Dirt roads ridden with potholes, a filthy river overcome with trash, no clean drinking water, prostitution, drug dealers, severe fungal infections, hunger and desperation are a few descriptions of Cien Fuegos.
Driving to church from Cien Fuegos
We drove some visiting pastors from the states through this territory a few weeks ago and my heart ached once again for the people who dwell there. The children were playing and bathing in the same river where others were throwing their trash.
We stopped by the house of a family that is a part of our center. The mom called her children in from the river where they were bathing. Their clothes were filthy! My heart sank.
Since God has wondrously provided for us to purchase H.O.P.E Mountain, we were able to host various camps this summer for the children in our center. It was a joy to see them play in a clean river and a clean swimming pool. They laughed, prayed, learned English and most importantly experienced the love of our Heavenly Father!
As this new year begins, please continue to give towards the Cien Fuegos H.O.P.E Center. We have over 90 children enrolled this year, classes began this week. We always need school supplies, white t-shirts for their uniforms, Spanish bibles and lots of prayer!
This year will be the first year that we’ve demanded the parent’s participation. We are doing this in hopes to bring transformation to the entire family. Thus, Sunday morning church services begin at our center very soon and the Saturday evening bible study will continue. Parent’s have also been encouraged to work at the center during school hours during the week. Please pray for this new initiative as we aim to bring H.O.P.E to a place where much H.O.P.E is needed.
So excited about what God us doing!