Guatemala Update

Winter Update

Greetings from Guatemala! We are finally starting to see the end of the COVID chaos here. Restaurants, parks, and stores are beginning to open back up. This year has been difficult, to say the least. Guatemala has endured extreme COVID lockdowns, financial repercussions from so many out of work, two hurricanes back-to-back, and now there is political unrest with regular protests. 

Here at HOME, we are giving thanks for our blessings. Things are rolling right along and the kids are doing extremely well. Our staff have really stepped up this past year and we're so thankful for our awesome HOME team!

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What We've Been Up To:

In October, we finished the Guatemalan school year with lots of success! The kids had a great year, despite all of the changes because of COVID restrictions. 

All of our kids passed their grades and with averages of over 80. We are super proud of each one of them and their diligence with their school work this year!

We've now kicked off our "summer vacation" learning activities and children are loving all of the things our two teachers have planned. 

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In September, one of the girls woke up extremely sick. A couple of trips to the hospital later, we learned that she had a complete bowel obstruction, the result of scar tissue from an operation she had as a baby. She was admitted for emergency surgery.

In the end, she had two surgeries on her intestines, an infection, and was in the hospital for a total of 25 days. She's now home and doing extremely well. We're thanking the Lord for His hand on her!

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One unique program that we have in place, is our family reunification program. This is something extra that HOME does to help kids return to their biological families, when there is a safe option willing and able to care for them. 

This year, we've had to change how we work with families. Instead of in person visits, we moved to weekly supervision phone calls. We hired tutors to help the families adjust to the change to distance learning. We also started sending boxes of nonperishable food items to help offset some of the economic difficulties facing the country.

During the past two months, we have successfully closed 5 cases in reunification. We completed our one-year commitment to work with the family and we turned the supervision over to the court system. It's something to celebrate! 

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After 8 years of serving in Guatemala, our Director Amber Corey will be relocating back to the United States to serve in a church in Connecticut. She has poured her life into HOME and we are thankful for everything she's done for this ministry. We will definitely miss her but wish her well! 

Taking her place will be Estuardo and Wendy de Larios. This couple and their 3 month old son will be a great asset to the HOME family and we are excited to welcome them as our new Directors! 

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Words cannot express how grateful we are for our partners. During this time of uncertainty, your faithfulness and generosity is so very appreciated. Please know that our team prays for you regularly. You are what makes it possible for HOME to continue to be a safe refuge in a world full of chaos. THANK YOU! 

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