Back in La Ceiba!

The Lord is just funny sometimes in the way that He works things out.  One the biggest lessons of the past six months for me has been learning that success and failure are often opposite in the kingdom of God.  Things that seem like failure are so clearly a part of His bigger plan to work in hearts and draw people to Himself.  And this week we have seen that in the lives of Yajaira and Juli!

You may remember that in November Yajaira left PDE to go and live with her mom in Roatan.  It was so hard for us to see her go since they have lived with us for two years and we were all the family that Juli had ever known.  But since she was not 18, we had no choice but to release her to her family... and we prayed so hard for God to use her time with them to reconcile some deep heart wounds that she has had for most of her life.

God used her time with her family to get her attention like never before.  After two years of using her mom as an "out" whenever things would get tough.  "Its okay, kick me out, I'll just tell my mom to come get me." She learned that sometimes it is better to stick it out and learn to live with the people you are with because wherever you are it is hard to live with other sinners!  Things there were not a walk in the park either.

She also clung hard to the things she learned at PDE... it was hard to watch other people watch her daughter while she went to work every day knowing that they used bad language and yelled and didn't treat her well at times.  She would call telling me how much her heart hurt for Juli and how thankful she was for how she had grown up at PDE.  She understands more and more the necessity of good, Godly discipline and the need to show her daughter how much she loves her.

But most importantly she remembered what she learned about Jesus.  She called me one day and asked me to help her find a new church.  After two years of fighting with me over the doctrine at the church we attend she went back to the kind of church she grew up in and couldn't stay there because the guilt and shame of the works-based Gospel was just too much.  So she clung to grace and to the truth of the Bible that we had studied.  She was able to verbalize that what she was hearing taught is not what we had read together in Scripture and she wanted to believe what the Bible says!  Praise the Lord!

Then she turned 18! :)  She is not at odds with her family, I think her time with them was so necessary and that they will continue to be in touch and have visits together.  But as a full-grown adult she decided to move back to La Ceiba, continue working in the Salon where she is growing in her field, and go back to attending the same church we attend.

I love this ministry so much because it allows us to become family for these girls.  We were able to help her find an apartment/room to rent at my mother-in-law's house.  She is paying my sister-in-law to watch Juli while she works.  And she is learning to be independent!  We helped her get set up and she also has her savings she saved up while at PDE.  She is all set!  And Lesther's family is being wonderful helping in her real world transition... independent, while being surrounded by a family who is not going to let you fall on your face too hard :)

Juli is going to start preschool with us tomorrow and get to see her brother W and her Abuela Oneyda at least twice a week.  And she is SO excited.  She and W danced around the room together when they saw each other again for the first time!

Join us in praising the Lord for what He is doing in the lives of these two precious girls.  And pray that He will sustain Yajaira as she learns to be independent and live on her own while trying to follow Him.

Just a little beach fun

On Wednesday Ahnalies and I headed out of town to go visit V and we took K with us.  The good news?  I think they are going to be friends :)  They just hit it off and played together like little kids.  They swam and played in the sand and chatted away about where they are from.  They made fun of me and Ahnalies and talked about baby names.  It was just a sweet time... 

V is doing so much better.  She is adjusting and learning to live the quite life in the pueblo.  We are still trying to get her school papers together and help her finish out her 9th grade year before the baby is born in July.  And we are hoping to find out in the next few weeks if she is having a boy or a girl!  Either way she already has cute names picked out :)  She is reading through all of the Narnia books and I just took her a new Billy Graham book that one of our teams brought down that is a clear Gospel presentation.  She still would say she is not a believer, but is curious enough to read whatever books I put in her hands!  So... keep praying!

Friday she gets to see her family for a visit and she is so excited, but a little anxious that it is going to make it even harder to be away from them.  So tomorrow afternoon say a prayer for V that God will put a peace in her heart that HE is home and she needs only to run to HIM.

Preschool

About a month ago we started preschool for these little cuties!

Between the moms and beloved interns we take turns teaching in English twice a week.  The boys are really enjoying it and it just makes me laugh that we ended up with all 2 and 3 year old boys!  But that means we can do fun things like racetrack letters and there is no little girl asking why she is playing with cars.

W has been a little sad since J left since she had been basically his sister and playmate as long as he can remember.  So this gives him a welcome change in his routine to spend time with other kids his age and work on his English.  He is hilarious because he just copies everything the other boys are saying even when he has no idea what it means.  The other day they kept telling me what colors they wanted while using crayons...

"I want yellow, I want red, ..."  So W all morning just kept saying, "I want, I want, I want..."  but never followed it up with wanted anything... just practicing I guess :)

And my mama's heart is so thankful for this time for my little Andres that really needs the social interaction and learning time.  He loves puzzles, books, and anything else that is a learning tool!  He eats it up and I am so thankful!

Nan in a magazine!

NETWORK W14 Funraising by ssinnes

Update on V

Here's a little picture of why life in La Ceiba in so beautiful :)  

The home where V is currently staying is near the beach outside of town so last time we went to visit we were able to go down and take some of the older girls swimming.  I chilled out on a hammock and just got to watch them run around and play and swim like little kids!  It brought such joy to my heart to see her smiling and laughing and bonding with the other girls.

It has not been the easiest transition.  She misses her mom and sister and has been forced into a major life change.  She has had a hard time adjusting to the home where the other girls are all in school and have more to do than she does.  It is a slow pace of life in a safe place and after living in a dangerous environment, it is a peaceful change, but takes some getting time to adjust.  

I talked to the missionary who is with her last night and he said she seems to be doing much better.  She is making jewelry and swimming and hanging out with the other girls there just resting and growing a baby :)

She had an ultrasound and everything looks great!  The baby is healthy and growing and due on July 8th!  We could not be more excited to have a newborn coming to PDE!

Please continue to pray for her as she is surrounded by people who love Jesus.  Pray for her to understand her need for a Savior and come to know the Lord.  Pray for us as we go often to visit, that our conversations would be Christ-centered and show her more of the Lord every time.  And pray that God would be preparing her heart for yet another transition in July when she will come to live with us!

New life

If you know me you know there is little in this world that I love more than holding a newborn baby.  I could seriously snuggle a newborn all day long!  So I was so excited when Glenis called me this week to let me know her baby had come.

You may remember that Glenis used to live with us in PDE and is now out on her own living with her boyfriend and his family.  Her life is far from easy, but I am so thankful that she has fought hard to be healthy for her new little one and the past two days when I have gone to see her she has had this smile plastered on her face.  She is so full of joy over this new little life!

We have gone through so much with Glenis and will always consider her part of our PDE family.  Today I was even able to take our house moms over to visit with her, they hadn't seen her in awhile, but were so happy to see her smiling and joyful.  And she was thrilled to see Doña Oneyda, who has been a mother figure for her.

Truth is that it has been rough going and there have been times when I have been unable to go see Glenis for various reasons... but God is always in control and His plans are always bigger and better.  I am so thankful that in this moment I can go see her, hold her new little boy, pray with and for her, talk to her about Jesus, and continue to remind her that she is loved by us and by the Lord.

Pray with me for this little boy and his mom.  Please pray that she will stay healthy and able to be a really good mom for him.  Pray for her to really know and walk with Jesus and pray that for her boyfriend as well!

New Girl!

I am so excited to be able to introduce to you V.  She is 16, pregnant, and the newest of our girls at PDE :)  Due to her history and situation, I can't show you a picture of her, but she is beautiful and sweet.  

For me this has been one of the most heart-wrenching stories of girls that I have met and I'm just so thankful that the Lord brought her to us.  She comes from loving family, from all outward appearances.  She is really close with her mom and sister and they cried their eyes out saying goodbye.  They have one brother that was working driving buses to support all 6 of them (two younger siblings).  But he recently gave up his job because of the instability of the neighborhoods he had to drive through... so they have no income.  V was unable with this pregnancy to stay in her current neighborhood, it just wasn't safe.  So God used some of our teammates to connect her to me and now she is one of ours!

For the duration of her pregnancy she is out of town at a different home where she can receive health care and we can go visit and get to know her better.  But as soon as the baby is born in June or July she'll be back :)

Please pray for this new girl and her unborn little one.  She has told me that she is not a Christian, but is willing to listen and learn about Jesus.  Pray that she will come to know HIM as Lord and Savior and also a sweet refuge for her soul.