Your life is your testimony

The picture above is a picture of a family we love very much. Tom and Karen Woelk, and their kids Andrea and Alex, were here serving with us a couple of weeks ago. Karen is a cancer survivor. She first had a tumor the size of an orange removed from her head, over 16 years ago. Since that time, she has had 2 other major operations and this past summer suffered a stroke. Karen has rewritten her testimony several times during the last few years. She carries it with her in her Bible and is always willing to share it.

While they were here serving over Thanksgiving, we asked Karen to come to Rio 3 and share her testimony with the women there. Many of these women have in the past, and are presently suffering many types of trials in their lives. We always like to encourage them with scripture and testimonies. Often, some of the women are distracted and talking to each other when we share with them. As Karen shared her testimony, we noticed that the crowd was larger than usual and they all were paying close attention to what she was saying.

Karen told me in the bus on the way to Rio 3 that she knows God allowed her to go through all of this so that she could be a witness to others. Her life has changed a lot in 15 years. Before her first surgery, her and Tom both had very promising careers at Proctor & Gamble. They had a large house, 3 cars and a boat. But in the last 15 years, Karen has been able to share her testimony of God's faithfulness through many difficult times in their lives. She knows that God has had her suffer these things so that she can be a testimony to others.

Thanksgiving in Rio 3

This year, we had the opportunity to do something special to give thanks on Thanksgiving. We had a group of families visiting with us over Thanksgiving and we wanted to share the greatest thing that we are thankful for, the love of Christ, with the people of Rio 3. One of the girls, who came to serve with her family, was a fifteen year old high school girl named Hope Bertke. Hope had been here before and as she thought about how she wanted to share this love, she decided to raise money to buy blankets. Her goal was 100 blankets that the group would give away while they were at Rio 3. She asked some of her friends to help and by the time that her group got here they had collected enough money to purchase 350 blankets!

Hope's story is one of faithfulness. I told the rest of the group, before we passed out the blankets, don't ever think that you can't do something big for God. If David had thought that, he never would have defeated Goliath. If Noah listened to all the people who called him a fool for building an ark in the desert, he wouldn't have saved his family. God rewards our faithfulness to be obedient. I'm glad that Hope was not discouraged because she was young. She did not look at the obstacle but rather she took "shelter in the Most High." 

It has been almost record cold here this past week. The lows have been around the freezing mark all week. Many of the homes in Rio 3 are shacks built out of trash. They have dirt floors, they are drafty and many have no electric. But, I'm sure that there are 350 kids that are thankful for the faithfulness of a 15 year old girl from Cincinnati. Hope set out to try and provide for 100 kids. God blessed her faithfulness by being a blessing to 3-1/2 times that many.

Please check out this link to a friend's blog!

http://www.idratherbecaving.blogspot.com/

A Song Brings Peace to Thoughts of Injustice

This past week, I've been feeling a heavy load, as I've dealt with injustices that I've witnessed, in the lives of the children we serve. The truth is that sometimes I am so close to so many awful things that are hard to witness. The hardest things that I deal with are when children are taken advantage of, or used, or abused by the ones that should be protecting them. I guess it is something like what a soldier experiences when he goes to war. The difference is that I know the battle has already been won when Christ overcame the grave!

I don't get a chance to hear a lot of American Christian music lately, but I really have taken comfort in the words of this Chris Tomlin song. He is singing of a day to come, that we are all living for. I especially like the bridge in the middle of the song. It is taken from John's words in Revelation 5, as he describes thousands of angels singing "Worthy is the Lamb." When I listen to this song, I am reminded that one day Jesus will right all the injustices of this world. I know that many of you can feel the weight of injustice at times in your lives as well. I hope this song brings peace to you as well. Enjoy!

In The Shelter of The Most High

How much money do you think it would take each month to raise 70 kids? Do you think you could do it for $1,800 per month? Without the help of Back2Back Ministries, that is what Casa Hogar Douglas would be forced to do. That includes food, electric, gas,vehicle maintenance, insurance, workers' salaries, school fees and uniforms. 

One of the ways that we are serving this children's home, is by seeking additional monthly support. We are doing this through our Shelter Child Sponsorship program. When you support a child for $100 per month, your money goes to help meet the overhead costs of the home. We currently have 21 of the 70 kids at Casa Hogar Douglas being sponsored under our Shelter Program. This is a huge blessing to this home. We are able to give them an extra $2,100 each month through the sponsors' help. 

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to deliver the money for October to them. The Director, Wyman, showed me the electric bill that was on his desk for almost $1,000 that he would now be able to pay. He also told me they would be able to pay for school uniforms for some of the kids that needed them. These are things that get put off when the money is tight. Most of the 9 full-time workers were waiting in the office to receive their monthly pay. They were glad to see me that morning too.

Raising 70 kids on $3,900 per month isn't easy, but it is double what they would receive without our help. Our goal is to one day have all the children, in all our children's homes, covered under our Shelter program.

The Best Gift is the One Given Away

      Some of the books we purchased

     Inside the New Library at Douglas

We recently received a donation to purchase new books for Casa Hogar Douglas. I'd like to share with you a little of the story behind the donation.

Emily Taylor is a 14 year-old student at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. After participating in a mission trip here, earlier this year, she wanted to stay involved in the lives of the children she met in Monterrey. One of the needs that Emily noticed when she read with the kids in the children's home, was the need they had to read better. As she thought about this, she had the desire to purchase books for their library. Once she knew what she wanted to do to stay involved with the children in Monterrey, she thought about how she could make this possible.

Emily decided that instead of asking for gifts for her birthday, she would ask people to give her money, that she could use to buy books for orphans. She collected $700! We used the money to purchase Christian books for all ages at a local Christian bookstore, here in Monterrey. The store gave us a 25% discount on our purchase so we were able to purchase $1,000 worth of Christian books with the money that Emily collected. 

Before we put the books on the shelves, we prayed for them. We gave thanks for the 14 year old girl who had a God sized dream to stay involved, from over 1500 miles away. And we prayed that these books would help bring a 'Hope for Tomorrow' that these kids did not have before.

Thank you Emily...and Happy Belated Birthday!    You are Loved! 

2 Day Kitchen Remodel

                  The Kitchen "Before"

                    The Kitchen "After"

Along with Mauricio, Rodolfo and Matt, I recently helped my friend Greg do a "makeover" on the kitchen in the Manatiel de Amor Girls' Home. This children's home is home to 12 girls. At Back2Back, we serve in 9 children's homes in the Monterrey area. These homes each have a B2B staff person who is responsible for our involvement with the children's home. While my primary responsibility is with Casa Hogar Douglas, I sometimes help the other staff in the homes that they have primary responsibility for. Greg is the captain of Casa Hogar Manatiel de Amor.

The kitchen was in very bad shape as you can tell by the "before" pictures. We completed the "makeover" in just 2 days. Actually, it was a lot of fun to work together with these great guys! I told Greg afterwards that I believe a kitchen can make a huge difference in a children's home. I think you'll agree with me that the "after" is a big improvement!