Due to some extra funds, this past week the Casa de Esperanza (meaning the House of Hope in English) children’s home in Honduras was able to take in two more children, a brother and sister. Here’s how Terri Tindall describes what took place …
They brought the little boy to us first. He will be 2 in February. He is so little. It was a long time before we saw even a hint of a smile. He has bronchitis and has to be kept warm. Marc & I took him and loved on him. His name is Jose Manuel. We will call him Manuel as there are already two Joses here.
Then they brought his sister in to us. Her name is Ester Naomi. She let it be known she preferred Naomi. She is either four or five, but no one is sure because she has no birth certificate. She was, and still is, scared to death.
Marc took her first. He picked her up to hug her. She had on underwear that was so small they tore when Marc picked her up.
When we walked to the car with the children, the only belongings they had were the clothes they were wearing. We did not know if Naomi would cry or not. She did not. We put her in the back seat, while little Manuel slept.
When we got back to the Casa de Esparanza everyone rushed for little Maunel. Little Naomi began to cry. She was so scared. We took her to the new cottage and showed her her room. She then got a much-needed shower. Her shoes smelled so bad. We got clean clothes on her and new shoes and underwear that fit. After a quick look through little Naomi’s hair, we realized there were lice everywhere. She will have to be de-liced. We gathered up several sets of clothes and told her they were all for her.
Naomi is starving for love. Every time I walk by, she reaches up for me to pick her up. And so far, I have not disappointed her. She is missing several teeth. They were rotten bad teeth and they have been pulled. Thankfully, they are baby teeth, not permanent teeth. She will be near toothless for about three years. One thing I have noticed is that Naomi doesn’t hold her fork like a four or five year old should, but she sure manages to eat. She gets a lot of food off of the plate. And when she finishes, she picks up the plate and licks it clean. She plays by herself a lot. I’m sure she will learn to start playing with the other girls. She is starting to adjust.
The two precious little ones have come from a life of extreme poverty, where their mother was unable to supply the most basic of needs. Pray for them.”
Two thoughts…
1 - There are many more children in this world that need rescued just like Noami and Manuel. They don’t need our pity, but they do need us to share our love, our prayers, our money and our kindness.
2 - Today is a good day to thank God that you have been blessed the way you have.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” ~James 1:27
I am a Christian husband and father, who moonlights as the minister for the church of Christ in Childress, Texas. My wife Lea and I have been married for 23 years. We are doing our best to raise our 4 boys, who are all growing up way too fast.
"Today is a good day to thank God that you have been blessed the way you have."
Amen!
Great post, Thank you!
Wow. I have no words to say. But I do want to help that mission work financially.
Let us know how we can all help! A very sad story, but so glad someone can help them.
-Marty
With the state of the economy many stop helping those in need to take care of themselves. Just because the economy is bad is no excuse to stop helping others. God is with us in Good times and bad times.
Jesus loves the little children. Let's love like Jesus.
Trey, I'll give Naomi and Manuel a hug for you when I see them next week! You can return the favor when you meet them in December!
Sherry Hubright
I hope to meet them one day soon. Naomi and I would get along just fine – my shoes smell bad, too!
Trey, the plight of the orphans of Honduras isn't any different than many places in the world. I just happen to be a lot closer to the ones that are here. Thank you for encouraging people to get outside the walls of their buildings to "get a ministry". I believe Ephesians 2:10 that God planned in advance what he would have us to do. I just wonder what happend if we choose to walk past his plan for us – who will do it? Love you bro!
I've never thought of it before, but Trey do you think if we keep that complete verse in our mind that helping those in need is a great thing in helping us "unpolluted from the world?" You know fixing our minds outside of SELF and the WORLD. gmj
Thanks to help from another lady who adopted seven kids and now helps others do the same thing, Mom and Dad rescued my little brother Sam (formerly known as Anton Vladmiravich Kosakov) from an orphanage in Ukraine when he was 26 months old. He was non-verbal and suffering from failure to thrive despite the orphanage workers best efforts. After all, there were four workers and almost 150 kids under the age of 4 in the baby house. He weighed 14 pounds and wore 9 month size clothes, and that was after they'd been feeding him for a couple of weeks. He's 11 now, has no medical issues, and tests in the top 5% of his class. He is a blessing, and Kathy has helped over 1000 children find their new moms and dads.
gmj – great thought. Hadn't ever put that together like that.
Brienne – Thanks for the powerful story.
Trey-
I'm slinging pathos all over the place. It's a byproduct of end of semester insanity. Sam really is wonderful, though. Do let us know if there's anything we can do (send, whatever) to the orphanage that you wrote about, pretty please.