Hope For The Nations

COLIMA, MX:  One of the local malls recently held a “chorale” concert, where local groups were invited to enter and perform three songs. Casa Leonel heard about this event and decided to throw their hat in the ring! Under the direction of Esther Palacios, one of the members of the church Grupo Amor, ten of the children got busy and practiced and memorized and practiced some more! Their three Christmas songs included percussion instruments, choreography, and song. They donned Santa hats and scarves and set out to perform. Well, I have to say it was awesome! What a testimony! Here these kids are in the middle of a busy mall dancing and singing about the birth of Jesus. One of the songs they sang is translated: “We celebrate with joy about what is heard about in all the earth. Jesus is born, the light has come. We have seen His star shine this Christmas; it guided us to where He is. We bow to worship and bring the best that we have for the king. It’s Christmas.” The kids knelt with their hands raised in worship right there, up on the stage, in the middle of all the people. It brought tears to our eyes! If that was all, it would have been enough, but there’s more! THEY WON! The competition was stiff, but they came away with first prize, a cheque for $5,000 pesos (about $400 dollars). Even more than the money, we are so happy for them as it was such a boost of self-confidence for them to get out and compete like that and to actually win something. Many of them had never won anything or received recognition like that in their lives before. Way to go! Congratulations Kenia, Ana, Monse, Jaquie, Naomi, Pépe, Christopher, Narvick, Emiliano and Juan Ramon!

Christian is a young man of promise, who at one time was looking at a future that held no hope.  He came to us in August 2003 along with his two older brothers from a government orphanage. When they arrived, we were surprised to see how tiny they were for their ages, and suspected that the boys suffered from malnutrition previous to their stay in the government home.

Christian thrived in an environment of love and protection while living in the boy's home, where he received ongoing sponsorship from HFTN. He developed a sense of family and began to grow in self confidence, in faith, and in physical stature. He got to enjoy being a kid: riding his bike and playing basketball with the other boys.

One day, out of the blue, his birth mother showed up. This threw he and his brothers off course, because they never thought they would ever see their mother again. After some soul searching, Christian’s two brothers, David and Abel, decided to go and live with their mom. This caused a great deal of indecision and anguish in Christian’s life. What should he do – go with his mom who he didn’t know, but get to live with his brothers, who had been the most constant people in his life? Or, stay with his new family? Christian decided to stay. In subsequent visits to his brothers for a weekend here and there, he saw their values and lifestyle deteriorating, and he knew that he had chosen God’s way for his life. Christian remained strong and continued to see his life move forward.

In May 2011, he moved to Mexico City and attend Bible School for a year. This was a great step of faith for him, and he contributed to his living expenses while HFTN covered his tuition fees for the year. Not only did he grow in faith, he also developed valuable educational experience and life skills.

Upon returning to Colima, Christian has started helping run the boy's home and has taken an active mentoring role for the boys. Meanwhile, he is continuing his own education to complete his high school equivalency.

Christian is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to study, know the Lord, and give back through HFTN’s One-to-One Child Sponsorship project.

Joel Martinez, houseparent in the Casa Matriz and soccer coach submitted this story
Some of the larger companies in Mexico become involved in social programs in order to give back to their communities. One of these companies is Dr. Simi, a chain of pharmacies that specialize in generic medicines and vitamins. They recently sponsored a soccer tournament for the institutions that they support. The teams were to be made up of children born between 2000 and 2003. Well, the team we entered from the Casa Matriz only had one child born in 2000, and the rest of our players were younger. When we got to the tournament, the first team that we played, were boys that were born in 1998 and 1997 (I know…the rules can always be “bent” a little!). Well, of course these guys were much bigger than our kids and quite sure that they were going to win.

As they were making fun of us, the game began. We scored our first goal, and by 7 minutes into the game we were winning 2 – 0. They quit making fun of us and began to get mad, sending some very hard shots our way. However, our boys weren’t afraid and at the end of the second half, we were tied 2 – 2. We won the winning goal in overtime with a long shot that their defense deflected, but not enough to keep the ball from entering the goal. When we arrived to play our final game, the people weren’t making fun of us anymore, but rather cheering us on! In this final game our smallest boys surprised everyone with their courage and determination, leading us to win 3 – 2. In spite of the fact that the other teams played dirty and had many infractions against them, our boys played strong and clean and won their games to become champions of this tournament. When it was time to present the medals and the trophy, the organizers of the tournament congratulated our boys because nobody thought they had a chance of winning, let alone becoming the champions. The boys were called small, but “hot like chilies!”

http://www.hogaramor.com/News.pdf

We have had three girls celebrate their 15th birthday in the past two months which is the “big “ birthday for them in this culture. Their names are Brenda, Cynthia and Lety.

We would like to make special mention of Lety who is the oldest children of seven in the Famoso family. These children have been totally abandoned by their family but have found love and acceptance in a famly atmosphere in the Casa Famoso, one of our smaller homes which was actually named after them. The house parents found donations of different things and had a party for Lety. Someone provided the food, someone else centre pieces, someone else lent Lety a dress and Lety was princess for a day.
Lety has some learning dissabilities and she is presently in first grade of secondary school. She is going to a school that addresses children with learning challenges. Lety has achieved third place in her grade due to her hard work and study habits.
Congratulations Lety!

September 16th, 2010 marked Mexico's bicentennial. Mexican history is marked with political oppression, discrimination and revolution. The long story in a nutshell is that in 1521 the Spaniards came and conquered Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc which began almost 300 years of Spanish oppression and caste systems. It seemed that the further you were from Spanish decent, the lower you stood on the social scale. Tired of being second class citizens, the “Criollos” (those born in Mexico of Spanish parents) led the revolt and on September 16th, 1810, father Miguel Hidalgo rang the bell that signified the beginning of the Independence War which lasted 10 years.

On the children`s home front, we celebrated the bicentennial with traditional food and fellowship! All of the Colima homes got together and the home in Esperanza joined us as well - each home contributing something to the program and something to the table! Pictured are some of our teen girls performing a traditional dance and in the other photo Mami Ceci is helping `Miguel Hidalgo´ a.k.a. Heriberto, declare the war of independence while M.C., Gonzalo and the other kids from the Casa Leonel look on.

Monse from the Casa Leonel was given some money for her birthday by her sponsor. Rather than spending it on herself, she chose to bless a boy that she saw who had some needs and buy a treat that she was able to share with the other children in the home.