Visits from ex-residents

Today we were blessed with two visits from women who had previously stayed at the shelter. 

Elsa came to say hello and update us on her life. She has a positive outlook and couldn't express enough how grateful she was to all who supported her during her time at the shelter and have continued to pray for her over the years. Elsa is currently working two jobs, one of those is at a Salon de belleza. Through special donations Elsa was granted a scholarship to study for beauty school during the time she lived at El Refugio. After leaving the shelter, however, she had trouble finding a job that allowed her to continue growing in her skills as a beautician, which is what she loves. Recently she was blessed with this job at a salon. "My dream has now become a reality" she told us today. We're so proud of you Elsa. Keep working for all your dreams and God will grant you the desires of your heart!

Carmen left El Refugio towards the end of March, in which time she had her baby girl. We all took turns holding the sweet baby and getting caught up with Carmen. She has not been able to find a real job yet since she is taking care of the baby and her other daughters. Please pray for her to find a job in order to provide for her family and continue to support her oldest daughter in her studies.

Carmen's daughter (on the right) makes a new friend with another girl currently living at El Refugio.

Board Retreat

Last weekend the El Refugio board members met for a much needed retreat to pray and make plans for the future. We spent most of Friday and part of Saturday discussing goals and visions for El Refugio and praying for God to give us wisdom and direction for future plans and decisions. As you can see from the pictures, Mike was able to join us from North Carolina to participate and guide our discussions. That was a great blessing.

Posing for our group picture (Kim, Jessie, Susan, Rachel, Mike, and Brian)

Jessie helped arranged for us to stay at some missions housing not too far from Antigua, Guatemala. We had beautiful weather and the lodging was perfect for our needs. El Refugio's director, Gladys, was present for Friday activities which was very helpful.

It was a beautiful day for meeting outside. Brian, on the left, is our newest board member along with his wife Melanie who could not be with us for the retreat.

Mike getting some attention from one of the dogs who apparently thinks he's a lap dog. 

Over all, we had a very productive and refreshing time and each of us was able to share a unique perspective with the ultimate goal of sharing Christ and improving the lives of all women from El Refugio- past, present and future! 

Elsa gives sewing lessons

Do you remember Elsa and her son? They lived at the shelter for just over a year and left last fall. Well, we've stayed in contact with Elsa over the months and she has been gracious enough to donate some of her spare time to teaching our new ladies how to sew aprons. Elsa is positive and smiley and it's been nice to see her face around the house again. The informal sewing classes gave some of our current women a chance to practice a new skill in the house or for their future. We're also thankful for the time she took to look over our machines and do some quick tune-ups.

 Elsa, who learned how to sew alongside Thelma in our shelter, shows the new ladies that they too can learn the skill.

Elsa watches as Maritza measures to cut material for her apron using some material donated from some friends.

Thank you, Elsa, for your heart and sweet attitude. You are in our prayers.

Chicken Run

We were blessed with a special donation to purchase chickens back in July. A team had come to build a space for them in our backyard. After months of having them cooped up, it was time to get out and run around a bit. The hens wandered about the yard picking at grass and scraps. 

The children were the most thrilled of all. They couldn't stop chasing and carrying and trying to scare the poor chickens. 

Some of our kids got particularly attached to the hens. 

I can't say the same for myself. The kids followed me around trying to get me to hold a chicken but they were unsuccessful and I had to hide in the office until it was time to put the chickens back in their coop. I was content that we were able to keep the kids busy for another day. Some of them are getting restless during these 2 months of break from school. Pray that our new kids would get along with each other and that they would have a restful yet productive break before school starts up again in January.

American Doughnuts

Last week we picked up a donation of "donas" to share with the women and children at El Refugio. Our director Gladys had been in contact with American Doughnuts, a company that sells... well, American-tasting doughnuts. We sent them our info and they approved us for a weekly doughnut donation. 

Maybe not the healthiest snack, but the kids were sure excited and we eagerly accepted the donation. So, thank you American Doughnuts and thank you God for providing. We will continue to seek other organizations and companies willing to support us with weekly or monthly donations. Please pray with us for God to continue opening doors for this ministry.

Even our littlest got his own doughnut :)

Staff and children enjoying the doughnuts

Baby Shower para Lala

This morning we threw a baby shower for one of our newest ladies, Angelica (Lala) who is 8 months pregnant. She came to us about a month ago and was planning on giving away her baby. With prayers and counseling she has decided to keep her baby, who she found out will be a girl! Praise God! 

At the party we had games with prizes, snacks, delicious cupcakes made by our missionary counselor Nishe and a beautiful time of prayers to bless the baby to come. 

Rosalva directs a game where Lala is blindfolded.

We are thankful for the support of the other ladies as well as staff, volunteers and friends who came and brought wonderful gifts including lots of diapers!!! Those will come in handy very soon!

 Carlota giving Lala a hug and some words of blessing during a silly game.

I finally got on the other side of the camera for a picture with Lala as the party was ending.

Thelma's oldest daughter knitted this precious newborn hat for the baby. So adorable.

More cute gifts from friends.

Please continue praying for baby Deysi Eulalia as she is currently in breech position and only weighs 4lbs though she is due in 2 weeks! Thanks again to all who support El Refugio events, whether here in Guatemala or supporting from afar. Your prayers and donations help make these moments possible.

Despedida a nuestra Ana

Today we had our goodbye get together for Ana, a woman who has been in our program for over two years. We will miss her greatly, but know that God has a plan for her and will be at her side as she transitions into her new place in a different town.

After eating lunch with most of us board members and the shelter ladies, we had a nice prayer time to bless and strengthen Ana before she left. It got a little teary. I know I will miss Ana's upbeat attitude and all of our jokes and sarcasm. It will be hard to adjust with her gone. She has been such a big help to the house administrators, always happy to do a favor.

Please remember Ana and her 3 year old son in your prayers the next few weeks as she adjusts to her new home and life. And if you'd like to support Ana in her continued studies or with a donation to purchase items for her house, please let us know and we will help make that happen.

Rachel

~El Refugio Team

A visit from new friends

This past Friday, the shelter was blessed with a visit by some local University students. We knew they were coming to spend time with the children, but they surprised us all with small gifts, a piñata, pizza for everyone and lots of games. Oh, and best of all, they brought a huge food donation that they had collected from the community. What a wonderful blessing and fun way to spend our Friday evening.

It wasn't the first time these young people have come to visit us and we pray that it isn't the last. They told us they would like to come every month and bring a food donation and spend time with the kids and the women. They are also going to see how they can help us more financially by talking to their University and other students and friends to get involved and donate food and other resources to the shelter.

University students act out a play for the children. We laughed so hard when the stuffed lion came on stage.

It was truly wonderful to see these students full of passion to help and serve the people in their country. I hope this relationship continues to grow and they we can bless them as they have blessed us.

Hit it hard, girl!

 Candy for everyone!

Meanwhile the ladies were able to continue their crochet lesson which they have every Friday afternoon.

Look at all the food they brought!

Staff development "retreat"

Back in February all of the staff from El Refugio got together for some professional development time. We began with prayer time as a group. What a wonderful way to begin a day of hard work and problem solving. Our first goal was to come up with a concrete vision and mission for El Refugio and how we would cooperate to accomplish the goal~ how can we be His hands and feet?? 

After a short devotional from Susan and a lesson from Jessie on servant leadership, we began the afternoon with some group activities and brainstorming. There were 4 main areas or pillars that we addressed which were  Unity and Teamwork, Boundaries and Professionalism, Respect for our Ladies, and Good Communication. We worked as a group to share and communicate ways we could improve each of these areas. The day was full of laughter and even some tears. We didn't quite finish with everything we hoped to cover so we plan on finishing up in the next week or two during one of our weekly staff meetings. 

 Rachel and Pamela writing down ideas for Splash board activity

Sorry, this blog is coming late. I wasn't able to send it out a few weeks ago as I meant to! Please pray that we can continue growing and improving as a ministry, specifically in the 4 areas I mentioned above.

Pamela and Deysi in Seattle

This past month Pamela and Deysi had the great privilege of visiting Seattle, WA in order to participate in a missions conference and also to visit and learn from a women´s shelter.

 In their first days they assisted Grace Lutheran Church and gave a presentation on the latest news from El Refugio. This is the church that has given scholarships to Ana and Elsa for their beauty classes and who have now committed to support Alba for 3 years of Nursing school beginning in January. We are so grateful for this wonderful blessing and all of their support and prayers.

Ladies from Grace Lutheran who support the shelter and visited us last February

Deysi and Pamela giving a presentation about El Refugio

 

Deb from Grace Lutheran shares about her experiences in Guatemala

 

selling jewelry for El Refugio

 

Later in the week the ladies were a part of a 5 day mission´s conference at Lifeway Church along with several other missionaries from around the world. They learned about the importance of creating and maintaining relationships with the people from their host country among other important topics.

missionaries attending conference

 

 sharing with the children during Sunday School

The last week of their trip Pamela and Deysi went to Hope Place shelter where they spent 5 days and nights learning about the management of their center and sharing testimonies with the women. They were extremely impressed by the facilities and the special programs and classes for each woman.

Deysi chatting during lunch with one of the women from Hope Place

Deysi and Pamela returned greatly impacted by their trip and tremendously grateful to all of the people that reached out and welcomed them, sharing food, stories, gifts, and most importantly their time. How wonderful to see How God is working in these ministries and that we could learn and be a part of His great mission!

Women's conference in Guatemala

Yesterday was the last day of a 5 day conference on the status of women in society. Our director, Pamela Leon, was involved in the planning of this conference that included guest speaker, Darrow Miller, author of the book, Nurturing the Nations. Two days were spent introducing the topic and breaking down common myths and cultural influences on the status and role of women in society. The following 3 days were more intensive, getting at core issues and comparing cultural views of the woman in relation to marriage and motherhood to the views that God reveals through His word.

Darrow Miller speaks to the group with the help of his translator (Day 5)

Understanding these teachings has the potential to greatly impact the way locals as well as global workers here in Guatemala tackle problems that women face here. I, for one, am very thankful that I was able to attend and participate for 2 days of this conference. While we would have liked to see attendance a little higher for this event, it was still inspiring to see people from various backgrounds and roles in society contributing to the discussion on women and contextualizing the topics to Guatemala. 

 Alba and I attend the conference and help sell jewelry

As their schedules permited, some of the ladies from the shelter were able to attend the conference, hopefully with a changed outlook on life, their future, and their relationship with God. We were also allowed to bring some of our jewelry from the shelter to sell during the conference.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible!

Please continue to pray with us for change and healing for women in Guatemala. And thanking Him for the people that are so passionate to serve in His name!

Feliz día de la Independencia

Today is Independence Day in Guatemala! There are a lot of traditions to celebrate this holiday. In the night people run in the streets with torches while onlookers toss them bags of water. I also found out that they like to throw bags and buckets full of water at any cars or busses driving by. Schools also put on special events to celebrate. On Friday morning I went with Mishel to see her kids perform in one of these celebrations. They danced to traditional music, sang the national anthem and read patriotic poems. It was adorable. The kids were nervous but did a great job. Mishel took lots of pictures so hopefully you can see some more when our latest update comes out.

Mishel's youngest daughter holds a craft she made for her performance. It is the La Monja Blanca, Guatemala's national flower.

Face painted for a special dance.

First El Refugio Blog!

Women's Brunch Jewelry Sale

Hello readers and El Refugio supporters! 

Welcome to our blog, 

One highlight of this week was being invited to sell jewelry at a women's group that meets at Union Church in the city. The ladies invited Deysi to give a brief presentation about our ministry at El Refugio two weeks ago. One of our women from the shelter came along and gave her testimony which greatly impacted the group. After hearing more about our micro-enterprise selling jewelry, they invited us to return the following week with some samples of the products to sell. We brought lots of our new line of jewelry as well as aprons and bags made with typical material. It was a great success! The ladies were curious to learn more, and some expressed a desire to help us sell jewelry or volunteer at the shelter. What a blessing!

Deysi sharing more info about the shelter at 

the women's brunch at Union Church

Please keep us in your prayers as the search continues for an appropriate vehicle for ministry use at the shelter.

Rachel and the El Refugio Team

Check back weekly for more updates :)

Trust between Christians in Guatemala

I (Mike) wanted to post an interesting (well at least I think its interesting) and informative incident that happened this past week.

We who are part of the ministry for abused women here are trying to figure out how we can expand the ministry and one of the greatest needs is for some transitional housing for women who are moving out of the shelter who have gone through the entire program and who need a place to live as they reintegrate into the larger society. We looked at a house that is for sale by some friends we know from church. The house has not been lived in for quite some time and is located in an area that started out as a relatively nice development but which has become essentially a squatters village. Lot's of people who do not have title to the land have simply moved in and claimed the territory as their own.

So our friend felt it safer for their family to move to a different location. The house is very well made but has been looted over the years. A ton of work would be needed to make it livable once again. So we visited the home and after had some real questions about potential resale value in the future. So we decided to get an appraisal.

Here comes the main point. The person we contacted to make the assessment is a follower of Jesus and has worked with various ministries over the years. I have known this individual for some 7 years. She quoted us a price which was reasonable but wanted 100% payment up front. And she stated that was the norm. Well as it happens we, the Soderling family, had just contacted a professional assessment company in the city to provide us with an assessment of our own home. They requested 50% down! So what we had been led to believe by our friend wasn't actually the truth. I emailed this person back and explained all this and as I suspected she asks for full payment ahead of time because of her previous experience with other Christian ministries. In other words she didn't trust us, fellow believers, as much as a secular company trusted someone they didn't even know.

Another quick story also illustrates a huge part of the problem with the church here and with how it is perceived by those it seeks to reach with the gospel. A close friend of mine took his pastor to an electronics store to help him purchase a TV. It was to be paid for in installments. As this pastor was filling out the form it asked him what his profession was. He filled in Pastor at which time the salesperson took the form away and stated they didn't allow pastors to buy on credit!! One of the biggest hindrances to progress in poor countries is a low trust culture. It seems the church and that would include the missionaries I suppose, haven't been able to make of an impact on this challenging problem

Wheaton track team at United Nations Park with El Refugio women and children

On New Years Eve, the Wheaton track team spent a wonderful day with the women and children of El Refugio at the United Nations Park, just outside of Guatemala City.  Everyone loved the petting zoo, the horseback rides (even some of the moms got a turn!), the playground, games of basketball, baseball, and even jump roping. There were lots of laughs, hugs, games, and fun.  It was a great chance for the women and children to get outside the walls of the shelter and enjoy a fun day at the park; and the Wheaton team made it extra special with their piggy back rides, games, and quick friendships.