So an update on Christopher.
Today is probably Day 10 of him being clean of paint
thinner, and he has not shown the slightest problem at all. People say Day 7 is
the hardest, but he had past that day like a champ. Really with God all things are possible. Looking at him, he looks so
content, so happy to be here. Somehow when the boys are on the farm, their
whole feature changes. There is a softness in their faces, instead of the
tough-guy-street-look. Here they can be themselves, as their age is. There is
freedom to laugh, play, and just be silly and be loved.
Habakkuk 1:5 “Look around the nations; look and be
amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t
believe even if someone told you about it.”
It’s funny that 2 Sundays ago a few of us attended a church
in Los Pinos and the sermon that day was on Jericho and the walls coming down
(at least that was as far as I could understand). After the sermon, everyone
stood up and they had a trumpet blowing and they got everyone to shout. I just
prayed for walls to come down, for strongholds to be broken in Los Pinos, that
God’s light will penetrate the darkness and completely chase the darkness away.
This past weekend was a monumental time at the farm. We had
11 people baptized right here. Again, it was totally the boys’ decision to be
baptized, and all but one asked to
be baptized. It was on their own initiative that they wished to be baptized in
front of everyone.
Looking at Tony, I was again reminded of God’s love for us. Tony was such a proud ‘father’ that day. Seriously, you could see it on his face so clearly. He knows that they’re still going to mess up in future, but his love for them still shines through and he’s not going to give up on them.
1
Peter 3:21 “and
this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
A pool was set up at the farm and the boys were carrying buckets of water to fill it up.
But after much sweat it was still hardly filled up. And I’m not sure if I want to be baptized in this water.
So the next day a water truck came.
Much faster this way, and cleaner J
A nice clean pool of water all ready for baptism to begin!
The baptism candidates:
From L to R: Little Fernando in front, Ariel with the hat, Sarah, Christopher, Hope, Carlos, Don, Christi-An, Luis, and Henry. (Will decided to join in the baptism at the end so he’s not in the picture).
This
past weekend we had a Honduran church retreat at the farm and they were 8 boys
from Los Pinos here. Some of the people from the church seemed a little
apprehensive of the boys, as like many other people in the country. But if they
were to see the transformation in those boys as Tony has the faith in, they
would be amazed too.
On another note, we (the ‘North Americans’) were asked to
sing a song or share a word in one of the Honduran services. The coolest thing
was when Vanessa said she’ll sing a Spanish song and asked the congregation to
sing along with her. The congregation instantly stood up with such enthusiasm
and started singing along with her. Their voices and passion just touched me so
much. It was such a beautiful picture, all of us praising God in one accord,
whether we speak the language or not. Glory to God in the highest!
Another cool thing was Henry celebrated his 18th birthday last Friday. He has never had a birthday party before and the look on his face was just priceless when he walked in the door and saw us. Such gratitude and joy! A short video of that coming soon!
