Latest News
November - December 2011
Articles in this issue:
Snatched Away
In My Own Words
Once College is Over, Then What?
Brother and Sister Defying the Odds
My Journey of Love
Your Last Chance to Give in 2011
Snatched Away
Luisa
Right now, Luisa should be laughing and playing with the other kids in joyful anticipation of Christmas. This precious 12-year-old should be helping bake goodies for the big celebration. Decorating her home at Arms of Love. And practicing the Christmas carols she loved so much. Instead, she’s out wandering Nicaragua’s streets all alone. Or maybe she’s dead! Nobody seems to know. And apart from our staff – who continue to look for her – few people seem to care.
Several months ago, government officials removed thousands of children from residential programs all across Nicaragua. Luisa was one of two children taken from Arms of Love, ostensibly so she could be reunited her with her mother under a new government program called “Amor.” But Luisa’s mother abandoned her once before because she was unable to adequately care for her. To the best of our knowledge, nothing changed … and the cycle began again.
The last anyone saw Luisa she was begging strangers for food. Then she vanished. Nobody has seen her since. Thankfully, the Amor program has not impacted Arms of Love as much as other programs in Nicaragua. In fact, one orphanage just up the street from us had all their children taken away. The goal of family reunification is a good one – when the family environment is a healthy one. But too often, under the Amor program, children have been returned to lives of abuse, abandonment and extreme poverty.
”It is only because of the grace of God, and our good standing with Nicaragua’s Department of Social Services, that more of our own children haven’t been snatched away,” observed Robert Benson, president and founder of Arms of Love. “Government officials have seen how much we love our children, and that we have been successful in giving them a new family and a brighter future. That is why – in the last two years – only 2 of our 30 children were removed under the Amor program, while other programs have been shut down completely.”
“But even one child is one too many,” Robert says. “We always want what is best for our children – and on some occasions, that may include being reunited with relatives when prior circumstances have changed. But it breaks our hearts when a girl like Luisa is returned to the same tragic abuse that she was once rescued from.”
Please pray for protection for all the children at Arms of Love. And if you can, send a gift this month so we can bring even more children into our homes, giving them the only hope they’ll probably ever have to escape poverty once and for all.
Thank you. And God bless you!
In My Own Words
Kim and Luisa
I met Luisa on my first trip to Nicaragua in 2007. She was dirty but what a remember most is that she looked so sad – and scared. When we took her to the local health clinic to see if she had been sexually abused, I just cried.
No 8-year-old girl should have to have a pelvic exam. Turns out she was abused by her uncles. And I cried some more.
As she settled into to her new home with us, we gave her a bath, got her some new clothes (including a pair of pink shoes) and bought her her first ice cream cone. She just clung to me and snuggled. And even though I knew she likely had lice in her hair, I snuggled her back.
Luisa adapted to her new environment quickly and within months had a sparkle in her eyes. She was quite a little firecracker and very smart and sweet.
Then I heard the authorities came and took her away, returning her to her mother under a new government program meant to reunite families. But with no change in her family situation, I knew what she was going back to, and the promising future that was all but gone.
Several months ago, she was seen begging on the street. Then she disappeared. The address her mother gave was a fake so we couldn’t check up on her.
When I got the news, I almost cried again. But I didn’t have any tears left.
Once College is Over, Then What?
Robert in Nicaragua
I’ve always considered myself a forward-thinker. So while many of us – including our kids! – are looking forward to Christmas, I’m already looking ahead to what our young people will need in 2012.
What happens when our students finish college or trade school? Will they be able to find work? What if they want to start their own business? Or even more exciting, what if God has laid it on their hearts to become a missionary or church planter?
You know how hard it is for graduates to find jobs in the U.S. Imagine how difficult it is in countries as poor as the Philippines and Nicaragua!
That’s why I’m looking for new ways to partner with our college graduates to help them realize their dreams, perhaps by offering them a grant or micro-loan. Yes, it will require additional funds. But who better to give our young people a “jump-start” on their futures than Arms of Love, who rescued them from hopeless poverty in the first place?
Such ambitious plans require only two things: God’s divine leading, and the generous support of good friends like you.
If you are as passionate as I am about seeing Jesus Christ glorified through our young people, please send a generous gift today.
And let’s break the chains of poverty for the next generation!
Brother and Sister Defying the Odds
Stephanie
Next to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, education is one of the best ways we know to help abandoned and abused children escape poverty and become all that God wants them to be.
Which is what makes Stephanie and Rollie’s story so amazing.
This brother and sister, ages 14 and 11, respectively, came to Arms of Love in the Philippines a little more than a year ago after missing years of education. Thanks to your gifts, we were able to enroll them in private school in June, where they have both received academic honors this last semester – despite the fact that the curriculum is very challenging, and taught in English.
“Our kids have so much potential,” says Ivy Petallar, director, Arms of Love Philippines. “When given the chance, many of them go far beyond what’s expected of them. How exciting it is for them – and for us! – to watch as their futures unfold right before our eyes.”
Just as remarkable is the fact that Stephanie and Rollie are doing so well in spite of their tragic childhood. Growing up in a family with six children, their father left them when the youngest was born. Eventually, they ended up living with a great aunt – until it was discovered that they were being abused by the aunt’s son.
That’s how they ended up at Arms of Love, where they have learned to flourish at school, at church, and in our home – as God continues to write their life story.
Every day kids’ lives are being changed because of your kindness. Thank you for supporting Arms of Love with your prayers and regular financial gifts.
My Journey of Love
Kaeli in Nicaragua
Kaeli says that spending last Christmas at Arms of Love in Nicaragua felt like home. “Even though there was no chance for a white Christmas in Nicaragua like I’m used to, the home was alive with laughter, love, and thankful hearts for the blessings these kids received during this special time of year.”
Every child pitched in to make the day special, whether it was decorating the house or cooking the special dinner before everyone gathered together to eat, play games, and open gifts.
“It was amazing to see the kids’ faces light up as they received a special visit from Santa Claus and opened up their special gift,” Kaeli says – one of the reasons she continues to be a child sponsor.
“These kids have changed my future and taught me another dimension of love I didn’t know existed,” she explains. “At times, it’s a stretch financially. But it’s well worth it! Now, they’re able to get opportunities I have had in my life.”
Your Last Chance to Give in 2011
Arms of Love kids in Nica
Time is running out to give in 2011.
This month, we need $55,000 to continue caring for abandoned and neglected orphans through our special ministry in Nicaragua and the Philippines. In order for your gift to qualify for a tax deduction this year, it must be postmarked by midnight, Dec. 31. Please, won’t you send a generous year-end gift today?
There are so many of our young people who need help right now.
Eleven of our students – children we rescued from the streets not too many years ago! – are enrolled in college and need tuition assistance. Two more are entering college in February, and two more in June. Several others have finished school and would like to start their own businesses or attend Bible College.
But that’s just the beginning. Over the past few months, we received several new children into our Arms of Love family – rescued from the most desperate circumstances – and we have the capacity to receive another 12 children as soon as God brings them to us! But this can’t happen without your generous support.
We need to finish the year strong – and get off to a fast start in 2012 if we are going to rescue more young lives and help our college students realize their dreams in the new year.
If you haven’t sent a gift in 2011, this is the perfect time to show your support for abandoned and neglected children. And if you have given recently – thank you. But right now, the need is so great. Please consider sending one last gift before December 31st.
Do it because our kids need you. Or because God has given you a heart for needy children. Or because you see a small reflection of yourself in the faces of our children. Just do it today!
Thank you, and God bless you.
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