Tuesday, February 23, 2010
First – Thanks be to God! Cesia Maria is adopted by a lovely family from PA! Alaina, her mother, has been here for over a month working night and day to navigate the Honduran social services and legal systems. She had the crucial appearance before the decision making committee and after a grueling interview they approved the adoption! Now it is a case of finishing the paperwork and getting her US papers! Glory Hallelujah.
I spent the day with other members of the LAMB Board and several Honduran department heads who came to present reports about their departments. To sum it up, our support of LAMB is not just good stewardship, it is OUTSTANDING stewardship. I was so impressed by the intelligence, creativity, dedication, and spirituality of each person. There was a time when it was difficult to keep a consistent group of employees. Now, there is a group of people who are working at LAMB because they feel called to LAMB. They love their work and the children.
Jackie, the Director of the El Cordero school in Flor, told us:
“I feel I am doing exactly what God has called me to do. I love MY school! I tell everyone to come see my school. God has given me a vision of what will happen with the school. He has already answered many prayers. I believe my school is going to grow – more children, more buildings! The school is such a blessing for Flor, we do strong work, it is very challenging but the Word tells us we can do all things through Christ who strengths us.”
Toyita, who runs the toddler cottage and is the house mother for the teenage girls in SBV, is so inspiring. She noticed the teens were fighting with each other and had bad habits. (This set of teens came to us as older children from horrific circumstances. They were living in the main cottage with all the girls.) Toyita felt that God wanted her to take them into her little cottage on the property so she asked Gladys, the Head Administrator over all the operations, if they could move in with her and her husband Abel (Katie M – that is Matt to you!) She sat them down and said, You are now part of the Garcia family. I am your mother, here is your father, and you are all sisters. Here are the house rules (she listed them) and we will love and respect each other. The transformation of those girls is amazing!
I also learned that Yolany, the blind baby, is in excellent hands. When Lizeth, the administrator of SBV, learned she was coming, instead of being reluctant to take on such a huge responsibility, she was excited. “What a wonderful opportunity for us to learn so many new things through this baby!” They have arranged for Yolany to participate in a government program that works with blind children. They will even go out to SBV and teach the caregivers how to work with her! We have to prepare some space for Yolany and get some equipment and special toys and things. She goes every Tues from 8 -12 for this early intervention care. So, Lizeth asked them if she could also bring Melvin, one of the children who is blind in one eye. “Of course!” This is characteristic of the entire staff – finding ways to help the children.
Each of the Hondurans described their work with love and pride. I was so impressed with how things operate and the plans and vision they have for their area of LAMB. This is truly God’s work and I cannot think of a better way to be stewards for Him.
The others had a good day as well. Part of the team went back to SBV and continued work on the wall. Fr. Julio, Jan, and Margot went to the beach with 13 of the CAP ladies! They rode 3 hours on a bus to the beach (and, of course, 3 hours back!) and just had a blast. The ladies had never seen the ocean! They had a picnic, splashed in the water and generally horsed around, led by the Horsing Around Maven, Jan!
Suzy came by last night and we had a wonderful time with her singing and talking. It was the perfect end to a really terrific day!
Now – off to help the Honduran economy in Valley of the Angels!
