Raffle for Village of Hope

You won't want to miss the awesome raffle going on here!!!

 All proceeds go to Village of Hope. Check it out and bid on some cool stuff while your at it. :)

A friend is someone who understand your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today just the way you are.

 ~ Unknown.

One of our amazing partners here at Village of Hope has the opportunity to win $50,000 to help special needs children all over the world- even here in Guatemala!

  They have just a week left to vote and are currently in 1st place but the competition is gaining on them quickly.

Would you PLEASE take a second to vote for PROJECT HOPEFUL today and for the rest of the week? It's an EASY way to give without it costing you anything!!!

Simply go here: http://www.cultivatewines.com/give scroll down and find Project Hopeful and VOTE. THANK YOU!

Outreach in the City...

After a week of moving into Village of Hope, dealing with a leaky roof and a theft, today was something Jesus knew I needed.

So often in life I am guilty of letting the small things get to me. Letting myself become consumed with things that in the long run don't really matter.

One of my favorite things in the world to do with our family is outreach. Today we had an opportunity to go to Guatemala City and do some outreach and my eyes were opened in ways I never imaged.

Our first stop was to meet a precious family who lives in the slums of Guatemala City and who grew up working in 'the dump'. Berta is 22 years old single mom of 3 kids ages 7, 5 and 3.

Berta has spent her entire life in the same area doing the same job ever since she was a child. And that job consists of picking through garbage. We visited Berta's home and community which basically consisted of tin houses...

and a shared community rest room....

Havyn (age 2) and Berta's youngest daughter (age 3)

Berta works right outside of her home where she and her community clean, recycle and resell plastics from the dump. 

Bertas next door neighbors repaired, reshaped, recycled and resells tin all found in the dump.

Another community near the dump...

And another precious family doing all they can to survive...

Inside of their home where garbage is gone through....

A child at work inside their home...

Berta also brought us to see the dump where people work day in and day out tirelessly hand picking through the garbage in hope to resell items that were thrown away.

I think for me though one of the most disturbing things I saw today was this...

Buzzards that were everywhere...

Because over looking the dump is the national cemetery...

And when you are unable to pay for the space for the year, they knock out the cement and simply throw the remains over the side of the mountain into the dump...

Notice the baby blanket and plaque....

The remains of this man was thrown down the side of the mountain right in front of us...

As I reflected upon the day, the desperation, the stench, the loss and the people who's lives seemed so hopeless...

I turned my eyes to the one who brings hope to the hopless and in the midst of it all...

I found Him.

When you give- with BOTH HANDS.

                                                                         (photo credit)

I’d like to ask you to do something for me. Real quick, right where you are, take just a minute and really look at your HANDS.

If something is in them, set it down, turn your HANDS over palms up and really look at the marvelous creation the human HAND is.

If you are like me, most days you do not give much thought about the importance of your HANDS. Yet can you imagine your life without them?

Throughout the bible ‘HANDS’ are mentioned over 1,800 times… in the beginning Jesus used his HANDS to form and shape us into His image, in the end those same loving HANDS of Jesus were nailed to the cruel cross…

And still today we place our lives in the HANDS of Jesus.

Isaiah 49:15-16 - I will not forget you...I have carved you on the palm of my HAND.

We use our HANDS to pray, heal, praise, speak, give, work, touch, hold, love and bring Him glory. They are a beautiful tool the Lord has given us to be His HANDS on this earth today.

As our team sought the Lord for ways to financially make Village of Hope a reality and glorify God at the same time- we knew it would take a lot of willing HANDS to bring His vision to completion.

And then the Lord brought the BOTH HANDS project to mind.

Both Hands is a beautiful, simple way of living out James 1:27 with your HANDS.

A Both Hands project is simply:

1. Gathering a group 15 to 20 people. (think youth group, small group, or awesome friends)

2. Finding a widow in need in your community.

3. Each member of your group sends out a support letter (can be through letters, email or facebook) to everyone they know explaining what Both Hands project is and asking for sponsorship for the project.

4. A day is chosen and your group goes to the widow’s house to serve by cleaning out gutters, mowing, trimming bushes, cleaning out garages, moving heavy items, painting, etc.

5.The funds are then collected and sent to Lifesong for Orphans for Village Of Hopes Both Hands project. The funds are then used to better the life of an orphan.

What I love about this is how God takes the circumstance of the widow and brings them joy in knowing that their circumstance is helping an orphan. It’s helping out in the community around you and at the same time touching the life of a child across the world. Plus-it’s a blast!

When a person comes along someone who is not in their family, lifts them up with their HANDS, carries the weight with them without expecting to receive anything in return- people see Jesus.

You have the ability to make a difference in this world by using the HANDS the Lord gave you.

If you are interested in coming along side of us and giving us a HAND in making Village of Hope thrive we'd love for you to do a Both Hands Project in your community. Please contact us at:  amy@lifesongfororphans.org or christi@lifesongfororphans.org  for more details.

We would love to have your help.

Village of Hope is an initiative of Lifesong for Orphans in partnership with Project Hopeful.


Both Hands Big Build Animation from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.