Open Hearts International Children's Relief Mission
This past month has been filled with end of the school year activity at Colegio Esperanza in La Chureca (the city dump). It has been a fun time with all of the kids, the end of the year is always something really special…vacation…grades…graduation…parties…Christmas is soon…all of the good stuff. Here are some photos from the recent happenings at Colegio Cristiana La Esperanza.
For the end of the year celebration all of the students put together different acts and performed them at the party. The cutest was the narration of the Christmas story with first and second graders acting out the parts of the story….you can see Joseph, Mary and the wise men….and don’t forget the star 🙂 We had a visit from Santa’s elves too (the third grade girls) and they did a really sweet little dance.
Later in the week it was Report Card day…duh duh duh!!! The faculty at the school decided to not just have a day to deliver report cards, but to invite all of the parents and have a short service to thank the Lord for this year. Our Bible teacher Cecilia delivered an impactful message about hurt. She spoke to the parents about the wounds they might have in their lives and how difficult it might be for them to love their children the way that they should when they have deep wounds of their own. It was really powerful. When she was finished we spent time praying for the parents, specifically for these wounds and hurts in their lives. We asked the Lord’s presence to fill them, to heal them and to make them stronger…to fill them with love, the love their children need. God’s presence was there with us in that little school in the middle of the dump!
Here are some of the students receiving their report cards. This young lady was the best student of the year, she is standing with Sheyla who is the director of the school…you’ve met Sheyla if you have ever visited the school. She is awesome and she is really the person who keeps the school going!
Then just this week we had our graduation. We had graduates from preschool, from elementary school and from preperatory school (an opportunity for older students to complete two years in one calendar year). It was Awesome! Really I have to say, our faculty created a beautiful setting and the dances, the words spoken, and message delivered were all so great! Krista and I just got back today from the graduation for the boys from Casa Robles at the private school they attend (we will add pictures later) and I tell you what, Colegio Esperanza’s graduation blew that one out of the water! Really, it was great. God is great and we are so thankful for the awesome work he continues to do at Colegio Esperanza….a light in a very dark place…a place for the presence of God.
This first picture below is of Cristian who used to live at Casa Robles, if you have visited you may remember him. Even though he was older, this was a huge accomplishment for Cristian to get his diploma. He stuck with it and we are very proud of him. The second picture is of Reynaldo who is the son of a woman named Marixa in La Chureca. Many years ago Marixa helped us save the first camp we put together at Campo Alegria from becoming a disaster. Reynaldo was only like four years old back then…now a graduate!
Colegio Esperanza runs entirely off of the generosity of others. The monthly budget is over $9,000 which provides for education and two meals a day for around 300 children. It is an amazing ministry.
We need alot of help to keep it going. If you are interested in helping finacially with the school please contact us at losfarringtons@gmail.com or Michael Buzbee at Mbuzbee@gmail.com
2012 is just around the corner and we are trusting God to take care of every penny in the budget! Amen!!! Please join us if you can….Thank you for reading!