This summer has been extremely busy for us, however, in all the chaos the Lord never stops challenging us. Recently, someone shared a word of encouragement. They told us that the Abraham Project is a lighthouse in our marginal community. It has been placed as a beacon light to warn others of impending danger, and secondly, the A.P. is a beachhead in enemy territory. A beachhead is a defended position on a beach, taken from the enemy, from which an attack can be launched! We have a strategic mission to accomplish! As part of God’s army, we are tirelessly working the frontlines on behalf of all the little people who cannot defend themselves.
During the past couple of months, we have hosted groups from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Washington. They have helped in every way imaginable: cleaning gutters, painting buildings and fences at the A.P., concrete work, working in the daycare, activities with the children in the homes, working at a local feeding program, sharing at a cell group for unwed mothers, and much more. For the third year in a row, Team Kentucky was able to go to Rincon de Osa (in the southernmost part of Costa Rica) to aide a church in a rural community. They sanded and painted the inside walls, mixed concrete by hand in order to build a sidewalk and columns in front of the church. We are thrilled to be able to help the body of Christ in tangible ways!
It seemed that since the beginning of the year we had been a bit stagnant. Turn over in the homes had come to a stand still. After our trip to the U.S earlier this year, we began calling our local PANI offices soliciting more cases. For some strange reason, nothing was happening. We had a couple of calls here and there but not much to speak of. However, over the past couple of months, we have received call after call soliciting space for sibling groups and individual kids. Thankfully, we have been able to fill the vacancies and currently have 15 children here.
Last month, we hosted a church from Virginia for the very first time They brought with them professional classical musicians and an opera singer. One afternoon they gave a private concert for the children in the homes! What a special treat! The concert was very much an interactive experience as they musicians involved the kids as much as possible. Afterwards, the kids were able to ask questions about their particular instruments (cello, violin, and flute) and received some hands-on training. These kinds of experiences are invaluable! They help broaden the children’s horizons and allows them to dream of perhaps doing something similar themselves one day!
We are fighting for the wellbeing of every child in our homes. By giving to Operation Abraham you are contributing to the neediest ones. Proverbs 28:20 says, “A faithful man will abound with blessings…” The Lord will not forget your commitment to the children of Costa Rica!
Today we celebrated the 4th with our friends from the great states of Georgia and Tennessee! We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, whipped up potato salad and baked beans, and topped it all off with dessert ... ice cream. It was nice to celebrate our country's independence with two of our teams and the children in the homes! God bless America!
