Milk Project news

Maria scheduled a parent meeting before the Milk Project got started this year.  They talked about rules, what is expected (coming on time, being in communication, not missing days, rules of behavior, etc.) and I asked how the turnout was.  She said at least one parent/guardian of every child in the program was there.  I was impressed.  It is our goal to help children and their families that are invested and really care, but I suppose I was still surprised to hear that there was 100% participation.

I am also continually impressed at Maria's ability to display love, while at the same time maintain order and discipline.  That is not an easy line to walk...or at least so I have found.

Maria did a devotional last week, part of that was sharing that many times the hyper-activeness people see when visiting the project masks bigger problems that the kids have difficulty sharing or expressing.  Some of those are just parts of growing up in Honduras, some are emotional/physical family problems, and I am not sure why, but what surprised me the most were the kids that are learning about God here, and then either cannot go to Church with their families, or are required to go to services and participate in activities they know are not in line with what the Bible teaches.  Honor your father and your mother, balancing that with honoring God, and the fact that you are a small child, faced with various punishments if you balk.

This year we were able to give every child a backpack, school supplies, and uniform appropriate shoes to start the school year (Honduran public schools run from February to November).  Some of those were graciously donated to the ministry, and some we were able to buy saving up one time donations over the past several months.

Helping the kids in their education is something we are not equipped to do well on a regular basis right now, but is an area in the future I would love to see how God might change that.










There was also a donation Justin brought back with him in January that we just recently distributed....clothes.  These came from a sewing ministry at his Church.  Maria sorted all the clothing and made bundles for each child.

I thought this picture she snapped summed up the reactions I saw pretty well...happy, wanting to try them on right away, and then of course kids being kids, being goofy.






I look forward to 2016 in the Milk Project...but even more excited for the possibilities for the future and how we can use this project as an influence for good and change in the young, and adult lives, that are being impacted.  It is already good...but I can see a future that only gets even better and deeper. Construction on the new building is continuing this year (with the donations we have in hand, working over the next six months or so we should be able to get to the first floor being done) and while change and growth can be scary (we have 25 children on a waiting list that we want to include when we can get enough sponsors), it is all only possible by God's grace, inspired leaders and volunteers here, and great prayer warriors and supporters in general.