I have the blessing of spending the month of December with the amazing group of kids at Mi Casa Kids, a Christian orphanage with 14 kids aged 7-23. But this is not the Hollywood blockbuster “Annie”-style orphanage. This is a home. In fact, it’s called the hogar; which is Spanish for home. This is not a place where kids dream about finding their families, because they have already found them here.
According to the United Nations, El Salvador is now the most dangerous country in the world for children under 20. Gangs control most of the country and take kids as young as age 8. Boys are taken to collect extortion money and girls are taken for pleasure, many of whom end up pregnant by age 12. Of those who haven’t been taken, many are abused and abandoned. They are fragile children caught in the hands of violence and poverty.
But in the midst of this darkness, Mi Casa Kids is a home filled with His light. And above everything, the staff are committed to raising children who know and love The Lord. The men and women that work at the hogar are not just staff; each one is an aunt or uncle that loves these children so well. And nothing made my heart melt more than the first time I heard one of the kids call the founder “Daddy”. This is family.
The children who live here are given a chance to dream. They are given the opportunity to be children, when they are surrounded by a world that steals it away.
Just this past week, one of the girls left the hogar to fulfill her childhood dream of studying in The United States. In January, she will be studying English before beginning her Political Science degree in Florida. (I can’t wait to visit her when I get back home) She had a dream, and now she is living that dream.
Right now, the 7 kids are still waiting for funding to attend school in January. An English education is essential for these kids to break out of the cycle of violence and poverty and the only chance many of them will have at living the lives they imagine.
At Mi Casa, dreams are validated. The children may have been orphaned, abandoned, abused, or for some all three, but that doesn’t define them. Because their identity is in Jesus Christ. And all things are possible through Christ. Will you please consider helping to fund their dreams?
To donate…
-Please visit Fund Their Dreams on GoFundMe.com and click “Donate Now” on that page
-Or for a tax deductible donation, please visit www.micasakids.org
-Or mail a check to the accountant’s office located in the United States (address: Mi Casa International, c/o Mike Larson CPA, 5665 Meadows Rd. #310, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035).
All of the money raised will go toward funding their education.
“Look at the nations and watch, and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”
Habakkuk 1:5
What I want more than anything is to help them continue down a path that has a multitude of opportunities. They have all welcomed my team and I into their home, hearts, and family. So I may not be with my blood family this Christmas, but my heart is full of joy and love for the family I have here in El Salvador.
Please keep the hogar in your prayers. Not only financially, but also spiritually and emotionally through this holiday season. They are also looking for a church partnership. Currently they are one of the only, if not the only, orphanage in El Salvador who is not sponsored by a church.
Thank you all for your love and support!!
#FundTheirDreams
