Agentes de Renovacion

Muchas veces como cristianos nos envolvemos tanto en nuestro estilo de vida que nos desconectamos del resto de las personas que nos rodean y así no sentimos alegría en lo que hacemos, la biblia dice “Buscar primeramente el reino de Dios y todo lo demás añadido será” … “Porque yo soy fiel y prometí que siempre cuidaría de ti” y viene la pregunta ¿cuál es el Reino de Dios?.

Es muy común que cuando hacemos una transacción comercial en nombre de providencia las personas nos den un trato diferente o especial porque así consideran ellos que de una forma ayudan a nuestro ministerio, pero lo que llamo mi atención fue que una de estas personas preguntara a que se dedicaba Providence y al darle una explicación ella respondió “Que tontera es esa, yo no sé porque pierden el tiempo; sinceramente no creo que Dios permita que uno adopte pudiendo uno tener hijos propios” .

Soy honesto al decir que es la primera vez que alguien hace un comentario de este tipo en los 5 años que tengo de estar involucrado con esta organización. Le agradezco a esta persona su honestidad porque seguramente hay muchos que se preguntaran y pensaran lo mismo que esta persona, y le agradezco por el hecho de que ahora me tengo que esforzar mas para que esta persona mire la forma en la cual le damos un mejor cuidado a los niños, para que esta persona al ver la oportunidad que modelos como este les da a niños que no la tenían antes de ingresar bajo nuestro cuidado (noten como intencionalmente dije el modelo y no nosotros) este es un trabajo a largo plazo, se van ganando pequeñas batallas en el trayecto pero el resultado final que es; ver una vida cambiada y así encontrar el reino de Dios, es lo que realmente servirá para que este tipo de personas que ahora no lo creen, puedan entender lo bonito del programa.

Les invito a ser agentes de cambio para que esta errada forma de pensar desaparezca y realmente encontremos lo que nos dice Santiago cuando dice “La religión pura y sin mancha delante de Dios es esta, ayudar a las viudas y huérfanos en sus aflicciones y conservarse limpio de la corrupción del mundo” . No dejemos pasar la oportunidad, ni esperemos recibir un llamado de película para empezar a actuar como Dios nos pide que actuemos…

Por ahora me gustaría introducir una sección que la denominaremos “La Providencia Polaroids” y en la que compartiremos algunas historias de las situaciones que merecen publicarse  para que otros capturen esos momentos por los cuales  vale la pena nuestros sacrificios.

La Providencia Polaroids

La otra vez decidí tomarme el día libre y después de dejar un grupo me quede en un hotel que tuviera piscina para poder disfrutar un tiempo de relax, de regreso decidí usar sandalias (Cosa que no es del todo agradable para los locatarios de esta área) y cuando vine al trabajo uno de los niños me miraba como preocupado tratando de recordar algo, así que el papa le dijo si le gustaban mis sandalias y él me respondió de forma muy natural así “Se parecen a las de mi profesora”…… Me sentí avergonzado porque el relaciono mis sandalias con la de mujeres!!

Stretching Boundaries.

Here at Providence I have had the opportunity to work in different areas of our ministry. One day I am working in the school going through inventory and the next day I could be working in our office. I love that each day I am able to experience La Providencia from a different standpoint. This week has been one of those weeks where you work with a new set of people in an unfamiliar area, doing unfamiliar work. I have had a week of learning and I am learning a lot! I have spent this last week working in our Store Providence in a box. I have been sorting through boxes looking for clothing that can be used by families in our local Aguas Del Padre area. I say that this week is a learning week because I am working in our bodega and I am constantly learning how to do the tasks I have been asked to do. I have gone from working in the office where I am comfortable to the bodega where I am getting my hands dirty working with metal and material of that sort. I have had a blast watching my co-workers build our new equipment for the Academia La Providencia playground. They have been working hard bending, welding, and cutting to make an amazing playground to let our students run around and play. It has been great getting to stretch my boundaries and really get to know all of our staff members. While working in the bodega I have been able to bridge the gap between working with some guys I didn’t really know to actually having relationships and being able to call my co-workers friends. Not only have I been able to get to know more of my staff members, I have been able to spend time and talk with families that come in to get clothes. Every day I have been given the chance to make a relationship with the person that walks through the door, to really listen and learn from the people we are serving.

Footprints of February

This past month at Providence has been busy, busy, busy. To prepare for Academia La Providencia to begin, the amazing teachers we have worked long hours to decorate their classrooms. A lot of cleaning, cutting, gluing, counting, and decorating was involved to make La Providencia look as wonderful and creative as it does! There is a lot that goes into preparing for Academia La Providencia and there are many people here that have served and volunteered their time to help make Providence as Successful as possible. Academia La Providencia is now going on its fourth week of school, the teachers and students are extremely energized and are excited for class. There have been a lot of donations for the school; the students and teachers have been busy using the supplies for reading, writing, and counting! We even have recorders to practice music, so the children have been loving being able to learn in a different way. Academia La Providencia is still within its first month of school; there will be more stories to come! Also, this month at Providence we had Phil Darke our President/CEO stop by with a team of 13 people. The team came for a week and got to experience La Providencia first hand. They spent their time within our school sitting in and watching the children learn. The team also got to enjoy fellowship with us staff members by celebrating Orlando’s 24^th birthday. February has been the month for birthdays here with our staff members Douglas and Deivyd both had birthdays only a day apart. Loida one of Beatriz and Mario’s daughters had her second birthday as well! It has been fun getting to know the staff members here actually make real relationships but fulfilling God’s command to love and take care of the orphans. We are enjoying the presence of the children back in school here, as well as the teams that have stopped by to help fulfill the goal of Providence’s ministry.

Please keep the teachers, staff members, and the students in prayer as we take on this New Year with a joyful servants heart!

Kicking Off the New Year!

This week at Providence we have partnered with an extremely talented medical team coming all the way from Wisconsin. The group of twelve (12) Orthopedic Surgeons has willingly donated their time and skills to help the children of Honduras. The first day started off with one hundred and five children coming from all over the Honduran area to be medically examined. The team spent Sunday screening child after child deciding which of those needed surgery in the coming week, and those that will be options for the coming year. After a full day of work the team finally settled on twenty-nine (29) children that were chosen for surgery the following week. The team arrived everyday at seven o’clock in the morning prepped and ready to use the skills God gave them. Each child was a special case having different problems ranging from clubbed feet, extra toes, and hip problems. There are two operating rooms and each set of surgeons had three to four patients a day working case after case. It has been a pleasure being able to be a part of something so much greater than I could imagine and something so much greater than myself. As the Providence staff we have had the opportunity to sit in and watch the skillful surgeons perform their tasks. It is an amazing thing to see first hand how much time and effort goes into each patient, and having six patients a day is an amazing feat for any surgeon. This week at Providence has been full of wonderful people volunteering their time to come and help fulfill needs here in the Honduran community with joyful hearts and high spirits. The family members would hug and thank us for everything that we did, and in those small moments all the stress, worry, and exhaustion is suddenly minor to a simple smile or hug that explains more than words ever could. The providence staff and the medical team were running around ready to lend a helping hand wherever it was needed. At the end of each day the surgeons and the staff members were extremely exhausted but it was a chance for all of us here at Providence to be the hands and feet of our Lord and Savior.

Why We Do What We Do

Last Thursday, I, along with a team from all over the USA, Douglas, Mizael, and Henry, experienced something that we all likely will never forget.  We visited an orphanage in San Pedro Sula from where four of our Providence Children came.  The experience was even more eye-opening than I thought it would be and it confirmed that there is a huge need to improve orphan care in Honduras, which is what we are working on through the La Providencia model.  

The experience also confirmed to me that something is not always better than nothing, particularly when the "something" is terrible, yet gives the illusion that something positive is being done for the kids.  Here are some snippets of the issues we saw: 

• The bedrooms had holes in the ceiling because the kids were trying to “escape” (word used by the orphanage worker).  
• The inside courtyard windows had bars on them because the kids were trying to get out.  
• There were 143 kids in a 120 capacity place.  
• The budget is $3,000/month, 80% of which goes to payroll; so they put $600/month to care for 143 kids.  That is about $3.50/month per kid.  
• The “nursery” had about 25 cribs in two small rooms with many cribs holding two children who were severely malnourished and lacking in love.  
• There were also special needs children in the nursery.  One awful situation had a 10 or 11 year old kid just sitting in a crib, Indian-style, staring into space.  

Most of these kids aren’t living - they are simply there.  It broke my heart, but also confirmed the importance of what God is doing at La Providencia to improve orphan care and change the paradigm of orphan care around the world.  Hopefully we can together see the day when places like this orphanage cease to exist.  I truly believe that the situation in San Pedro is not better than nothing because it gives the illusion to the world that something is being done to care for the orphans in Honduras -- in reality, these kids are simply in a prison (surrounded by a two story high wall and guard tower) trying to escape.  

Most of these kids are not being cared for at all - this is not the fault of the loving and well-intentioned workers.  It results from the lack of resources and a society that, on the whole, simply doesn’t care about orphans, treating them as sub-human, as trash.  While they appear to have school, food, and "helpers," they are lacking almost everything they really need -- families, touch, a real education. medical care, and real hope.  They are kept from the world, behind the walls.  It is tragic and hard to see.  Especially when you contrast it with La Providencia and what loving orphan care can look like.  And when you know that the only thing standing in the way of loving care like LP is money and a true belief that these kids are human beings, the same as all of us.  

Lord, help us to have wisdom and discernment to know how to develop La Providencia and share the model so that we together can improve orphan care.  Then, we won’t have to see orphanages like the one in San Pedro Sula any longer.  That is my prayer.

Viaje a la Joya Grande 2010

One last Hurrah! Our service at La Providencia has now come to a close. We treated ourselves to a day of fun, laughter and friendship at the zoo with those Honduran friends who have meant so much to us during these past three years. We had an amazing day.  It was such a blessing to us, and we think they had fun too.
It is our prayer that they and you will all continue to grow in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Lord has been faithful to us these three years. Now, we wait with hope and expectation for His wonderful and loving direction.  May God bless you richly as you grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory forever and ever.
The Holliday Family, www.thehollidayhouse.com

Dia de la Independencia 2010