We Need a Home

As we have been proceeding forward with our plans for Lupita’s Hope Women’s Home, and Hope For Families Foundation, we have been very encouraged to see how God has been moving on the hearts of dear friends, here in El Salvador, to begin donating items we will need in order to furnish a separate home.

We have realized over the course of this year, that opening up a second home to found the women’s home, is the best decision.  At first, we thought that we would just use our private home.  Lupita and Keyri (pronounced: Katie) are living with us as our first participants in Lupita’s Hope.  Everything is going well with them here, but, it has shown us the importance of having private space for our family.  Especially while we have children still in the home.  On the one hand, it has been a blessing for all of us, extending ourselves for others, sacrificing and putting others ahead of our own comfort, and even our privacy.  Lupita is really part of the family, as we have known her for about seven years, and we completely trust her in our home, with our kids, and with our stuff.  But, as the home grows, and we have women staying with us whom we don’t already have a long-standing relationship with, things could get a little dicey.  So, we have seen the wisdom of having a separate home.  Both David and I have felt that God has put this into our hearts very strongly.  At this moment, we do not have funding for a separate home.  We have other women that we are praying about opening our doors to.  For instance, Mayrita.  Mayrita is a young lady, (18), who lives up in a high mountain village.  She is from an extremely poor family, whose father abandoned them, and whose mother died.  She helped to take care of her little brothers and sisters as they were growing.  Our friend, Marina, who is a missionary here in the country, has been reaching out to this village for years.  She has been pouring into Mayrita’s life and has recently helped her graduate from high-school, with honors. She had to travel far to attend school.   She is a hard working, precious little gal, who speaks so softly that I must strain to hear her.  When she talks about her life, tears stream down her face.  Her life has been very painful, but, she has come to know her Savior, and she has abandoned herself into His arms, and loves Him with all her heart. She is praying that she will have the chance to realize her dream of going to study at the University. We are asking God to provide what we would need to invite her to our home, to help her continue her education and give Mayrita and her family a chance for a better future.  Mayrita is just one example of many that we would love to reach out to.
Our dear friend, Kelly Moreton, who recently left El Salvador, called us the week she was leaving and said, “Hey, I have a lot of stuff I am needing to give away before I leave, and I was wondering if you guys could use it for your ministry?”  We went to her apartment, and we were overwhelmed with the amount of awesome stuff she wanted to unload on us!  It was incredible, and we felt as though it was another way God was saying, “Yes, you are doing the right thing.  Keep going, and I will provide!”   

To open the home we estimate that we will need to raise approximately $6,000 to buy all the furniture, appliances, and supplies.  We are estimating that it will cost $1,700 monthly to operate the home in the beginning.  We are confident that God will supply all our needs as we go before Him.  Please keep praying with us.  

Lupita has a New Job

Last week, Lupita began training for her new job at The Blue Door Café!  This sweet, little coffee shop is owned by some friends of ours from Union Church.  Lupita is very excited to have this opportunity and is learning the coffee biz very quickly.   Of course, this brings a whole new dynamic to our home.

  We are caring for Keyri when she works; about 20 hours a week.   The owners of the café told her that when she needs to, she can bring Keyri with her to work.  So, we are taking it one day at a time, and so far, so good. 

Last Friday, we dropped Lupita off to work and Keyri was NOT happy about leaving her momma there.  We worked through that with LOTS of tears, and she ended up having a great night.  Little Keyri is used to things going her way.  Unfortunately, here in El Salvador, most parents just indulge their children in order to keep the peace.  They don’t know any other way.  So, little by little, I am trying to help Lupita see the wisdom of a different path of parenting.  It is hard for her.  It is revolutionary for her to actually say ‘no’ to the little princess!  Or to make her eat her food at meal times instead of picking at it, leaving the table, and eating candy. She doesn’t take naps, or have a bedtime.  Lupita doesn’t realize that she can discipline her to lay down when she says.  She tells me, “I guess Keyri isn’t tired.” Ha! Oh, I could go on and on!  But, I am trying to (patiently) give her advice and guidance in order to not overwhelm her.  The fact that we are now going to be caring for Keyri while she works much of the time, means that we will have to work as a team, and that means being on the same page.  PLEASE pray for wisdom for me as I navigate this area of ministry.  It has not been easy.  Lupita has always been teachable, so that really helps.  When I have suggested she try something, she jumps on it, and seems very pleased with the results.  

Daniela

Her Hospital Uniform

We have been so blessed to watch Daniela thriving at her new school.  She started in January, and her first grades have been very encouraging.  Going to a private high school, where the education level is much higher, has been very challenging to Daniela.  She has had to work harder than she ever has before.  There are two different types of high schools in El Salvador.  One is a regular, general studies type of school.  The students only attend two years there, and then graduate.  The other type of high school is a three year, technical high school. Here, the children have the option of choosing two or three different tracks of study.  One of those is a medical track, where the student’s course of study is focused on preparing them for a possible career in the medical field.  This is the type of school where we have Daniela, and she is studying on the medical track. 

Showing off some of her schoolwork

Daniela lives with her mom, Nelsi, her daughter, Fernanda (5), and her three little sisters.  When Daniela returns home about 7:00pm after a long day at school, she has hours of homework she still has to accomplish.  However, she also has much to do to help her mother at home, besides coming home to care for her own daughter.  Her mom makes and sells food to earn money to put food on the table.  Of course with no running water, and no kitchen, this is a very big challenge every day.  She cooks over wood, and has to bring up her water from a well. (Which usually has dead things floating in it)  The house has one room, with very few pieces of old, worn, dirty furniture.   Taking a ‘bath’ means scooping up water from the pila, outside (large stone basin that has been filled by hand with water from the well) and pouring it over your head. 

Her Standard School Uniform

Nothing is easy, everything takes much more work than those of us from the U.S. are used to.  Imagine bathing, cooking and cleaning with these challenges.  But, regardless, when Nelsi sends her daughters to school each day, they are polished, shined, hair done in braids, and whites are really white.   When Daniela returns home from her day at school, she needs to dig in and help wherever she can.  AND, do all her homework.  She is 16 years old, and that is a lot of responsibility.  Having a daughter at 11 years of age has taken much of her childhood away.  But, Daniela’s spirit to rise above the abuse of her past is growing.  She is tasting the possibilities now that she is attending a school outside of her little town in the bigger city of Sonsonate.  

Living in a small pueblo, like San Julian, everyone knows your business. EVERYONE knew she was sexually abused by her step-father, became pregnant at age 10, and that she has now has a daughter.  But, no one in Sonsonate, at her school knows this.  She has the been given a little power over her life, now.   If she wants others to know, the power is in her own hands to tell them about herself.  She has the opportunity to just be a girl, like the rest of the girls in her school.  Not a victim.  I think that is awesome.

Her Sports Uniform

Thank you for making this possible.  If it wasn’t for your generous gifts to our work in El Salvador, this young woman would not be experiencing the opportunity for a new life.  As we continue to invest in Daniela’s life, we hope to see her go on to study at a university here in San Salvador.  We are working with a wonderful woman who is a  physiologist. (She just returned from two years serving in Senegal as a missionary to an orphanage there.)  She has started meeting with Daniela’s family, and we are hoping to see some very positive things happening through this counseling.  Please pray that Daniela will be open with her and that God will bring the healing that she so desperately needs.  This week, Daniela begins her practice in a local hospital, where she will be wearing her medical uniform, and she is very excited about that!  Please keep her in your prayers, she has so much to overcome in her life, and needs much encouragement and supernatural strength!

Kathy with Daniela, her Mom, her two youngest sisters and her daughter, Fernanda in front

Her Hospital Badge

Lupita

Life in El Salvador can be so difficult, and then, life in El Salvador can be so lovely.  Our work with the young women here in Central America gives us many opportunities to experience first-hand the desperate situation of family life in El Salavador.  It also gives us the chance to come along-side precious, beautiful, desperate young women, many times, young mothers, to offer them simple things that they just don’t have, and that we take for granted.  Hope, opportunity, love.  When you speak truth into someone’s life, and they hear it, it has the potential to open up their life like nothing else.  All of a sudden, their world has expanded, it has become so much bigger than they ever imagined.  Possibilities take shape that were never there before.  That is what we see happening in Lupita's life.  

Lupita and her daughter, Keyri, have been living with us since February  She made this big, crazy move from life in a small pueblo, to a totally different life in the big city.  Not to mention, the change of leaving behind extended family…mom, sisters, nieces and nephews…the only home she has ever known, and moving into the home of North Americans.  THAT is a culture shock for sure!  She is eating different food, learning a new language, and experiencing something new and strange every day. Our family! :)  Since Keyri (pronounced: Katie) was born Lupita has worked nearly every day 7 to 7.  Lupita has never experienced the day to day life of being a mom.  She has now!  At first, it was just fun and games.  She was just loving being with her sweet daughter all the time, and just soaking it up.  But, the honeymoon period came to an end, and she is learning that being a mom is hard work, work that never stops. She struggles with knowing how to discipline her.  She is a great mom, full of love and patience.  But, here in El Salvador, we see that very, very few people have any idea how to raise children in a healthy, balanced way. There is no one that we know of that is attempting to equip parents. What we see generally, is that children are indulged, and then, when parents are exasperated with their indulged children, they snap and yell at them and hit them.  Then, they tell everyone who will listen how naughty their children are, yet they have not a clue what to do about it.  Lupita is very patient, but, I can see her patience waning.  One day, we were chatting about her day, and she was telling me all that Keyri had done that day…and how tired out she was from it.  At that point, Keyri yelled for her momma, and Lupita said, with a wry, exhausted smile, “Here comes mommy, the slave of Keyri.”  She rarely says ‘no’ to her little angel.  And her little angel knows just how to play her momma!  So, this is an area I have been praying about just how to speak into Lupita’s life without being offensive.  I have given her a book to read, and she has discussed some thoughts from the book with me. This week I plan to sit down with her and talk more in depth about this.  Please pray for wisdom and direction. 

This isn’t the only thing we need to talk about.  Lupita is really the seed of this ministry to women.  We are at the beginning, taking baby steps and learning as we go.  We want to take it slow, and make wise decisions. But, we feel that it’s time, after 3 months for her transition, to take stock, see where we are at, and start planning.  So, this week, I will be talking to Lupita about the next steps, and forming our plan for her stay with us.  As of March 1^st, she has been taking English classes and working very hard at it.   She wants to attend university or a technical school and gain education towards a better future for herself and her family.  We don’t yet have the funds to pay for this, and are waiting on God. The cost of higher education in El Salvador is extremely low compared to the states.  We are talking around $100.00 per month.  As we begin to look into what direction Lupita wants to go with her studies, we will keep you posted if you are interested in helping provide this opportunity for her. 

 If you are asking how you can help right now,  we could really use some assistance with her English classes, which cost $80.00 per month.   This is not a college class, but, a private teacher.  Learning English will be key in opening up her future options for employment. 

 As ministry costs begin to increase, we know that where God guides, God will provide.  With the costs of Lupita, Keyri, Daniela, Nelsi and the extended family we are trying to reach out to, we are definitely in need of more financial support. We are blessed by your willingness to pray, care and give so that young women can have an opportunity they would otherwise not have for a better future. 

 

 We are still in the process of legally establishing our own foundation.  This week, we are

taking the final steps to finish the paperwork, and hope that by the end of next week, everything will be ready to be handed over to the proper authorities.  Please pray that God will guide this process, and give us favor with those who make the decisions.  Our foundation name will be, “Hope for Families Foundation”. In El Salvador, it will be, “Fundacion Esperanza para Las Familias”.  The home for young women will be named, “Lupita’s Hope”.  We are praying and seeking the Lord’s direction and provision for renting a home, separate from our family home, for this ministry.  God has laid this on our hearts, and we trust again, that if it's His will, the windows of heaven will open up and we will have the funds for this project.  Until then, our private home will be Lupita's Hope.  We are expecting that God will show us the next young woman we are supposed to take in.  

 

School for Daniela

December marked a monumental moment for the beginning of Lupita's Hope Ministry.  

Daniela with her daughter, Fernanda,
her Mom, Nelsy,
and her youngest sister, Ester

Two weeks ago, we made the first steps to begin Daniela’s high school education.  We registered her at a private high school in Sonsonate, which is the closest city to San Julian that is big enough to have decent private schools.  Daniela, her mother, Nelsy, Jorge Campos, and all of our family, went to Sonsonate together on the big day.  The school is called Colegio Salarrue.   This school has two options for education.  One is the general two year high school that most students choose.  The other is a three-year technical high school track, with a choice of focus on either a professional training, as in accounting or secretarial fields, or medical track for those interested in the health field.  Daniela has chosen the three-year medical track.  As part of this course of studies she will intern at the local hospital.  Our day started with a tour of the school, which is very different from schools in the states. 

We met with Daniela to give her the options
she has for school

Most of the classes are outside under porches.  After a meeting with the school director, we registered Daniela for her classes and paid all her fees.  Then, we were led to the area where the students are given the material for their uniforms.  We bought the material and gave it to Nelsy, who will take it to a seamstress in San Julian to have 2 uniforms made.  She will also have an outfit for a physical fitness day each week.  Next, we headed to downtown Sonsonate to find school shoes.  Shopping in the downtown areas of the bigger cities in El Salvador is crazy!  There are way too many people, cars, buses, and stores!!! It is a bit overwhelming.  But we were victorious and found some nice brown school shoes and tennis shoes for her for a reasonable price. 

A picture of us with Daniela at the school

She is set to begin school on the 20^th of January.  Daniela is very excited and ready for this opportunity.  We mentioned before that we had made the decision to have Daniela stay in her home during high school.  A lot went into that decision.  Until we have our own non-profit established, and are not under the umbrella of La Casa de mi Padre for our residencies, we will only have girls over the age of 18 in our home.

We are so thrilled that Daniela will have this opportunity to get the education she needs to escape the extreme poverty that her family has been in for generations.  Be praying for her, as this is a huge change in her life.  Also, be praying for continued provisions for her education and wisdom for us as we counsel and disciple her and her family along the way.