I thank God constantly for growing up in a household with a loving, caring and present father. He trained us up in the way that we should go. I’d say all of my sisters and brother turned out well. He, along with my mother, encouraged church attendance as well as being active in our church. This was the foundation I needed to live a life that is pleasing to God. Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky.
While there are roughly 80% of El Salvadorans claiming Christianity as their religion, 85% of children under the age of 13 live in fatherless homes. This was a shocking statistic for me to hear and later read. The Bible has so many passages about the family unit. Parents are responsible for teaching and training their children. The Bible says “parents”- not just the mother. For after all, once you are married, you become one. So why do so many Christians in El Salvador not have a nuclear family unit?
My answer to that question is this- I don’t know. However, I met some missionaries who are giving hope to the fatherless in EL Salvador. Meeting and helping them in the stages of building their ministry was one of the most inspiring things I’ve done here.
Samuel and Charity. Samuel is the only African I have seen in all of Central America. It encourages me so much to hear his story and to know he traveled all the way from his country of Uganda to come to El Salvador to serve. Charity is from Canada. Their personal stories as well as the story of how they came to meet and why they are living in El Salvador glorify God in so many ways. They have three beautiful young children they care for and their love of God is evident in their words as well as their actions.
For the past several years, they have been organizing and constructing a campus that will house 80+ children. The idea is to have 7 houses with a mother, father and 12 children in each home. They know this can be done firsthand because Samuel has 11 brothers and sisters! Sam and Charity believe having multiple nuclear family units that instill God’s love, teaching and hope will in turn decrease the violence, increase hope and stop the vicious cycle of broken families. I believe this can work, too! My jobs included helping construct the homes (yes, I can help assist in some construction, haha), continuing to establish relationships with Charity’s neighbors, and playing with Samuel and Charity’s children (the last ministry was by choice- they remind me so much of my nieces and I absolutely adore them!).
For the past two months in Central America, our missionary hosts have been awesome. However, it is refreshing to see young couples drop everything to serve God. The missionaries I’ve met here in El Salvador are just a bit older than me with young families while others are around my age. I enjoy getting to know them for they are like a large family of believers. My goal is to keep in contact with them and continue to help them in any way I can.
As humans, we are hard wired for relationships with others- especially family. The Bible contains God’s plan for achieving quality family lives. We as Christians should take it very seriously for if we don’t we will continue this growing cycle of children with Daddy Issues. Daddy issues can lead to lack of self-worth, addictive behaviors, increased violence and so much more. I am glad to know missionaries who are dedicating their lives to exposing the Father’s heart in the lives of the fatherless. Kudos to them for allowing God to use them in this way!
Job 29:12- Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.
XOXO,
Belle
