Hope at the Hope House

Hope at the Hope House

Matthew 25:34-40 


Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom   prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you fed me.  I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.  I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave me clothing.  I was sick, and you cared for me.  I was in prison and you visited me...'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?  Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality?  Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?"  And the King will tell them, "I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"

 Today the team divided into three groups to accomplish more.  The largest of these went to the Hope House, a home for orphaned young ladies age 14 to 18.  We took on the task of house maintenance and painting with an emphasis on including the girls.  The girls were able to choose colors for their rooms.  We aided them in the actual painting using that time to get to know the girls.  The men on the team repaired ceilings, the roof, plumbing and tile floors.  Brian and Greg were even able to install two devices in the showers to give the ladies warm water for their showers!  A blessing for sure!
Though we were with the girls for a day, we pray that our connection with them and Lorraine's ongoing work will have an enduring benefit in their lives.   

John Wahba and Sheila went on a separate mission to the Faith House, a similar home for orphan boys ages 14 to 18.  The focus of the visit was to share the gospel through music.  This included music lessons on the guitar and electric keyboard.  The boys were able to complete a song together, "This Is My Desire" using three boys on guitars, two boys on a keyboard and one on vocal.  John and Sheila thought it sounded great.
 Ana, the interpreter, helped John and Sheila lead several youth to Christ with Praise, Worship and Prayer.

 Michael and Charles went to the Bloom National Pediatric Hospital to reestablish ties with the pediatric surgeons.  Through God's help, Charles was able to bridge a communication divide and focus on the needs of the hospital and Michael background in laparoscopic surgery.  Discussions were initiated for providing access for further training of their staff members in North Carolina.  Today we were able to start the process with an educational series on laparoscopic suturing techniques.  Tomorrow,we were invited to participate in several surgeries using laparoscopic approaches.  More surgery is anticipated on Friday.  We look for God to Bless the surgeons and the patients in these endeavors. We seek your prayer to help this program to grow in the future.

  It's late now and we need to rest up. God has blessed our efforts. Thanks for your prayers.

Life-changing opportunities await you!!

We were warned about culture shock. 

What a drastic difference between my own "good Christian home" growing up, and the daily life experience of the boys we were blessed to spend time with this morning!  About 45 guys ranging from 12 to 18 years old are living in a concrete and steel-barred compound because they have nowhere else to go.  These boys are not prisoners - like the girls we visited yesterday.  They are here for a variety of reasons, that can best be summed up in one of the boys own words:  "I am here because no one loves me."

Imagine your life being in danger from your own family, or a gang.  Imagine being dropped off at the orphanage because your parent(s) did not want you, or perhaps being picked up off of the street because you have no known family at all.  No where to live except the sidewalk, or the gutter, or under some cardboard.  Now imagine that this is your life, and somehow you made it to age twelve.  In this new place, you share a concrete room with 12 - 20 other boys, most of them bigger and older than you.  The wind blows through the window openings all year round.  Even if the day is hot in the sunshine, the sparse concrete and steel room can stay cold.  Privacy for personal hygiene or any other purpose is an unknown luxury.  The guards or staff cannot be everywhere.  You are afraid.  You must adapt in order to survive. 

With this mindset, consider the events of today from this boy's perspective.
A van-load of people came to visit today.  There were people from the Estados Unidos along with Salvadorians also.  They smile and laugh, and talk to the staff people.  They set up sound equipment and wave at us.  Some of them are talking to some of the other boys here.  These are the people one of my roommates met yesterday.  He said they were nice.  I can understand the language of some of them but not all of them can speak my language.  We are told they are going to have music and a drama for us.  Meanwhile some of the visitors join a game of futbol, and others of them begin to come over to talk to me.

I recognize one or two of the ladies.  They are nice and have been here before!  The men seem to be nice too.  They are laughing and joking with us.  The concert meeting is starting now and we have to go inside and sit together across the room from their musical equipment.  There is a man playing guitar and a woman playing an electric piano.  There is a man using a big container like a conga drum!  The songs talk about God being powerful and loving too.  We have fun singing with these nice people.  They translate the words or sing the songs in my language so I can sing also.  The drama is about a man with two sons.  One son takes his part of the father's money and joins a gang.  They throw him out after his money is gone.  He is feeding pigs and is so hungry is wants to eat the pig's food.  Three of the people are pretending to be the pigs!  They are funny!  At the end of the drama a Salvadorian lady tells us to think about the story and how the father who should have been angry with his son, loved him, forgave him, and had a fiesta when he came home.  She said God is a father like the father in the story, and that if we will come to him, he will love us like the son in the story.  I want a real father like that.  I've never had one.  I am crying and I cannot stop.  The conga-drumming man is hugging me and crying too.  Another man and woman are speaking to many of us now, and saying we can know this God who loves us right now, and be his children.  I ask this God to love me and help me.  The man hugging me is talking to God about me.  I know this because someone is translating what he is saying so I can understand.  I hug him tighter and he hugs me tighter too!  We cry for a long time.  The people give me a booklet and a book.  I begin to read some of the pages with the man, and understand he is saying I should keep the book and read it.  Another man tells us we can talk to God about things and this Father-God will help me.  We get lots of hugs from the people and most of us are smiling.  The motor-scooter delivery people from Pizza Hut are here!  They are bringing us food!  I am glad the people came to visit us today!

This is only one of many many stories from today.  About 20 of the 45 boys living in this Boys Home asked Jesus to forgive them and for God to be their Father.  Our team was so humble and so loving!  We are a team of doctors, nurses, and business people; moms, dads, sons, and daughters; we had translators who are ministers themselves, and translators that are just here to help us.  What we did today did not require years of training or special skills.  We simply made ourselves available to show love to those who need it.

Thank you for supporting us with your prayers!  God is working here, and the need is unfathomably huge.  Child abuse is common.  Poverty is rampant.  The government and local churches here have limited resources.  Please pray that our loving God will touch more people's hearts to take time to work in His harvest field (read Matthew 9: 35 - 38).  Consider and pray about joining Lorraine here in El Salvador on a short-term mission trip (see http://hannahshands.org).  Our team can tell you, come once and you will never be the same!

Curtis S.

Spirit Moves in Mighty Way in Girls Prison

The Spirit moved in mighty ways in El Salvador today!  We had an incredible time in the girls prison today.  The girls are between the ages of 15 - 18 years old.  Our morning session was with the girls who are serving out their sentences.  When we walked in, some of the girls immediately came running over to hug and talk to us.  We worshiped for a while in English & Spanish, then performed a short drama about the prodigal "daughter".  Several of the girls accepted Christ, praise God!  I had such a sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit there from the moment we started to worship.  As awesome as that time was, the afternoon session was even more so.  We were warned before we went in not to expect the same from the next group of girls, that the atmosphere would be much cooler and more aloof.  These girls had only been in the prison a short time, and were awaiting their sentencing.  Most were involved in gangs before they were arrested for that activity, and they have caused many problems since arriving at the prison.  There have been riots, and they set fires and burned all the chairs there.  They aren't allowed to leave the dormitory room they are confined to, so we had to go in and set up for our program there.  Well, God had certainly gone before us there today.  When we walked in, they were even more receptive than the morning group.  They welcomed us, and we all talked, laughed and had fun while we were setting up.  God's presence was almost tangible in the room when we finished and issued an invitation for them to accept Christ.  There was hardly a dry eye in the room as almost all of them (approx. 20!) prayed for Christ to come into their lives.  My heart weeps for these girls who have such a hard life here.  Many are assaulted by family members or kicked out of their homes by the time they are teenagers.  Several of the girls asked us to pray for the children or spouses (remember, they are age 15-18!).  That prayer time was so touching as we invited the girls to pray for each other.  We emphasized now that Christ lives in them, their prayers are just as powerful as ours.  I felt such power from God in the prayer of the girl nearest me.  Even though I couldn't understand her words, the fervency with which she prayed so touched me since she had just accepted Christ moments before.  So please keep all of these girls in your prayers as they begin their walk of faith.  Pray that God strengthens and protects their new faith from those around them who will seek to deter them.

Stacy B.

His mission

It's 6pm Sunday evening.  I'm sitting on the back patio at Lorraine's house. It is 73° and breezy. I can hear faint Latin rhythms from a neighbor, thumping over the windchimes - that and occasional loud bangs that I'm convincing myself are fireworks. 

Today we visited an Hispanic iglesia and took some teen orphan boys out for ice cream. On the way to iglesia this morning, our driver confused our destination; we were 20 minutes late for service. Worship had started already and I still had never met or played with the worship leader. My El Salvador worship leading debut was not looking good....

Almost two hours later I was still sitting in my seat in the back of the church, realizing I probably wouldn't get to lead the Spanish worship songs I'd learned for my trip.  I got pretty discouraged. The El Salvador government is already restricting my medical priveleges. Now it looked as though I wouldn't be leading worship either. I felt myself ask, "So why am I even here?"

Then in the middle of church, a clear Voice answered my question with bigger questions: "Who are you here for? And who is this all about anyway?"

Zing! So busted. So convicted. I promised God at that moment that this was about serving Him the ways HE wants me to, not the ways I'd been picturing it in my head.

In the end, God did give me the chance to lead worship with this group of fervent believers - and it was a fun, un-rehearsed mess of Spanglish celebration & praise. I also had a blast later, leading worship outside in the park with the boys from the orphanage.

But I served from a new place. On His terms, not mine.  His scene, not my mental picture.

Thanks for the prayers. We love you and miss you!

WE'RE HERE!!!

Hello all!

We arrived safely in San Salvador today. :) It was really hot but had a nice breeze to it. It is beautiful out here. The mountains and everything. The ride over here (all day) was quite a trip :) it was relaxing and stressful at the same time. The plane rides were ok and they played movies for us. Everyone got a good nap on the plane (I think) I know my dad and I did. I am really looking forward to this trip! I am very excited and nervous at the same time, but I know God is going to help me get through this :). Tomorrow we are going to the Church in the morning then some shopping, then taking the boys from the orphanage out to ice cream.

I am looking forward to this trip and hope everything goes very well!!!

God Bless~~~

Ari ~* <3 *~
and the team!

El Salvador Team - January 2010

We're ready for our next journey to the people of El Salvador.

This year we have a new team going, so let's introduce them:

• Brian Wong - This is his 2nd time on the trip.
• Charles Balan - Just a friendly guy helping out with the Spanish.
• Stacy Boxell - Works with Latinos locally and her 1st time in El Salvador.
• Greg Lewis - We're hoping that he'll bring his culinary skills with him to El Salvador.
• Arianna Lewis - She's expanding her vision of the world at the tender age of 13.
• Jackie Tyner - Her 2nd trip to El Salvador and she's loving it.
  
• Mike Tyner - His 2nd trip to El Salvador as well.
  
• Curtis Smith -1st time bringing his wisdom to El Salvador.
  
• Sheila Smith -She's stretching her faith on this 1st time to El Salvador.
  
• John Wahba - 1st time to El Salvador and ready to rock the country.
  

Please keep us all in your prayers. We'll be serving Hannah's Hands and the people of El Salvador. Pray for our travel and our entry into El Salvador. Recent events have shown that it is becoming more difficult to enter into the country to serve the people there with our medical expertise.

How to pray for the team:

1. Effortless travel through customs and immigration lines and safety on all vehicles upon which we travel.
2. Protection from accidents, crime, natural and man-made disasters.
3. Protection from sickness and disease.
4. That the team will demonstrate humility, boldness, patience, and love for each other and the local people.
5. That God would be glorified through them.
   

Stay tuned to this space to follow us as we go to work in the places God is moving.

Your 2010 El Salvador Team

A Day of Reflection, an Earthquake, & A Sobering Moment (January 25th)

Our day started with an Earthquake! Not too big, only 4.7 on the Richter Scale. While all you California transplants out in blog world may be use to things like this, most of us certainly were not! The ground shook, the fridge moved back and forth a bit, and it was over.

On our way to the Volcanic Lake, we stopped by the boys orphange to deliver some more soccer balls. It was great to see the boys again, and they were very excited to see us! Most of them were still wearing the jersyes we had given them on Tuesday. Please keep these boys in your prayers, that they will be cared for and developed into Christian men.

The Lake at Ilopengo was a great time of fellowship and relaxation after an exhausting week. No need to talk too much about it, the pictures speak for themselves!

After a quick dinner, we went out to feed the homeless (sorry we don’t have pictures-while we would LOVE to show you what we experienced, we decided it would be better if we didn’t take pictures tonight). Kameron, a 17-year old American who is the son of a Missionary here, came over to lead the adventure. His family has been in El Salvador for five years, and his father also does clinics along with the homeless ministry. Kameron told us that the people could now recognize the sound of their truck from a few blocks away, and all come running. Our first stop was to a place where there are many teenagers and young adults. A majority of them are addicted to sniffing glue, a huge drug problem in El Salvador. For safety purposes, we all stayed in the van. This made it easier to distribute food, soccer jerseys, shorts, and some shoes, which we did through the windows. When they walked over to us, it almost looked like a scene out of “Night Of The Living Dead,” meaning they all had the look of zombies. It was very evident that many of them had completely killed most of their brain cells, and some smelled of fresh glue. There was even a boy there who couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old, without an adult. As we continued to pray and pass everything out, it almost didn’t seem real. While everyone was extremely nice and courteous, there was just a “lost” look in their eyes and we realized they didn’t quite understand what was going on. As we were driving away, we heard one last scream of thanks. A young man had just put on a brand new pair of size 15 New Balance high tops (after a long week of distribution, this was all we had left). Keep in mind that these shoes had to be roughly 2X the size of his foot. He looked like he had just won the lottery.

Our next stop had people of all ages-including young children and babies. Once again, our hearts just broke. One man came back for more food and shorts, which is not uncommon. We were prepared to tell him that he had already received his gifts, but he told us he was getting some for his friend who was passed out on the sidewalk. We watched with delight as he walked back over to his friend, laid the shorts on his chest and placed the food under his tiny blanket. For a homeless man who lives day to day hoping for scraps of food and any type of clothes he can find, this selfless act was inspiring. While delivering everything was extremely fulfilling, it was also very frustrating and sobering. We wish we could have had 10 more vans with 10X more food and 10X more clothes to give out. It makes you really think about your own priorities in life. Please pray that the Lord will lay his hand on these individuals. Pray that they can be cured of their addictions, and that will be able to change their lives, and that the will turn to God.

So, tomorrow is the last day we will awake to a cool breeze coming through the windows with birds singing sounds of joy in the trees outside. It is the last day we will sit outside on the back porch and sip delicious El Salvadorian coffee. It is also the last day we have to put our toilet paper in the trashcan instead of the toilet :) While leaving El Salvador will be bitter sweet, our memories will last forever. Whether it was the boys in the orphanage, the patients and children in the remote villages or even the homeless teens addicted to sniffing glue, our lives have been touched. It is our prayer that we return to the United States as different people. That when we are stuck in traffic or frustrated at work, we thank God that we have a car to drive and a place of employment. We will think back to the boys in the orphanage who only have a tiny ½ size locker with barely any possessions, and to the tiny children and babies who were living on the street. The grown men and women celebrating over receiving a pair of soccer shorts, and the patients sigh of relief when receiving medicine for some ailments that have been going on for months. We will continue to thank the Lord for the blessings he has bestowed upon us, and we will continue to deliver the message of His son Jesus Christ.

We THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for sharing this journey with us, and for the continued support and prayer. Maybe one day we can share an expedition with you…