Transformation Tuesdays Blog
by José Chinchilla
Honduras National Director
We start a year with challenges and opportunities. This year, 2021, will be full of challenges and consequences from the past year, but we must also be attentive to what God wants to tell us in the midst of these challenges. Challenges can create opportunities for us if we have a correct attitude as we turn them into opportunities. We must always be aware to not have the attitude of the ten explorers Moses commanded to explore the promised land. Their attitudes focused more on claiming the challenges they will have to face and how impossible they looked at it than on the opportunities God was presenting to them to conquer that land and the fruits they could have. Sadly, they died, victims of a plague. They were not blessed to see the opportunities God had for them. The same is for us today. Please do not perish, symbolically speaking, to have our sight only on the obstacles that this year 2021 can bring us.
By Lisa Steele
FLM Executive Director
The world over it has been a year of wearing masks, social distancing, no travel, unemployment for many and sadly for some, loss of health and/or life. Honduras was not an exception. Already the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Honduras has suffered greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. And then came the hurricanes. Another unprecedented event—two back-to-back massive hurricanes hit Honduras and other Central American countries causing loss of homes, lives, and jobs.
But God.
Through it all, God has been ever-present and faithful. Even with a pandemic that closed many doors this year, so many were opened as well! We placed our fifth foster child with a loving, Christian family this week. DINAF (Honduras Children’s Services) certified Family Life Missions as a qualified organization for the provision of services for vulnerable children in an Institutional Residential setting giving us the maximum score required according to the national standard. To get this certification, we underwent a series of external evaluations and compliance checks with a scale of standards of 160 criteria grouped into six components: 1) Legal Status 2) Human Resources 3) Financial Structure 4) Institutional organization 5) Infrastructure and equipment and 6) Quality services of Child Care and Protection. We are thankful for our dedicated staff in Honduras and USA, our Board of Directors, our donors, Red Viva Honduras, network of volunteers, local churches, the community and support from other nonprofit organization friends and co-workers. Together we are joining forces to provide quality care to vulnerable children in Honduras.
By José Chinchilla
Honduras National Director
To see Catacamas with hope, health and stability in partnership with the church is a desire for Family Life Missions. As a team we are committed, dedicated, and passionate about this work and the fulfillment of this vision. We are convinced that God, in His perfect purpose and timing, longs to see the city of Catacamas in a healthy relationship with Him, others and nature. As citizens and Christians, we are called to be part of this transformation and restoration. We need to embrace and respond to this mission.
The most important core of society is the Christian family. We believe and are firmly convinced that investing in families will lead us to a hope of a new dawn in Catacamas. If we have healthy families, we will have healthy children who will have a strong foundation for healthy physical and spiritual development. But to make this vision possible we need to work as a team and partner with all the people and institutions that will walk side by side with us on this journey.
We are serving children and families through our three programs: Family Preservation, Foster Care and our Children´s Home. We provide restoration, training and transformation to vulnerable families and children of Catacamas through spaces, techniques, models, and a caring process with Christ at the center.
This is an arduous job for us at Family Life Missions. To think that only we can do it without anyone's help is practically drowning in the attempt. Not only do we need people, churches, and institutions, but most importantly, we must have God's partnership. Partnering with God gives us the strength, guidance, wisdom, and firmness to do what needs to be done. It keeps us focused on Him being our one true hope. It is God who reminds us that he has put us as catalysts for building a peaceful and harmonious society. Without God's partnership or presence, we could not break down the barriers and challenges that we face in this process of caring and loving vulnerable families and children. Partnering with God is the paramount value of the Family Life Missions team.
You are a valued member of this team. With you, we are able to face the sin that has harmed many families and children so much. Without your help we could not do this. We know that God has put in your heart and mind to support us in different ways and for that, we thank God for you being part of Family Life Missions. We are the church and we are the ones called to strive for a restored, formed and transformed city.
We invite you to be part of our team if you have not already done so. We promise it will be a road worthy of walking. We assure you that it will not be easy, but we promise that with God as the head of our team, the burden will be lighter.
For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
-Hosea 6:6
By Lisa Steele
FLM Executive Director
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.—Ecclesiastes 4:12
From the beginning, God let us know that team work is best. When we work in community, with God, we can accomplish great things. We see that every day in our work at Family Life Missions. Our staff works together (in the US and in Honduras) to serve vulnerable, at-risk and orphaned children and to preserve families and to place foster children in loving, Christian homes. Every month the generous gifts we receive from our supporters in both countries encourage us and allow us to continue this important work. The time, energy, and wisdom that leads our organization through our board of directors reflects a great example of teamwork.
This spirit of teamwork inspired us to form Team68:6. The team members are those who support us through donations, prayers, and service. The name of this team comes from our mission: We partner with God “to place the lonely in families,” a verse we find in Psalm 68:6. Everything we do is deeply rooted in our faith and love for God, His Word, and His love for all of us. Our vision is for hope, health and stability to define the community of Catacamas with the church leading the way. And we are the church. We are the body of Christ that forms a strong cord, deep roots, and a foundation of growth for those who desperately need help in Honduras.
We are launching our Team68:6 campaign this week and want you to join us! If you already support us—thank you! If you want to know how to help or want to help more, we thank you. You will find more information about who we are and what we are doing in Catacamas on our Team68:6 page.
Help us strengthen our cord as we all work together as a team to serve those who need it most.
Together is better.
