Donation of School Supplies
Our children received a donation of school supplies from the children at Pagosa Springs Intermediate School. With the children out of school and on Spring break, the kids have lots of free time that is now filled in by drawing, coloring, and physical activities! School supplies that are donated are always a blessing. At the beginning of every school year, Casa Hogar has to come up with all the school supplies for each child required by the school, each teacher provides a detailed list of all the supplies that will be needed throughout the course, and the school material varies from pencils, erasers, crayon, paper, notebooks, scissors, glue, etc… As the child gets older and transfers on the middle school and high school, the required school material list gets larger. The school itself does not provide any school material thus, the reason for hardships for many parents when it comes time to send their children off to school.
Generously Supported
Dr. Dan Keuning and his family have generously supported the Casa Hogar project for 4 years. He donates medical supplies to Casa Hogar for the children’s use. Casa Hogar, through the Ministries of Love program, has distributed the medical supplies donated by Dr. Keuning to low income communities and to other organizations such as the Red Cross in Mexico. He also donates his time as a doctor, offering free medical check ups to low income families located in sub-urban areas of Manzanillo, and the outer border of Manzanillo where migrant families abide.
Thanks also to the Lewis family and Pastor Jason Rose!.
A place of refuge for those who need refuge.
There is a scripture in the new testament in which Paul is instructing Titus on how to lead the church of his time. Paul is laying out a beautiful progression of a natural response to kindness and grace. He says in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men…” and he ends the thought in verse 14b with, “…a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
This phrase “eager to do what is good” or “zealous for good works” is one that is hard sometimes for me to understand. Many times I need a real life example to understand scriptural concepts, but in early Spring of this year I had the opportunity to see an example of this “eager to do what is good” lived out in a very real way… I had the opportunity to visit Casa Hogar los Angelitos in Manzanillo, Mexico with some friends from my community. Pastor Jason Rose and I (from Grace Evangelical Free Church in Pagosa Springs, Co.) met with the Keuning and Lewis family, also from Pagosa Springs. These two families spent a month doing projects around the orphanage using their time and talents to serve. Dan Keuning is a medical doctor and was able to practice care of many of the children at Casa Hogar los Angelitos, and in the nearby village of La Lima. The primary purpose for me going was to see the wonderful work being done, and to evaluate whether to take more willing folks from our community down to support the project.
My first impression of Casa Hogar can be summed up in one word… Sanctuary! A place of refuge for those who need refuge. It was quickly evident that for the children living there it is a place to be nourished physically, spiritually, emotionally, and educationally. There is so much peace among them, in contrast to the harshness of life found just outside the orphanage walls. The vision that Nancy Nystrom was given is being born out through willing workers and servants to the children of Manzanillo and the surrounding areas, and it is a beautiful example of being “eager to do what is good”.
I look forward to my return trip with others from our church in June 2009. I look forward to building deeper relationships that have been started with the children of Casa Hogar los Angelitos, and the wonderful staff that works for The Children’s Foundation. I also look forward to the encouragement that I will receive from the people who are “zealous for good works” as the result of experiencing God’s grace in their own lives.
Chris Liverett, Pastor
Grace Evangelical Free Church
Pagosa Springs, Co.
Proyecto Portal Partners Hilltop Community Resources and
Casa Hogar los Angelitos
…a unique gateway to Spanish Language learning
Hilltop Community Resources, a human service organization in Grand Junction, is honored to be partnering with Casa Hogar los Angelitos in a unique language learning and exchange program. Proyecto Portal is designed for area organizations and businesses looking to actively encourage and support their employees in developing Spanish Language skills. The project partners “immersion format” Spanish Language instruction with guided service-learning trips to Casa Hogar los Angelitos. The combination of intense language study & real life practice in a service-learning environment is customized for differing groups and language levels and a commitment to small groups allow for maximum adaptability for participants and minimum adverse impact for our hosts.
At the core of this project, Hilltop hopes to honor and encourage those of their over 500 employees, who have expressed a desire to learn or improve their Spanish. The byproducts of this project include better serving the Spanish speaking community, as well as promoting cultural understanding and exchange. Hilltop also recognizes the opportunity through this partnership and project to spread the word about and provide long term support for the Casa Hogar & Ministerios de Amor. Creating a “sister program” type of relation- ship affords the mutually beneficial exchange of ideas, experience, resources, and vision.
Hilltop’s pioneer group of Proyecto Portal participants travelled to the Manzanillo in February and helped establish a new style of volunteer programming that includes engaging the Casa Hogar staff & youth in offering our participants classes in regional culture and cuisine, art, music, dance , history and geography. Conversely, Hilltop participants lead customized youth activities and staff trainings throughout the course of the week based on individual participant’s professional experience and personal passions. Intermingled with all of the classes and activities is formal Spanish language instruction and tutoring, as well as structured language exchange opportunities between participants and youth. A well rounded and winning combination!
For information on Proyecto Portal please contact Kelley Sura
at 970-640-8588
____________________________________________________
Hilltop Community Resources, Inc.
1331 Hermosa Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81506
970-242-4400/Office
97- 243-4646/ Fax
Promotion Event in Manzanillo
On March 15, the children of Casa Hogar participated in a benefit program...cooking 1500 doritos (little tacos)...and performing in downtown Manzanillo in order to help raise funds for the Casa Hogar.
It was obvious that they enjoyed this experience
