I would like to tell you about our passion which is missions. We are the Oregon representatives to Esperanza Viva, which means Living Hope. http://www.thecityofhope.org EV is a youth home in Puebla, Mexico and they take in street kids. Most of these kids have been abandoned, abused, and neglected. Some of the parents are in jail for up to 70 or 80 years. These kids come into the home afraid and untrusting. As they are there they meet Jesus and after time, their lives are transformed to smiling, playful kids who love our Lord Jesus.
There are several ways that we work with the home in Puebla. One is that we sponsor three of the children. When a child is sponsored, it helps in their care financially but also relationally. The kids write letters to us and we write letters and e-mails to them. We are able to buy birthday gifts for them and Christmas gifts. It is so wonderful to get a picture of them with their birthday gifts and to see the smiles on their faces. The other way we work with them is that we go to Puebla to visit them. In 2004 we went down as a family and then in 2005 we took a team of eleven people down with us. We are currently in preparation for leading another team down to Puebla this fall.
Last year we helped by putting together a benefit dinner to raise money for the land fund. Currently the children and staff are housed in about sixteen different locations around Puebla. They are hoping to buy ten acres of land but they need to raise $1,000,000 to do so. We will be helping with another fundraiser in the future.
One of the fun things is that Jim has been learning Spanish for about three years now and he is getting quite fluent. He says he has a long way to go, but he can have a conversation with a native speaker as long as they speak slowly. The kids and I have been learning some Spanish also and this next year, Spanish will be one of our core subjects in school. I look forward to teaching them because then it will help me remember what I have learned and I will be able to use it more.
If you want more information about the home or have questions for us, please feel free to comment.