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June 18, 2007
The Help and Hope center is hosting a course for teaching the deaf. Ana Carrillo, president of Una Sonrisa Para Todos, has determined there is a great need for this service in the communities surrounding Rubio. What an opportunity to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ and educational opportunities to those who are poor and deaf.
The first session took place on Saturday, June 16th. Twelve participants from local churches and schools were in attendance. Six Andean Aid staff are taking this course in anticipation that the Help and Hope Center services will soon be offered to the deaf.
Pre-School Early Reading Program
The Help and Hope Center is offering a pre-school early reading program to the poor. Some children come to the Center for assistance and have little or no reading or writing skills at ten or twelve years of age. The early reading program was conceived as a long term strategy to overcome this obstacle. Also, it was our desire to offer a safe place for children to stay while the mothers worked to assist the family.
When the decision was made to proceed with this plan, the next fifteen children to register were between the ages of four and six years old. God provided us a flock and we felt that god was putting His seal of approval on our plan. One child in the program contracted dengue fever and nearly died. Andean Aid provided the necessary medications and foods to bring her back to health.
El Centro de Ayuda y Esperanza (The Help and Hope Center) opened on a rainy Rubio morning on Monday, January 23, 2006. It's been a challenge obtaining the property and getting ready but it all proved worthwhile when the smiling faces came through the door to get much needed assistance with their studies.
Gaby Andrade, Director of the Center, along with many helpers from local churches have been scraping, painting, cleaning and making bookshelves and tables. God taught them all many lessons as they maneuvered through a difficult process of leasing the property. They learned about God’s faithfulness and provision and how to deal with barriers and setbacks.
Each day more new children show up to register at the Center. We are very close to our capacity of 100 children. Of the children registered fifty percent have two Colombian parents and forty percent have one Colombian parent. Our goal to reach out to the Colombian refugee population is being achieved. All ages are represented from two to seventeen years old. Sixty two percent of the children registered are girls.
So, early in it’s life the Center is reaching children and reaching families. Several pastors in the next few weeks are meeting to determine how to bring the good news of Christ to them. Please keep the Center in prayer considering the following:
Safety for the children as they travel to the Center and safety for the Center staff.
That Andean Aid may truly achieve the goal of Enabling the Afflicted to Flourish.
Provision of adequate facility and staff to meet the growing demand.
Provision of adequate funding to continue this vital service.
An openness to the Gospel as we serve the needs of these families.
