There are 7 houses at Casa Shalom. Roughly each house about 10-12 kids, some big enough to care for 20. Each house has two (or three) encargados, house mothers or fathers that care for and love on the kids. These house parents fill the role of a parent in the lives of many boys and/or girls that come to the orphanage. They teach them how to hand wash their clothes, mop the house, and brush their teeth properly. They help take them to and from school, doctors visits, and their court dates, some for the first time in their lives. They love them like their own kids, many of who have kids of their own they have left in another’s hands while they come to work at the orphanage. And, they are responsible for providing a Christ-like example within the walls of the house, leading the kids in prayer, playing worship music in the house, doing a devotional with them, or just guiding them to a new faith.
But they themselves also need to be filled. It’s like gas in a car. You fill the car up with gas, drive around all day, and guess what? The car is gonna need to be filled again so it doesn’t stop, parked in the middle of the road. The same with house parent, or really anyone with a lot of responsibility on their shoulders. If they keep going and going and going for the kids, soon they’ll be on empty, looking for the nearest “gas station” to refill them. I have found my own “gas stations” to refill me and lift me up at least once a week, and I hold onto them tight, because of how they strengthen me and push me to keep going.
In our hopes to be “the gas station,” to refill and restrengthen those that are with the kids the majority of the day, we have decided to provide them with a short devotional for the week. It’s done in the mornings, when most of the kids are in school. We’ve created two groups of the 16 house parents, 8 to a group, so that someone can be in the house with the kids that are home in the mornings. We’ll do the same devotion for the two groups, so we have two different devotionals twice a month, if that makes sense. Week one would be group #1, in devotional #1. Week two would be group #2, in devotional #1. Week three, group #1, devotional #2. Week four, group #2, devotional #2, and so on.
It’s a place we want them to feel welcomed, comfortable, and at peace. We prepare coffee and a small snack, sing a few worship songs together, have a game or two, and share the message for the morning, closing out with prayer and shared prayer requests.
I’ve been given the task throughout the week to share the devotional each and every morning through text message with those that requested to receive it. It not only gives them a bit of positivity to start their day off right, but holds me accountable for doing my own devotions (on those days I get “too busy” or don’t feel like doing it) and helps me with learning some new Spanish vocabulary, reading the English and sending the Spanish at the same time.
Our first week of doing it, one of the house dads couldn’t join us because he wasn’t feeling well. Once we finished up for the morning, we headed up to his house to pray for his health and care, that he would be given the strength to work with the kids and hopefully join us for the devotion the following week. This devotional isn’t something we check of the weekly to-do list. It is something we are committed to in building relationships, encouraging their hard work, and allowing them to feel loved and cared for, like they show love and care to the kids day in and day out.
I’m praying that through this hour a week and daily digital devotionals, we will not only witness a change in the house parents, but in the houses at Casa Shalom, in the house parents’ loved ones and families, and within the lives and hearts of the kids at Casa Shalom. Will you join me in prayer, that God would be present in our words and actions, bringing light to the lives of these fathers and mothers?
(har)Perseverance on a mission 