Just a few weeks ago one of the local newspapers printed a statistical report on the topics that concerns our Nicaraguan population. As usual, more than 60% of their concerns related to poverty, lack of job opportunities and gender discrimination. Less than 50% of the national concerns were the political instability, the institutional weakness, corruption, violence, delinquency, drug abuse and other non-specified topics.

Surprisingly only 1% of the population was concerned about the LOSS OF MORAL VALUES. Besides, 7 out of 10 people found acceptable having to bribe in order to obtain some results in our everyday lives, not caring to denounce such corruption because supposedly nothing can be done to correct it.

Naturally, then, it is not surprising that every day we also read in the newspapers reports and graphically-described cases of spiraling violence in every aspect of the social fabric structure, including sexual abuse, rapes committed by immediate relatives, and even murder combined with rape -- all of which primarily affects our children in the 8 to 12 years old bracket.

There is abundance of child abuse cases in Nicaragua, but 7 out of 10 are girls who have been abused without being protected by any one. Even their mothers, in many cases, defend their abusers, usually the stepfathers, for fear of losing their (oftentimes inexistent) financial provision. Even worse, most of the children, especially the girls, have learned to endure such abuse in order to survive.

Additionally, the government's Ombudsman for the defense of the children and adolescents rights recently declared that there was abundance of issued laws in the country for the protection of children, but insufficient funds to enforce those laws.

Ironically, the position of General Ombudsman is vacant and his appointment subjected to political maneuvering. Meanwhile, the Ombudsman for children's rights is trying to fill this higher human rights position. And more ironically than everything else is that you see billboards all around the country promoting the rights of children, which means that there is substantial public funding available for marketing purposes while only a very few of the more than 72 children "protection centers" in the country (as they are officially called) receive any funding from the government, and most have to obtain all of their funding from private sources.

I have been asked to write about how our Children’s Home care model can make a difference in this disarray of moral conflicts and social abuse, but I had been hesitating a lot because as a national it is distasteful to conduct this type of analysis, because in the process I must expose our weaknesses, faults, and even criminal actions as a society, while at the same time we appeal to the generosity of outsiders. It is something like the world of Victor Hugo’s immortal book “Les Miserables” where he exposed the low life of the Paris City of France where the beggars specialized in exposing their wounds in order to attract the passersby’s attention and pennies.

But then, a few days ago, I had the opportunity to share with different people the maladies and miseries of their own societies. I also watched the international news broadcasts on television showing all the political infighting all over the world, all the nuances and twisting of concepts, values and concerns and all the maneuvering that is conducted in order to accomplish the agendas of a few. The last case of the terrible massacre in the Beslan Russian School was the twisting end of such a spiraling international mess. Some have been condemning what happened. Others have been tearing their robes. Others have been concerned by hurricanes or if what is happening will affect their personal or national lives. Even others have been doubting God and His control of this world.

All of these concerns are or can be legitimate ones, but they could be addressed and solved if the more essential concerns were considered first and recognized as the rightful basis for all the individual and social structures and as the basic fabric of mankind. Causes first, and then consequences, must be addressed.

This is the right approach to any solving process, and it is even more true when we are dealing with the most basic and profound aspects of our natural, emotional and spiritual lives. “Righteousness, peace, joy and the Holy Ghost is the Kingdom of God” says a very profound worship song, and this could be the Kingdom of the Righteous Man if he ever accepted the Lordship of God.

In other words, everybody is concerned about everything but not about what is central essential. Our paramount concern ought to be our moral values, derived from a proper understanding of life and the essentiality of having God at the center of our personal lives and at the center of our human structures. And this concern must start with the most basic of all human structures, our family.

If we do not recognized this essential fact, we will wander around in an unending spiraling circle, going nowhere, reaching no one, acting no how, seeking no known or certain goal. We will just be lost souls navigating in the darkness of an uncertain and purposeless existence, drowning in the waves of the tempests of this world.

Just today, the transportation planned for our children going to church failed and we had to stay home. We are now having a wonderful meeting with God present among us. Our children are praising and worshiping in the company of us, the adults. The British girl who came to stay with us is leading them with her guitar. My wife is encouraging them with Bible’s passages sharing. And I, who intended to sit in solitude to write this article, found the way to express all my feelings without being negative about it.

What it came to me was the story of Moses and his people. How Moses, condemned to die by the oppressive circumstances of the ruling system, was saved by being put in a fragile basket to be rescued and trained to later become the instrument of God. It came to me the images of the plagues and how they did not affect the heart of the Egyptians until the Angel of Death came to take away the lives of all the “first born” in each family, and how only those homes covered by the blood of the lamb were spared.

And this is what I told them, coming out from my solitude and then going back to finish writing this article with the sweet accompanying sound of the worship songs and words fluttering in the air. I told them that they are every one of them, a little Moses, condemned to death or slavery but saved to save the people, their people, their children, their spouses, their relatives, their community. But also that many plagues will come their way, and the only way to be spared is by covering their homes, our home, their hearts, our hearts, with the blood of The Lamb, the only Lamb, the only Savior, the only God truly God and Master of our lives.

This is what our Children’s Home is supposed to be: the saving fragile basket weaved by those who give us their generosity and support. The liberating fragile basket watched over by us as Moses' sister and mother did, under the protection of the daughter of the Pharaoh in the figure of our donors and sponsors.

This is what our Children’s Home is supposed to become: the home covered by the blood of The Lamb in the time of darkness and death after surviving the plagues of the world. The home where they will strengthen themselves under the covering and care of the Lord through our instrumental lives and care. The home from which they will part some day on their journey through the desert of life, hoping that every one of them will become another Joshua, who will declare that HE/SHE and their homes will serve the Lord, in communities of love, dedication, mutual support and service.

And this is finally what our Children’s Home and every home of every donor, sponsor, friend, acquaintance moved by our love and example is supposed to become: the catalyzing model from where thousands of homes, homes dedicated to God all over the world, will change the hearts of every soul that comes their way, by their example, their dedication, and their true love toward God and His creation, mankind included.

A New Beginning In Nicaragua
Arms of Love Nicaragua is Created as Work Begins on a New Campus in Jinotepe

Since the Arms of Love Children's Home first began receiving children in April 2000, it has grown and developed tremendously over the years. Our original facilities were built on a parcel of land on the outskirts of a squatter community called Lomas de San Judas, and the childrne's home was connected with a Christian school and a new church plant that was being started on the same site.

Over time, however, we learned a lot from our experience in Nicaragua, which was our first children's home project. For example, we noticed over time that no matter how well we cared for the children within the children's home, the surrounding community tended to limit the visions and aspirations of the children and the staff. So in September 2002, we moved the girls to a new house in a middle class community called Las Palmas, and over time we observed that the girls were developing and achieving at a faster pace than the boys.

So in June of this year, we rented a second home in Las Palmas, and that became our new boys' home. These two houses in Las Palmas now care for all of our children in Managua. Our original children's home facilities are now being used by the Christian school on the site, and that will enable the school to enroll and educate hundreds of additional students in the community. In exchange for this facility, funds previously donated by Menlo Park Presbyterian Church for the construction of a new school building were redirected to Arms of Love to help support and expand our ministry in Nicaragua.

Other changes occurred along the way. The church plant in San Judas never fully materialized, but another Vineyard church plant began to grow across town. The children and staff of the Arms of Love Children's Home are now a part of that church, La Vina Norte.

God also brought new staff into the Arms of Love ministry over the years, who have greatly helped us in achieving our original vision. Emilio and Gladys Padilla joined as directors in June 2002, followed shortly thereafter by Maria, a psychologist who was well-respected by the government. The three of them helped us raise the quality of our program until it became recognized as one of the best in the nation.

Then in October of 2003, Doug and Julie Effinger joined us from the Vineyard in Vancouver, Washington. Doug and Julie shared the core vision of Arms of Love, but also dreamed of a large campus that would care for children in a more peaceful environment in a smaller community away from the problems of Managua. With funding from a private foundation they had a relationship with, called the GO Fund, that dream is now becoming a reality.

This past month, Arms of Love purchased about 20 acres of beautiful forest on the outskirts of a medium-sized town called Jinotepe. Jinotepe is conveniently located less than an hour from the beach, Managua, Granada, and other sites. The region is also known for having some of the best private schools in the country.

Arms of Love intends to preserve most of the property as a large natural park, with literally miles of hiking trails and countless fruit trees and lush vegetation, for the enjoyment of the children and visiting ministry teams. Between 4-6 children's homes will eventually be built on the property, together with recreational facilities, a vocational school, and a center for hosting short-term ministry teams. We believe that this will offer the children an optimal combination of growing up in a beautiful, natural setting while still being integrated into a thriving local community with excellent educational and recreational opportunities. With funding from the GO Fund, construction will commence before the end of this year.

As part of this transition, we also recently incorporated and obtained non-profit status for Arms of Love Nicaragua, a new Nicaraguan entity that will own and operate all of our properties in Nicaragua. This role was previously played by CECRISDEFA, the non-profit that we originally partnered with in Nicaragua. Arms of Love Nicaragua will own the girls' home in Las Palmas and the new campus in Jinotepe. After the children move from Managua to Jinotepe, the house in Las Palmas may eventually be used as a "half-way" residence for children who are of legal age but who are attending university or looking for initial employment.

We are thrilled by these incredible developments over the past two years. With this new foundation, we will continue to persist toward achieving our original vision: to rescue the most desparate children and provide them with a standard of care that will truly change the course of their lives -- and, we pray, the future of their native country of Nicaragua.

An Opportunity for Change

Written by Doug Effinger

We could say we are the new kids on the block here at Arms of Love but the truth is we are neither new or nor are we kids. My wife Julie and I (Doug) came to Arms of Love after living a year in Nicaragua assisting in an institutional style orphanage. We have now been with Arms of Love for a year and have seen many positive changes and continued growth.

When we found our way to Arms of Love, mostly due to our Vineyard Christian Fellowship connection (we are from Vineyard in Vancouver, Washington), what we found was a ministry in transition. Emilio and Gladys Padilla began directing the Arms of Love Children's Home two years after it first began receiving children in April 2000, and a lot of work remained to be done. At the time we joined the ministry, Emilio and Gladys had already been here for over a year and had initiated a number of moves that would improve the chances of success for our children. The biggest one being the moving of our girls from the original home in San Judas to a middle class environment in a neighborhood called Las Palmas. The girls now attend a private Christian school, receive afternoon tutoring, and under the Padilla’s guidance are learning to act like young ladies instead of street kids.

In the last few months we have also been able to bring the boys to the same neighborhood with very nice results. The behavior of our boys has improved equally, showing that given the challenge and opportunity of a better life, most children will ultimately rise to the occasion.

Julie and I live in the same house as the girls and the Padillas. This is a relatively comfortable transition for us as Julie and I (both in our 40’s) have two grown daughters of our own who are living in the states. We enjoy being around the kids and watching them grow into young ladies.

Our jobs vary depending on the day. Julie wears the hat of house mother, assisting Gladys with all the logistics of seeing that the girls are ready for school, church, meals, devotional, bedtime, etc. It’s a very busy job for both ladies. My job is a little less defined as I am part-time maintenance man, part-time driver, mission team coordinator, and now project coordinator for our Jinotepe site. My favorite time of day though is right before bed when all the girls come to Julie and I and Emilio and Gladys to say goodnight.

The Jinotepe project is our newest acquisition. Located an hour south of Managua, it will become a community of children’s homes along with our primary site for mission teams to stay. We will share more on this project as it develops, but let's just say for now that we hope that many of you readers will come visit us one day at our new facilities.

The greatest thing about being connected to Arms of Love is watching the kids change for the better. I love to think about how far our girls like Juana and Luz Esperanza have come from lives of neglect and abuse to a home where they are loved and where they learn what wholesome healthy family love is. It changes their lives. A year ago Tatiana was a girl who wouldn’t give me the time of day. A very hardened 13 year old who had already seen too many abusive men in her home before coming to Arms of Love. Today she is a sweet girl who likes to kid around and is no longer afraid to reach out and trust. This is what a home environment offers. As house parents, the Padilla’s and ourselves can provide the children with special attention when it is needed to help the kids through a particular stage of life. Or to help them conquer their fears. God does show Himself in and through the lives of these kids.

At the boys home we have a wonderful Nicaraguan couple Luis and Scarleth, who are caring for our 13 boys. They are dedicated Christians who are expressing their faith through serving as house parents and administrators within the home. They are very capable couple who making a big difference in the lives of the boys who not long ago were almost too difficult to control. Now the boys are learning respect and responsibility. We are looking forward to the opportunity to receive new girls and boys, in new homes, as soon as our new facilities are built.

Our first year working with Arms of Love has been a very nice experience and we are grateful to have the opportunity to serve here. We look forward to seeing what the Lord will bring for the future of this ministry.