree if you don’t actually let me help you.  If you can’t say no to the things that have you trapped, then you’re not ready to see your future.  And that is so hard.

Please pray.  This girl needs Jesus… and strength to choose what is best for she and her daughter.  She needs to be able to see past today or tomorrow and dream for her future.  She needs to know that she can’t do this by herself and open her eyes to see that the people surrounding her can’t help her.  And the hardest part is that I can’t show her any of that, it has to be the Lord.  So tonight I am begging the Lord to use this sickness, her baby’s little life, to bring her to Himself, and to show her her need.

And as I pray, I’m just sad.

Move in Day

Please be praying this afternoon as we move M into Puerta de Esperanza!  She and her daughter S will have a trial month and will not be able to have any contact with their family during that time.  I think this will be hard for M because it seems as though she really respects her mom and likes spending time with her.  But we believe it is important for her adjustment.  One of the hardest things for these girls when they have family is asking them to focus on themselves first so that they will have the ability to help their family more in the future.  There mindset is so present-centered because they have been focused for so long on just today… how will we eat, how will we pay to live here one more month… saving money, investing in education, etc.  just seems like such a foreign concept.  But I believe that M really wants it and will do well with us!

Please be lifting up our other two girls.  They are having a really hard time these days with all the changes.  It is hard for me to see them being sad or insecure… but I have to trust them to the Lord that ultimately they don’t need more one-on-one time with me or more attention… they need Jesus and they need us to push them towards HIM in every way that we can. 

Thank you for being faithful prayer warriors on our behalf!

Opportunity

Campamento! 

Campamento is a retreat/conference that our church puts on once a year the week before Easter.  Kate and I were able to go last year with Caitlin (we miss you Cait!!!) and we really enjoyed it.  The teaching is excellent and it is a great time to join in fellowship with others from the church and just be poured into in a Spiritual sense.  There are kids programs which are basically like VBS and it is just overall a great experience.  It takes place in San Pedro Sula, about 3 hours away, and people come from all the Great Commision churches in Latin America… last year I think 9 countries were represented, so it’s a pretty big deal!

I am writing today asking you to consider sponsoring one of the girls from PDE or from the PDE store to go to Campamento this year.  We took C and Y last year and they still talk about it.  It was a great experience and they learned a lot!  This year we want to take the three girls from PDE plus the three other girls who work at the store.  We feel like God has really extended our ministry to include them and they have visited church and small group with us and we are trying to take advantage of every opportunity for their spiritual growth.  Jennifer will be going as well, and Lesther and I and our kids.  So it is a big cost, but one that we feel is very worthwhile on a spiritual level. 

How can you help?  Please consider sending the money to sponsor one of the girls or us to go to this 4 day conference.

Store girls-
Leili $150
Tania $150
Beti $150

PDE girls and babies-
C and W $175
Y and J $175
M and S $175

Jennifer $150
Shannon and Lesther and family $350

Please let me know if you would like to help by meeting this need!  You can email me at ssinnes@gmail.com.  You can also just make the donation to our account at 92413, but I need to know that you gave and who you would like to sponsor.  Thanks :)

The best surprise

I don’t want to write this post because I honestly don’t know where to start. There are so many things going on in life these days… good, bad, indifferent… but the good news is that in all things the Lord is right there by our side strengthening us and surprising us in the middle of it all. 

In this, the busiest season of life that I may have ever had, I told myself that Puerta de Esperanza was going on skeleton crew.  No new girls, no actively looking for new girls, no changes until I get back from my honeymoon… we just don’t have time for one more thing.

And then the Lord brought us M and her 4 month old daughter S.  She sought us out while we did NOTHING.  For three weeks now she has been eagerly going to church with Jennifer twice a week and taking advantage of every opportunity that we offer her.  She is honest and open and praises God for this new chance in her life to start over.  She flat out told me the first time I met her that she was not a Christian, but was interested in the things of God.  Last week I clearly shared the Gospel with her and she accepted her sin and need for a Savior and understood that it had to be Jesus.  We prayed together and she asked the Lord to change her life.  Wow.  And I was just in the middle of telling God that I didn’t have time for this…  good thing He doesn’t always listen to me.

So she is coming to PDE on Sunday!  We have one more interview scheduled for her with a psychologist friend from church just so that we know her past and where she is coming from on a emotional level.  But assuming all goes well, Sunday afternoon she will make girl #3 in Puerta de Esperanza.  Praise the Lord!!

Please continue to pray for her Spiritual growth and that she will adjust well.  Praise God that she has joined the family of believers!  Pray also for the other girls as this is a lot of change happening all at the same time and they are feeling jealous and having a hard time with it all.  Pray that I would learn to listen to the voice of God and not just my fall prey to my schedule.  Thankfully He pushes me daily outside of my plans and wants :)

New possibilities

Wednesday afternoon the Lord did something totally unexpected.  There is a girl named M who is 23 years old with a 4 month old baby, S.  She lives in La Fe where Mike and Ashley works, but doesn’t really have a relationship with them.  Somehow through other channels she heard about Puerta de Esperanza and is very interested.  She found the store, but the girls wouldn’t give out my phone number.  She kept searching and eventually found out that Lesther is my fiance through someone who met him at church with me.  So by sending someone to his shop for his phone number she called him and eventually found me.  Wow. 

Wednesday afternoon we were at the pool with the team watching the US vs Honduras soccer match when Lesther showed up with her.  It was just really sweet timing because Glenys was also there visiting with Elias.  So after I sat with M for awhile explaining about the house, she was able to ask Glenys questions about what it is really like to live there.  I was so excited to hear G’s answers and know that she really understands why she had to leave, she is not mad at us, and she feels so loved and supported knowing that her baby is being taken care of by the Clows even though he can’t be with her right now.  Then C stopped by so she was able to meet her as well and get a good feel for what things are like.

I will pick her up next Tuesday, meet her family and see where she currently lives, and take her to visit the house.  Please pray for wisdom and discernment for all involved.  We are excited just to see her enthusiasm to see change happen in her life!  She expressed that she does not consider herself a Christian, but is interested in the things of God and would like to go with us to church starting this Sunday!

Y’s Birthday

This weekend was Y’s birthday.  It was actually Saturday, but I had a wedding shower thanks to Kate and Jennifer :)  So on Saturday Y got to have cake and celebrate with the ladies at her salon and then come to a wedding shower.  But Sunday we took off in the afternoon to spend time at the beach with friends and Lesther’s family, whom she loves.  We took the four-wheeler and she got to try to drive for the first time.  We almost crashed into a parked car and I lost some of the skin on my hands, but it was mostly successful and she was having a blast!  We swam and played and lounged on towel and in hammocks.  Some people were monkeys climbing on the bungalows.  And then we had a campfire in the sand.  It had been Jennifer’s dream to have a campfire on the beach so we decided this was the perfect time.  We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had fruit salad and chips and soda and cake and all kinds of goodness that makes up a birthday.  I definitely think that Y felt loved and cared for on her 17th birthday.  This has been a hard year for her.  We celebrated her 16th birthday at the same time that we celebrated the opening of Puerta de Esperanza so it is almost exactly a year that she has been with us.  It has been a year of struggles and tears and successes and fights and battles and wins and learning and so many lessons.  She has learned about Jesus, responsibility, moving forward, and is slowly learning to accept the love of God and then our love for her.  It feels like baby steps sometimes.  But it was sweet to look back and see how God has changed her this year.  I am so thankful for her and the woman that she is becoming!

I also feel the need the explain that poor Ritmo did not ask to be buried in the sand.  And even though I’m not a dog lover, I did not do this to him!  Also our little William had a double ear infection that we didn’t know about yet and helped himself to Lyssa’s towel to put himself down for a nap :)