Thursday, March 28, 2013

GUATEMALA, PART II.

The second day of the trip we were given a tour of the entire Hope of Life campus. The work they do and the amount of people they help is astounding.

Their vision: "Hope of Life International began with a single outreach to the elderly in 1987, and now encompasses over 3,000 acres with dozens of ministry outreaches. As a fully functioning humanitarian organization, our vision is to provide "hope of life" to the people of Guatemala. By meeting the physical and economical needs of the less fortunate, we are able to share the love of Christ in a more tangible way, thus giving them the greatest gift of all."
 
This little one stole my heart from that very first day. Emilio.
Just look at them! So precious. Every time someone walks in all the babies smile and reach their arms up in the air wanting you to hold them. I had never known what it was like to just love someone so much just in the first minute you laid eyes on them. But how could you not? Their sweet faces and big brown eyes just unknowingly captivate your love and affection. And knowing their stories, and that they've been rescued from death and given a life of hope. It leaves you speechless.
This girl, even if she doesn't look it here, is only 13-years-old. And that is her little girl sitting in her lap. She came to Hope of Life a year and a half ago when she was pregnant. Only 11-years-old at the time. Her step father had raped her, and her sister. He is now in prison. Just looking at the two of them, so beautiful and full of life, you would never even think to imagine something so horrific. Hope of Life is currently building her a home so she can live with her little girl, and the Rescue Center will watch her baby so she can continue to attend school. They have hope now! And it is an incredible thing to see!
 
This is Delmi. Four-years-old and unable to walk due to a leg deformity. She was so sweet, and although her cognitive ability will probably never be equal to her age, the nurses said she is constantly progressing in her therapy which is a beautiful thing to see.

Little Henri. 2-years-old and only 11 pounds. To see him cry was the most heartbreaking thing. You only see pictures or videos of children like this on TV. Seeing him, so sick and malnourished in real life was such a hard reality. But I praise the Lord that he is with Hope of Life receiving the best care he possibly could.
This was all at "Kelly's House," the home for special need children. They have therapy sessions every day according to their individual needs, and like I mentioned most of them have seen such amazing progress.


At the Orphanage with a few of my favorite little family of sisters! Immediately they decided we were friends and were in our arms any chance we had to visit. Little dolls :)
Our last stop that day was The Hope of Life village at the bottom of the mountain. A village created for battered and abused women. We started walking down their road and all of the children run out to walk with us to play. These two little ones clutched my hand and walked with me down and back for the tour, and were so excited to have their picture taken! Although I can't say much in Spanish, I hugged them and held them and told them they were beautiful. They're bright eyes and smiles told me everything.

Every new place we saw included a miraculous story behind how it was started. It was so inspiring to see the hand of God throughout all of it. It's an out of body kind of experience really. When you've waited so long and worked so hard to get someplace, and then all the sudden you're there. Finally. And each day was different from what I expected, but so so much better than I could have ever imagined. I hope a day won't go by that I don't think of this place! It looks like it's going to take a few more "parts" to get through all of the pictures and stories, but I'm definitely OK with that ;)
 

1 comment:

  1. What amazing experience, it certainly is life changing! It’s a very brave thing they are doing to help all those children to have a better life!

    Great post,

    Hope to see more!

    Nydia
    www.agirlnamednydia.com

    ReplyDelete