Reflections on Serving - Sam

Hogar de Amor is the best place in the world. Its amazing to watch the kids play so happily, despite the turmoil they left at home to come to the orphanage. What I mean is that the situation has to be really bad at home for the kids to come to Hogar de Amor. In Mexico, family is everything. The kids only go to the hogar if nobody else in the extended family is able take them.

Adoption is also very difficult in Mexico as well, bordering on impossible. So that leaves the kids in the orphanage until adulthood. And yet, despite it all, these kids are happier than a lot of people in America, where people have a lot more going for them than these kids.

I truly find this beautiful and inspiring, and gives me something happy to think about when I'm feeling down. I am so glad that we found Hogar de Amor, and that I get to serve the kids and caregivers, and help this wonderful place do its wonderful work. I hope Hogar de Amor can do this for years and years to come.

Reflections on Serving - Shane

Why do we do this?

Why do we do this thing?

We take time off from school and work, travel all day by plane, bus, and taxi to come to a place, that for the new people in the group, we know nothing about. Most of us don't understand the language or recognize our surroundings. We work hard in the shadow of one of the world's most active volcanoes. And, for those like me, wonder if the next burrito is going to put me down for 3 days. We step so far out of our comfort zone that we forget what that even means for a while.

Why do we do it?

John 3:16 Tells us:

For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son

Our only job in Mexico is to share the love of Jesus with the children and caregivers of the orphanage. We do this by spending time playing, working, eating and living with them.

When we are doing this, we are wholly in the presence of God. And he is in the form of the children that live there.

The most difficult time comes when it is time for us to leave. It seems to get harder every year. And I have to confess, this past week has been hard on me as I miss those kids.

Why do we do this?

It's just like James 2:18 says:

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you faith, by my deeds.

Our Week in Review

We had an amazing week in Colima.  It was a week that touched the hearts of every member of the team, produced countless smiles on little faces, and contributed about 400 hours of labor to jobs around the orphanage!

In addition, the CenterPoint team was grateful to bring down 17 suitcases full of donations to Hogar de Amor, including:

• Over $2,000 in project supplies and cash donations
• 85 towels, hand towels, and washcloths
• 125 toothbrushes
• Over a hundred birthday presents
• 213 toothbrushes
• A suitcase full of school supplies
• 104 pairs of boys' socks
• 116 pairs of girls' socks
• 126 pairs of underwear
• 25 crib and single sheet sets
• And a box of crayons and coloring book for every kid!

Wow!

Thanks again to everybody who was a part of this trip - those who supported the trip financially, who prayed faithfully for the trip, who stayed in the U.S. and kept homes running while the team was away, and who donated supplies for the kids of Hogar de Amor. Your support means so much to us and to them.

The Faces of Hogar de Amor

Over the past week we have fallen in love with the children and caregivers of Hogar de Amor. The work that God is accomplishing through each life here is simply astounding.

Boy was it hard to leave after our goodbyes today! And not just because the kids barred our way :)

Please join us in prayer for this amazing place and people:

• Pray for the caregivers. These men and women work so hard, all for the love of Jesus and these kids! Pray for their energy, fortitude, and patience - that they would be continually filled with the Spirit that they so readily pour into every child here.
• Pray for the kids. Pray that their healing would be complete from all of the hurts they've received in their young lives. Pray that they would know God as their perfect Father and that he would prosper their education, relationships, and future, all for his glory.
• Pray for the Hogar. Pray that the facilities would last long and would provide a safe, comfortable environment for each kid. Pray that the finances of Grupo Amor would overflow. Pray that Adonai would continue to be able to provide each kid with an education that prepares them for a bright future.
• Pray for the leadership and members of Grupo Amor. Pray for Pastors Nahun and Pablo, that they would be healthy in body and spirit. Pray that this healthy, vital church continues to grow and mature. Pray for each member of Grupo Amor, that they would grow in wisdom and grace and that each church member would feel the importance of their work with the kids of Hogar de Amor.

Finished Friday

We are so proud and grateful to have finished a bunch of projects this week here at Hogar de Amor. It's been a heck of a week!

Check out all the ways we've been able to make these homes even more functional and beautiful for the kids and caregivers:

Casa Leonel used to be brown and a team earlier this year painted it a cheerful new green. But the casita (the little home for the houseparents) was still brown and it looked so dingy next to the rest of Casa Leonel. So it was time to spruce it up to match!

Marco and Adriana were so happy with the finished product!

We also finished up the back of Casa Leonel

And we finished a second coat on the señoritas' balcony 

Tah dah - the whole house is now a beautiful new green!

In Esparanza, the shed had a dirt floor and during rainy season it got all muddy and icky inside, so we gave it a brand new concrete floor! And as an added bonus we now know how to mix concrete :)

The old floor

New concrete!

The plastic mattress covers at Casa Cuna had definitely seen better days, so we purchased new material and made 18 new covers for the toddler beds.

The new covers look great!

Here are the boy beds

And we also made curtains for the Matriz corner where the kids do their homework to shade them from the afternoon sun

The upstairs patio at Casa Galondrinas is a nice place for the kids to sit outside and do homework, but it's way too hot in the afternoons. So the team welded, assembled, and installed an awning to shade the patio.

The finished awning

The Matriz Infirmaria (sick room) desperately needed some sprucing up. It's a little room, and it looks so much nicer now in a bright white.

Bright and clean now!

Casa Matriz has an upstairs volunteer room that was a rather ghastly green. After seeing the repainted room, the house dad, Joel, said, "this room has never been a nice place and now it's beautiful!"

The finished room

We couldn't raise the ceiling, but at least we made it look good!

The fence in Esperanza wasn't secured at the bottom and armadillos - yes, armadillos! - kept pushing through the fence and getting into the yard. After several rounds of plans and ideas, the team finally landed on lowering the fence and securing it to the concrete base so that the armadillos can't push through.

We secured it with bolts and washers after lowering the fence

We never saw any armadillos, so here's Shane acting the part of a newly-frustrated armadillo

In addition to the work we were able to do in the houses, we were also able to bring a ton of donations down to Mexico with us. Thanks so much to everybody who so generously donated supplies, money, and household items to Hogar de Amor!

Here's a rundown of what we were able to give the homes:

• 85 towels, hand towels, and washclothes
• 125 toothbrushes
• over a hundred birthday presents
• 213 toothbrushes
• suitcase full of school supplies
• 104 pairs of boys' socks
• 116 pairs of girls' socks
• 126 pairs of underwear
• 25 fitted and single sheets
• box of crayons and coloring book for every kid!

Here's a pic of the Casa Matriz caregivers divvying up the donations to give to all the houses

You can see that the new crib sheets are super popular!

We've had such an amazing trip. Thanks so much to everybody who made this trip possible!

Tomorrow we head to the airport and with heavy but full hearts head back to Utah. Please join us in prayers for easy, smooth travels and joyful homecomings for every team member.