Eight months ago, I embarked in a new adventure.
I moved to a small town next to Guatemala city (San Lucas Sacatepequez) to coordinate a transition (independence) program called "Casa Ester" run by Kids Alive Guatemala. In other words, I moved in with 5 young ladies who are 18 and up who came from Oasis (Kids Alive Girls Home) to guide them, disciple them, find them jobs, help them finishing school, help them getting a technical degree, and to teach them life skills that will help them transition into adulthood and be able to be fully independent.
This has been quite an adventure, since I moved here 4 out of those 5 girls I had at the beginning have transitioned into moving by themselves (the youngest being 19 and the oldest being 21) and I got another 4 (one of them from a government orphanage) so I'm still at 5 and waiting for a couple more this coming week.
Every single step of the way I've seen God's hand working in these girls lives. I've faced challenges I would have never expected, and I've had really tough times, there are moments of frustration and desperation, but most of all it's been so joyful and rewarding that I usually remember the tough times when someone talks about it because I don't even think about those anymore. There is so much joy in my heart to be able to see God's work in these young ladies lives, and there is so much love in my heart for these girls and there are so many dreams that we now share, that I can totally tell you this is home (even when they don't do their chores and the house is a mess -if you know me you know I'm crazy about having a clean and organized house- ;) ).
If you've known me for a while (and if not, let me tell you), you know that at the beginning of my ministry 5 years ago (oh yea, in a couple of weeks I'll be celebrating 5 years of ministry) I've had it in my heart to help 18+ y/o girls, specially the ones who have been in the system (orphanages, foster homes, etc.) because most programs are focused on younger kids and when they get to be 18 they have little or no way to help them. I wanted to do this since I became a missionary, but God's plans are way better than ours, and He took His time training and equipping me to be as ready as I could be for this adventure.
Last year was a year of transitions and new beginnings for me and, while transitioning and praying on what to do next, a dear friend of mine from Chicago asked me if she could give my contact information to the Director of Kids Alive Guatemala. She explained they were looking for someone who could lead their transition program, and since she knew I was "busy" with other mission work she wondered if I could meet with him and maybe think about someone else who could lead that program. I had already met Corbey Dukes, Director of Kids Alive Guatemala, and I had already visited Oasis a couple of times, and was (and still am) in love with their families together program and other programs, so I knew it was a good thing to partner with them to find someone who could help them. After our first meeting it just hit me, it was what I was called to do. That's it. And Corbey was just as surprised as I was (he was expecting to get a name or two to contact people to see if they could do it, but I just said "I'm in").
I am never gonna get used to the way God works in my life, how He is truly in control of everything, and that's definitely good (specially since I used to be a little bit of a control freak), and I could never explain how He does it but I can totally tell when He's telling me "Go, do it, this is for you, this is what I want you to do". And that's how this beautiful and chaotic adventure began.
There are ups and downs, we are getting to know each other better, they are learning to love me and I'm learning to love them more and more every day. We work hard, we laugh harder, and my biggest desire is that they get to see God and sense God's love every single step of the way.
P.D. I've gotten some emails telling me some of the people who used to get my newsletter haven't gotten it lately. I only send 3 a year but I've been checking and it seems like something is not working the way it is supposed to. So, my blog will do the work. Just subscribe to it or friend me on facebook and you'll get my updates. Blessings!
