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| John 6:39 "And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day." |
At the end of my last post the fate of our new student "Charlie Brown" was treading very thin ice and all signs pointed to the fact that Hogar de la Roca was not an adequate place for Charlie to receive the treatment he needs. Charlie had just one more night with us and if his seizures and hallucinations from alcohol withdrawal didn't cease, we were going to commit him to the Guatemalan City mental hospital. However, God works miracles at all the Youth Challenge ministries on a daily basis and Charlie was the most recent recipient of God's mercy and a new chance to start over again. And thanks to God charlie will begin his new life, not in the garbage dump in Antigua from where he came, but surrounded by loving people, prayer, food, showers, and a new family created and tailored just for him and his specific needs by his Father in heaven.
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Luke 6:21 "God blesses you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh" |
Pictured with Charlie are Mark and Dale, American missionaries living here in Guatemala and operating out of a Church in Antigua. Mark came across Charlie by chance on the streets of Antigua, and upon learning Charlies situation they offered him a place to stay with them, they provided him with money, and bought him a beautiful leather bound bible which is a constant source of encouragement and joy to Charlie. Afterwards, having learned about our ministry, they brought Charlie to us at Hogar de la Roca in the hopes that with these simple selfless acts of love for a fellow human being, Charlie will be forever changed and leave behind his life of alcohol addiction in the streets for ever. That part is up to Charlie, but the change that has taken place in his life after just a week of living with us is incredible and an encouragement to the few who are willing to invest in the previously broken life of a wonderful human being who just needed a little love and a little push in the right direction.
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| Our annual 3rd sunday in house church Service for the community. Can you spot Chris in the audience? He never misses a photo-op. |
And for people like Charlie and many others around the world, that "push" into Youth Challenge/Hogar de la Roca has really been a divine appointment with God and destiny. It's a place where God sets you apart for Himself, with the purpose of putting you on his potter's wheel and sculpting you into the masterpiece you were originally intended to be with the touch of the skilled hands of the creator of the universe. This process takes time and it often hurts or seems crazy and impossible. But after you see the miraculous move of God upon his people, most of which the world have already rendered as hopeless, it seems as though you may never again question with your heart if we live in the midst of a loving God, father, and creator . Lives change here, and it is such a blessing to be a part of and witness it all with my own eyes. There is a very popular saying that goes, "Once an addict always an addict." This is only true in the sense that someone who abuses drugs or alcohol can no longer have drugs or alcohol in any capacity. Yet there are some who invest time at our ministry and no longer have a desire to use drugs or alcohol at all and aren't really comfortable with the idea of calling themselves a drug addict for the rest of their lives. They want to move forward and God has this word for all His people.
2nd Cornithians 5 :17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
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This post is published with the enthusiastic permission of our
newest member to the family, Charlie. |
