Tag Archives: Faith Home

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September 30, 2014

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General Baptists, International Missions

Shining Lights

From Faith Home

Faith Home was founded with the vision of raising up children with the love of Christ so they can go out into the world and be a light to their country.  We continue to see the hope of Christ ignite in the children here, as many are now living out that vision in their place in the world outside.

Here are a few examples of how our Faith Home young adults are shining lights in their workplaces, just as God intended them to be.

OdalinOdalin

A couple of people that work with Odalin cam to visit Faith Home recently, to see the place where she grew up.  One shared how she met Odalin:  “I saw her at work and thought to myself, ‘there is something different about this girl.’  It was as if she had a light within here that made me want to know her more.  The more I got to know her, the more I was impressed and inspired.  I wanted to see the place she grew up, and that taught her how to be this amazing young woman.

 Jose RicardoJose Ricardo

During a visit to the workplace of Jose Ricardo, his boss asked us if we had any more young men like Jose.  He said Jose is an excellent, honest worker who is a joy to work with.  Jose is currently active in a local church where he loves to sing in the band.  He has grown into a very responsible young man with a passion for telling others about Christ.

BelyBely Karina

Bely has proven herself to be such an honest and responsible employee that her boss entrusts her with the keys to open and close the beauty shop everyday and handle the money.  Bely currently lives in San Manuel where she attends a local church.  She visits Faith Home often to help the Faith Home drama group she started last year.  She is an amazing Christian example to the rest of the children.

What is Faith Home to me?

By Odalin

The day I sat in the green van, I had no idea where they were taking me.  The man (David Kelle) was driving and I desperately wanted to know where we were going.  When we finally got there and got out of the van I didn’t know that it was going to start a marvelous chapter of my life.  My life completely changed at that moment.

The day we arrived at Faith Home, there were only 3 other children there, besides my brothers and sisters and I.  I was 5 years old at the time and only thought about toys, food, and playing jokes on others.

Days later, I was very sick and the doctors didn’t think that I would live through the night, but we have a marvelous God who gave me another opportunity at life and allowed  me to live.  Each day when I got up and went to devotions, I saw Martha Kelle walking with all of our medicine and I received a kiss each morning before I left for school.  I knew I was loved.

I grew more each day, studying and living in a safe place where I ate well, praised God, and enjoyed the company of many other children.

Now I am 20 years old and have left Faith Home.  I live in San Pedro.  Now I see why the house parents and missionaries corrected me when I didn’t obey or did things wrong.  They wanted to prepare me for this part of my life.  I am thankful for that.

I never imagined that God would give me the great opportunity to grow up in a place like Faith Home.  I am thankful to God and all of the people that He used and is still using in that place.  God chose me before I was born-and not just me, but all of the children who are still in Faith Home or have left to complete His purpose in their lives.  It doesn’t matter what our past is.  What matters is what our future will be with Christ.

This place is not only an orphanage for children, it is a place that transforms lives and gives hope.  This is Faith Home to me.

I don’t usually share my thoughts, but God tells us to share and not hide the marvelous things that He has done for us.

-Odalin

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June 24, 2014

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Christian Life, International Missions

Planting a Seed

A few weeks ago, it was time to plant corn on the Faith Home campus.  It has been the custom the past few years for the Tios and some of the older boys to take care of this.  This year, however, it became a joint effort of all the youth (boys AND girls) 14 and up.  There were those faithful few boys and curious girls who showed up first, ready to work.Faith Home children planting the seeds  The others started trickling in a short time later, and then of course, some came dragging up at the last minute.  All of them arrived in time to receive instructions from Hector and Mauricio.  Pastor Miguel prayed over the corn that will provide many tortillas in the year to come, and the kids quickly got to work.  They grouped together and twisted the rope to mark off the rows in a straight line, then they split up the duties and were soon planting the seeds.  Many followed the instructions exactly as explained, some got off course and had to redo their planting, and some found creative ways to make it faster and easier to plant the seed.  They were laughing and truly enjoying the work.  We took them some Pepsi when they were finishing up, as a reward fro their hard work.  But to our surprise, when we called them over they didn’t want to quit.  They all said if they would keep going, they could finish the task in about 10 minutes.  They Pepsi could wait.  Really?  Who were these kids and what did they do with our “race to be first, leave everything behind for Pepsi” kids?  It was a moment of growth.

And that’s how it is with the spiritual harvest.  Just as the small corn plant is now popping out of the ground after this past week’s rain, our children are starting to grow up to become what God created them to be.  I am thankful for all those who did the spiritual planting and watering in the past for these precious children, so that we can see God start to cultivate and harvest their souls for His kingdom.  Some workers came early and others came later to continue the ministry in its different stages.  Just as the kids wove the string together to make it stronger for the rows of planting, God has woven each of us together to do our part in keeping the planting efforts on track.  The beauty of God’s grace is that even when it gets a little off, He brings us back, straightens us out, and faithfully brings the harvest.