The Love of a Father

Last Sunday was visitation day here at Casa Aleluya. Once a month, usually on the last Sunday of the month, we allow parents who have permission from the court, to visit their children for two hours. It is the goal of Casa Aleluya to reunite families whenever possible.

This was my first time to experience visitation day as the hefe (boss) for Angelitos dorm as I was away for the day last month. It was an experience I shall not soon forget as I saw some of the children’s parents for the very first time. Most of them were very poor and resembled so many of the families I have seen in my previous mission trips to Guatemala. Their families had brought food to share with their children as they visited. You could tell that they had probably taken most of the money they had to purchase the food and drink they brought.

All the children, over the entire property, here at Casa have to stay in their dorms during visitation and only the children who receive visits can come out of the room. The dorm parents or hefe is told who has a visitor, they go to their room, get the child and bring them to their parents or relatives. Unless it is their first visit with their child or children, they can go anywhere outside on the property to visit. It was my job as hefe in Angelitos to get the children as their visitor(s) arrived. It is very hard for the children who do not receive a visit from their family. However, it is just as difficult for those who do get a visit because they have to say good-bye after only two hours. We, as a staff, try to plan special activities, for the children who are left in the dorm.Sadly, no activity takes the place of your parents or grandparents coming to see you. Since we have lots of mission teams here right now, Mike asked them to go to the dorms and visit the children who had to stay in their room. After getting several of the children and reuniting them with their families for the two hour visit, I decided to stand at the gate in case any more parents came.

While standing at the gate, one visit that caught my attention was a father who came to visit his two boys who live in Angelitos. The oldest boy, Elfrein, is 4 years old and the youngest, Angel is 2 years old. Since there is another boy by the name Angel in Angelitos, he is known by his nickname‘Pollo’ which means little. He is one of the boys in the nursery who call me ‘Mommi’. Their father, who arrived very early, was grinning from ear to ear as I brought out first Elfrein and then Pollo. He also had several bags with him. He took the boys to a shady place under one of the large Avocado trees near Angelitos and sat them down. Then he lovingly tied a faded bandana around each boy’s neck so they wouldn't soil their clothes as they ate. He brought out fruit for them to eat as well as a citrus punch drink. He so enjoyed watching his boys eat and talked to them the entire time. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I learned later that the boys’ mother had died, the father could not take care of them and so they came to Casa to live. Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar in Guatemala. This father lives four hours away from Casa de Aleluya and walks most of the way here and rides the bus only part of the way. This is probably due to a lack of money. When it was time for the visit to be over, Pollo cried as he was taken back to Angelitos and I found myself crying along with him. The father came up to me and was trying to tell me something. I found out through a translator that he wanted to leave the bags he had brought with him for the boys. I told him I would make sure they got the things in the bags. I then went to the sala (living area) of my dorm, sat at the table and carefully opened the bags. Inside the bag was all kinds of fruit, two packages of cookies, and a few candies as well as what was left of the citrus drink. I thought of the sacrifice he had made, not only to purchase these things for his children but also the time and money it had cost him for the trip here. The love this father has for his children overwhelmed me. I bowed my head at the table and quietly prayed that God, our Heavenly Father, would give this daddy a godly woman to love him and help him take care of his children so that they would never have to be limited to a two hour visit again.

This reminded me of the love our Father has for us, His children. Because of the love He has for you and me, He gave the ultimate sacrifice. He gave His one and only Son, who paid the penalty for the sins of the whole world, on the cross of Calvary for you and me.

“For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, will not perish but have eternal life”. John 3:16

He gave His life so that all who accept Him as their Savior and Lord will live for an eternity with Him in Heaven. We, who have received this gift of eternal life in Christ, will never have to say good-bye to our friends and family, who have also accepted this free gift. The good-byes we say here on Earth are only temporary. When we are called ‘home’, we will live together with Christ and our loved ones in Heaven for an eternity.

Just some of my thoughts this week…

Happy Mother's Day

May 18, 2012

       May 10^th is Feliz dia de Madres (Mother’s Day) in Guatemala.  It is celebrated the same day every year.  I was missing my own children and grandchildren very much, and really did not know what to expect on this day here in Guatemala.

      The day started out with Alma coming to my door very early in the morning and asking me if I was a mother.  I said, “Yes, I am”.  She gave me a big hug and told me ‘Happy Mother’s Day’.  She then told me her birthday was that day and that she was 14.  I told her my oldest granddaughter is 14.  I got another hug and kiss and then she said, “Miss Sharron, I love you so much”.  Alma had started coming to my class room a few weeks ago to talk to me and she wants to learn to sew.  She is not in the 4^th or 5^th grade so she can’t come right now.  She helped me make the decorations for my classroom and we have had some good times visiting and getting to know one another while we worked together. 

I need to mention here that the walls had just been painted by a group of girls from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa!  Roll Tide!

      At my cross-stitch class that afternoon, the girls decorated the marker board and wrote in English, “Happy Day Mom”.

      Later in the evening a group of girls, from the Esperanza dorm, were passing out roses to the entire group of mother’s at Casa.  They came to my door and gave me a beautiful pink rose and they all hugged me and told me, “Happy Mother’s Day”.  I was so overwhelmed with these showers of love that it made my heart rejoice.  It is true that I was not at home this Mother’s Day and may not be on many other special holidays.  However, we serve a Father who knows these things and looks down and reaches out to us through others.  He shows us that not only has He not forgotten us but He is giving us love through them.  In my heart, I said, “Thank you Lord for making this day so special to me”.

      Then I heard another knock at the door.  It was Lillian, the young woman, who is a university student and teaches sewing in the mornings here at Casa because she has classes in the afternoon.  She hugged me and told me, “Happy Mother’s Day Sharron”.  I almost cried when she came because her own mother, who would have been close to my age, died when she was very young.  Another knock on the door came shortly after that and when I opened the door, I saw my three friends at the door with dinner in their hands.  They had made Lasagna and brought plates and forks as well as my favorite drink here (Mango).  It is a type of Kool-Aid they sell here with tropical fruit flavors.  They also made me two cards; one was in Spanish and one in English.  The art work on the cards was done by Susi, the youngest of the sisters.  The sisters, Marlin, Mirna and Susi come by almost every evening to help me practice my Spanish.  If they have a lot of homework and can’t stay, they always stop by and tell me ‘good night’ and hug me.  On one of those evenings, they asked me to tell them about my life.  I enjoyed sharing with them the hand of the Father in my life so that they would see the goodness of God.  On the next evening, they shared with me.  These girls have become very special to me. 

       One of the hefe’s in the Esperanza dorm has asked to call me, ‘Mama Sharron’.  A hefe is an older girl who is in charge of the younger ones and they help the dorm parents.  I told her she could call me anything but ‘gringa’.  I don’t personally like the word but it is what I get called when they do not know my name.  Gringa means ‘white woman’.

      I love the girls here and so many have already become very special to me in different ways.  I go on line to Casa’s web-site to read their stories so that I can be familiar with them.  If you want to read some of these stories, go to:   www.casaontherock.org    I’m sure as time goes on, I will get to know many more.  When I look at these children, I thank the Father that He has brought them here where they have a nice place to sleep, three meals a day, clothes to wear, and an education.  They also hear about Christ and how to become a Christian and live according to the Bible.  While these children are safe, there are many, many more in this country who are not.  I pray for them as well as all the children here.  Many have experienced unspeakable things in their life, and it is very hard to overcome them.  I am confident that as they put their trust in Christ, He will help them to go above and beyond what they have experienced.  Scripture says:

   “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten —
the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm
my great army that I sent among you.  Joel 2:25

 Just some of my thoughts while living here in Guatemala…