Fundacion Shalom

Dear Friends,

My last post is a couple weeks old, I just didn't have time to post it. I thought I would bring you more up to date. Things at the foundation are increasinly difficult. The director is very busy with various tasks in the office and at the foundation itself. Hermana Dorris is working hard every day with the boys, discipling them and keeping them busy with homework and lots of chores. This week there was no school monday so many of the boys didn't come until monday afternoon. Others didn't come until late tuesday and missed school on Tuesday. The two highschools dont have class this week and two of the boys went to school on Tuesday, but when Hermana Dorris arrived to talk with the teachers, it was closed. Apparently the boys went to a friends house or something and didn't come back to the foundation until they were due to arrive from school. They had a long day of chores ahead if them. Others refuse to do their homework and are causing trouble at school.

It is increasingly difficult lately to keep the boys under control. Nothing bothers them. Punish them, put them to work, do what you will, but they won't budge. The twins are especially difficult, one of them comes back from school with a note from the teacher every day. Most of the boys have at least one brother at the foundation but most of them don't look out for each other. They keep an eye on each other only to do them harm or get them in trouble. The older ones when asked to help their siblings with homework just complete the homework for them which results in laziness and they fall behind inschool because they aren't learning.

Please pray for God to send more help for these boys. We are also looking for a new tutor because the one we have isn't overbearing enough to control the boys and they do whatever they will. Hermana Anita is already in her sixties and there are very few helpers. We are also losing the cook at the end of the month so she can be home to raise her three boys. We need more men of good Christian character and strong masculine presence. The women are doing what they can, but we are missing the other half. We need more men who are forcefull in their disciple. The boys go home on the weekends but if they even have a father figure in their lives he is working or not home, and the moms are often away as well. At this point prayer is the most important thing for these boys. There is no one who can change them but God.

Please also pray for patience and wisdom for all of us who work with the boys. Pray for God to work through us and to make his presence evident at the foundation. Satan is at work but our God is bigger, better, and stronger and He is in control.

Thanks for your time and for reading my blog.

God Bless!

Dear Friends,

It has been a while since I last wrote and for that I am sorry. So much has happened and I don’t even know where to begin.

First off, things at the foundation are going well for me. I have been keeping super busy. I am no longer teaching English lessons, because there just isn’t time. I couldn’t make any headway with the boys because, some days they would come, other days they had more homework so the tutor wouldn’t let them come to class. Sometimes they would come, and refuse to do any work. Since most of the boys I was working with are ages 9 and under, it wasn’t really fruitful to push it, when they wouldn’t be able to continue. Since then I have been working on my special assignments, Francisco and Alberto, who are really slow at their homework and neither one, can read. There were a lot of behavioral problems with Alberto, so he is now only attending school on Monday’s and the rest of the time I am copying the homework from Francisco into Alberto’s notebook. He is way behind but he is learning slow but sure. I have seen some improvement, but it helps that he wants to go to school, so he works a little harder when you remind him of that fact. I work with him one on one in the mornings, drawing, coloring, cutting and pasting, etc. trying to develop his motor skills. Then after lunch I work with both boys trying to motivate them as they do their homework.

I also have had some other assignments for the foundation to do on my own time. Such things as, translating letters and brochures for visitors from the U.S. and also writing letters to churches asking for work groups to come and help build other buildings on the facility. It has been interesting work. I have also sewed blankets together, since it had been “cold” at night and the boys have been wetting the bed because the blankets are to small. Many of them are having to eat dinner at 5pm and not eat or drink anything until the next morning. I was also given a pile of clothes that I had to distribute to the boys according to size, and mark it with their numbers. Each boy has a number that is used to mark his clothing, so that we can keep track of it all. Uniforms are always a difficult mess, but we have recently developed a new method of organizing them, which seems to be working well. Another new task for me was to re-do the board that we have at the foundation. It’s a sort of display with the list of needs, news articles, plans for improvement, photos of the boys etc. I had to redo the whole thing to make it look presentable for a group that was coming this weekend from Arizona. The boys tear it up quickly, so it doesn’t look good for long. I am really enjoying my work here, but it is quickly drawing to a close. I wish there was more I could do.

These boys really need prayer coverage. They struggle with all sorts of issues. As of late the issue has been thievery, a couple of boys are stealing money but we can never find where they are hiding it or how they take it in the first place. We also have one boy who struggles with homosexuality, he finds the lifestyle very appealing, and has been in counseling for it. Other boys have anger issues, and are quick to hit the other boys and fight back in the face of disciple. Others seem calm and peaceful and never do anything wrong, but they are poking and prodding and planting ideas in the minds of others, to cause trouble. One boy told me he snuck into the girls bathroom at school and wrote the devil’s number on the wall. He was quite pleased with himself. Satan has a strong hold over these boys, which only the Lord can break. We need to spend a lot of time in prayer and fasting, interceding on their behalf, before we lose them.

On the brighter side, there is a couple from the US living here in Ecuador and looking for a ministry to work with. Right now they are coming to the foundation on Thursdays to sing a few songs and do a brief lesson with the boys. They try to bring a little craft to do each week as well. I’m not sure all of the boys are getting much out of it, but some are I’m sure. They really like to sing the songs and do the crafts. And some of them really tried to learn the memory verse this week.

I am definitely keeping busy. I found out that I can eat strawberries, and grapes and all kinds of fruit, because there is a special fruit wash that I can by here to clean them all. I am thrilled, since I love fruits and veggies and I’m not to crazy about meat. I have had all sorts of delicious shakes in the mornings before I leave, and in my opinion we eat like royalty because the fruits and veggies are so cheap.

On Friday, July 4, Luis and I got married finally after three years. We went to the civil registry with our two witnesses and Luis’ mom and got married. Then we celebrated with a special meal here at Luis’ house and then later in the week we celebrated with my host family with another special meal. Then on Tuesday we went out for pizza with some close friends. We are definitely keeping busy and we are really happy. Its going to extremely difficult when I have to go, since I am getting close to his family and getting even more attached to him.

With that I will close. I think I have brought you up to date. Again I apologize for not writing more often, but it is difficult to find time since I don’t get hope until 6pm and then a shower and dinner, and I am exhausted and Luis has to keep working. Its becomes difficult to make it to a cyber.

Blessings to all, and please keep us and the foundation in your prayers!

Update

Dear friends,

Monday, I didn't go to the foundation because Luis was sick and couldn't bring me. I had been on Ampicilina, which I think is Penecillin or something similar, so I thought I was better. Yesterday I came home with a headache and today I have swollen glands again and my throat hurts really bad. I am taking the medicine again, we went this morning and bought more. Hopefully this will go away for good.

This weekend I am hoping to go and spend the day with Luis' mom, if I am feeling better. She keeps asking why I don't come and visit her, it is just hard to find the time. She is sweet and I love her to pieces, but sometimes I just don't know what to talk to her about. Pray for God to open doors, she is a devout catholic, and she prays to a crucifix.

As for things at the foundation, the boys are doing well. Still troublesome but they are all wonderful. Trying to teach english is hard because I am supposed to teach at 3pm, but the person supervising homework says they can't come because they havn't don't their homework, then hermana anita gets annoyed because I am not teaching. I bought a beautiful book of bible stories with pictures to teach the boys, but it is really hard to find a time to do it.

On Tuesday evening we went to Play Land Park, and I discovered that Luis is petrified of amusement park rides. I got him on one ride and he was petrified the whole time and I felt horrible. All of the guys here are terrified and the girls aren't. It was pretty funny to me. Each ride was between .75 and $1.50 and they were all really short. We had fun but Victoria and I only went on four rides. It isn't as much fun with only two people. It wasn't very busy though because it was during the week.

I better get going because Luis has to work and I need to go home and rest. I feel like I have popcorn hulls stuck to my throat. Hopefully it goes away soon!

Thanks for your prayers!

God Bless.

week 3

Thus far it has not been a very successful week. There is some kind of bug going around Guayaquil and I seem to have caught it. Its like a cold with headache, fever, aching body, sore throat, the works. It has been miserable. I came home Monday and Tusday with a headache, and by wednesday I had no strength, I was really dizzy and felt miserable all over. I feel terrible for Samuel too, because he had it before me and he couldn´t tell us how he felt. Anita, the director of the foundation, has been really nice. We called her yesterday to tell her I was still sick and wouldn´t be there again, and she said, not to worry, but to take the rest of the week off, and come in on Monday. Hopefully I can kick this thing by then.

Sorry I havn´t been posting more frequently, but I am keeping busy. Things at the foundation are going well. I will try to get here more often to keep you ùp to date. Thanks for your prayers.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

I woke up early this morning at 7am, and I went down and made myself some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and then decided to write something for my blog. I have heard that grapefruit juice is good for your throat, so I have been drinking a glass a day for the last couple of days, since my throat hurts and I keep getting headaches. It feels like a cold, my sinuses are filling up. Its pretty miserable, but I am trying to stay ahead of it with plenty of rest and lots of fruit and fresh squeezed juice. Have I mentioned yet how cheap the fruit is? On Sunday’s Luis takes me to the market to buy fruit, its one of the few things I can eat, and we always buy two big bags full for $6.00. You can get 20 oranges for a dollar, 10 grapefruits for a dollar, a delicious pineapple for .80 cents. There’s also pears, green apples, bananas, watermelon, avocado, kiwi, melon, grapes, etc. It’s wonderful!!!! I can eat it, if I can peal it for the most part. I also eat lots of vegetables that are peeled or cooked and its nice because if you go to the street markets they are really cheap, four ears of corn for a dollar, and potatoes 20 cents a pound. You can buy most food products on the street for cheaper, and as long as you boil it or peel it then you are good to go.

Yesterday was a really good day. Hermana Anita wasn’t there for the whole day, I hope she was relaxing and resting, but she was probably out doing business for the foundation. Instead we had a new helper, Hermana Doris, come over. I guess she has worked here in the past, and she is really good at what she does. She has worked with hermana Anita at another foundation before this one as well. When I arrived she had the boys (who apparently don’t have school for a whole week) well in hand. They were all doing exactly what she told them to do, and were especially attentive during English class. They were well organized for lunch and ate all of their food because she warned them ahead of time, ‘if you don’t like it and complain about it, I will give you double. You are accustomed to not eating what you don’t like and taking food with you when you are done, but it stops here. You are to be grateful that God gave you the food, and you are to eat it all, and take no food away from the table with you, you sat down empty handed and you will leave empty handed.’ It was wonderful! This is the firm hand that the boys need. After lunch she made them rest for a while on the floor, and she told them that they could talk and scream and yell and make all the noise they wanted during nap time, but if they did she had a special vitamin for them, so they could rest better next time. As near as I can tell that vitamin was more chores.

Later on Luis came to play soccer with the boys, which he tries to do on Tuesday’s when he doesn’t work. It was a long day as always, but a good one. When we got home we were pleased to find that Samuel seemed to be a little better, since he was up and around. Luis and I were both trying to get him to come to us, and of course he went to Luis because he tempted him with the car. Then we ended up making a 20 minute video of him taking the keys walking outside to the car trying to open the door, then finally getting in the car and pretending to drive. Its quite amusing. He is only 13 months old but very intelligent. You show him something once and he tries to do it. He even tries to clip his own nails. He’s adorable.

By the way, I am adapting a little more to being here. I still have loads of bug bites, but I am eating better which they are relieved about. I am sleeping a little better too.

Anyway, it is getting close to 9am and I have to go down and try to eat some breakfast, then we leave around 10 to be to the foundation by 11am.

Blessing to all!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Monday, June 09, 2008

Dear Friends,

As I write this I am very tired. I didn’t sleep well, having to share the twin sized bed with Francisco, he sprawled out everywhere and I got a little piece on the edge. It was worth it, because we were able to spend some quality time together, and I got to deliver a blessing from God to the family. I had some things that my mom had sent, for girls, that I couldn’t give to the foundation that consisted of all boys, so I dropped them off with Francisco. One of the items was a darker skinned doll, that I was able to give to Francisco’s sister. She loved it! They are a wonderful, kind family. Though I don’t know most of them very well, there is just something about them you know, something that draws you to them. A kindness and joy in their faces, and smiles that radiate for miles. A beautiful family for sure.

As for last night, it wasn’t Francisco, that was the problem with me sleeping, but Samuel the one year old that lives here. He is really sick. He has a high fever and cough with Phlegm and he has been vomiting, and not eating. He usually eats a lot. He has been really fussy and not sleeping, and it keeps us all awake. The doc says that it will be about three days of fever before he gets better, but I think today was the fourth day, so hopefully he is better soon. He is on some meds, children’s Tylenol from what I can tell.

Today at the foundation was a peculiar day. Most of the boys were home from school, I don’t know why, some teachers workshop or something. They have random days off here, where no one works or doesn’t much of anything. They seem to have a holiday for everything. Anyway, with all the boys there, it was harder to get things done. I help sort and mark clothes again, which is difficult, and it seems like we keep on doing the same thing. Trying to figure out who has what and how many etc. I also got to help a little in the kitchen. We made something that they call puuding (that’s how they say it anyway) it sounded like pudding to me but that isn’t what came out. They put some of what looked like powdered milk into a huge metal dish, then we took a heap of really hard dry bread and crumbled it up, added 6 or 8 boxes of liquid soy milk, which we had to blend to take out the lumps, and 8 or 10 eggs. After that was all mixed I left to eat and then help with homework and when I returned it was being fried like a pancake. That’s kinda what it smelled like too. It was odd, I had a headache, and I chose not to eat it.

There seemed to be a lot of boys who didn’t return after the weekend and I am not sure why. I didn’t know if it was because they didn’t have school, or because they had done something wrong, or their parents decided they shouldn’t come back or what had happened. Its hard to tell, but I didn’t want to ask hermana Anita, she seemed stressed today, for some reason. They said she was worried about something but I wasn’t sure what.

I was able to talk to a couple of the boys a little more in depth today. Lucho and Kevin. Lucho is at the foundation with a younger brother, and I found out today that he has a little sister, who is at another foundation for girls. He goes home on the weekends and he said that his mom and his dad are both there, but it isn’t his real dad. He said that he doesn’t know him. Lucho is a fighter. He seems to always be splitting someone’s lip open and he is very protective of his brother. He said that he was sent to the foundation because he would climb the walls and when his uncle came home he would jump down and attack him. It didn’t really make sense to me, but that is what he said. His sister comes home for the weekend sometimes, but sometimes she has to stay where she is.

Kevin is also there with a brother. I am not sure who his brother is, but I know he is there. In his family there are 5 children, the oldest of which sells drugs. Kevin is at the foundation because his mom died and he doesn’t know who his dad is. He said that when they go for the weekend, sometimes they go stay with his big brother, other times they go and see an aunt, or the pastor.

This is just a glimpse into the things that these kids have experienced. These two kids are 9 years old, but they have already faced so much in their short lives. That is just the beginning. Most of these boys lack a strong, positive, male role model. When Luis is there they all flock to him and he doesn’t even have to be firm with them, but they do what he says. They all crave his attention. Please pray for God to raise up positive male influences for these boys.

It seems that every day that I am at the foundation, I notice a new necessity. For example, after 3 or 4 boxes of milk, the blender died. Hna. Anita had just come to the kitchen and said thank God for that blender, its old but it works, and less than a minute later it wasn’t working. I was surprised it worked as long as it did, since every time we turned it on, it smelled like it was burning up. They also need an iron, the one they have, the hot part is busted up and rusty. They have very few pens and pencils. A lot of the boys write with just the ink refill for a pen, because someone broke their pen. The list goes on. But I have a very limited supply of funds, so I can’t do as much as I would like.

This foundation does so much for these boys, but there is a lack of funds and workers. Please pray for the Lord to bless the foundation and especially hermana Anita, that God would give her clarity, and wisdom.

Thanks for your time and prayers!

Week 2

Week 2- Saturday, June 07, 2008

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers, and I am sorry that I can’t post more often. Its hard because I work at the foundation during the day and don’t get back until 6pm at the earliest, from there I eat dinner, shower and head off to bed. It has been a very busy week.

I could tell you about how difficult things are, like not adapting to the food, ice cold showers, or the constant parade of ants everywhere I ago, invading my belongings, especially my toothbrush. On and on the list could go, but I would rather stop it there and talk about the Foundation, and the wonderful boys! After last weeks cell phone episode, Hna, Sonya decided not to return. Therefore, no one was able to cook for the children, and if they ate lunch, it had to be at school. I’m not really sure what they did about dinner, because I always leave before dinner. However, on Wednesday, Hermana Anita went and talked to Sonya, and convinced her to come back. Praise God!

The boys are beginning to respond better when I tell them to do something. They get suspended often, but its nice for me because it is easier to work with three or four at a time for the morning, so that I can get to know them better. They all have their days when they are especially difficult, or extra obedient. We have lots of fun learning English and playing games. If they do their homework, they get to come to English class at 3 pm. They get home from school around 12:45 or 1:00pm, they change and eat lunch, and then do their homework. They do chores for punishment when they act out. We spank only when necessary, but I still don’t like to. Most of them have so much “street” in them, that they are difficult to handle, they get angry easily and fight often.

There is one group of brothers, who are very sweet and kind. They rarely fight and are usually pretty compliant. Their names and ages are as follows: Llefferson age 12 (double L pronounce y), Jose age 11, and Francisco age 7. This weekend I was able to bring Francisco home with me. Most of the boys go home for the weekend, and we took these three to their house. Come to find out, they are only 3 of 7 children and the rest live at home, but they live in extreme poverty, so they had to send these three to the foundation. Hermana Anita told me that they are not like the rest, they never lived on the streets, and they come from a home with both parents. She prefers not to keep them at the foundation for long because she doesn’t want them to learn to be hard and angry like the other kids. She is hoping to find some sort of sponsor for the family, to help them get by, so the boys can go home. I have a couple pairs of shorts, a doll, some little toys, and some other things, that I brought with me and till now I didn’t know what to do with them, but now I know. We have found another family to do our best to help. The mother is an evangelical Christian, and attends a church near the house. I don’t know about the dad. I have to get going, Francisco is getting bored.