Learnings from Hogar de Amor

I spent the last week leading a team of volunteers and loving on the kids and caregivers at Hogar de Amor orphanage in Colima, Mexico. This is the 13th year we have traveled to Hogar de Amor, and I learn something different each year. I also learn many of the same lessons year after year (because I need a lot of repetition!). 

Every year, I am reminded of how sweet it is to take things a little slower and focus more on people and less on doing. This is not my default state or that of my culture; I am generally focused on "doing" and efficiency and accomplishment. Over the past years, my perspective has slowly shifted to taking more delight in slowing down and savoring the relationships. 

As the trip leader, I find this especially difficult, and all the more important. My days can be overwhelmed by the details: schedules, shopping for the next meal, picking up needed supplies, answering questions, and figuring out where we are supposed to be, when, and how to get there. It is tough for me to savor the moment when I feel the week's weight on my shoulders. 

And so it is all the more sweet when I can put all that noise and busyness down for a moment and just be in this place I love so much with people I treasure. My primary job for the week is to handle the details to facilitate those moments of connection for each team member... so my primary work is in the logistics of the future. Yet I also get these beautiful pauses where I sit in the moment's sweetness. I treasure that, and I love that I am getting (slowly, progressively) more practiced at finding and savoring those moments of presence. 

Learnings from Hogar de Amor

We had a truly blessed week in Colima, and I'm filled with gratitude for our jam-packed and all-too-short time at Hogar de Amor. If you missed the blog posts on our team blog, check out https://centerpointmexico.blogspot.com and read Sasha's wonderful day-by-day summary of our trip!

There's so much to celebrate about our week in Colima. I am grateful for the time we got to spend with the kids playing games and doing crafts and eating so much great food. I am grateful for the time we got to spend with the caregivers sharing stories and hugs and laughing together and, yes, also eating (we do a lot of eating). I am grateful for the tasks we were able to complete to make the houses more comfortable and more beautiful. I am grateful for our time as a team, caring for each other, getting to know each other, and serving each other. I am grateful for the time we got to spend together as a family, especially reunited with Ben after his months away volunteering at Hogar de Amor!

Every time we come to Coima, God does something different in each of us. This trip, as we were hiking down the canyon river on Thursday enjoying time in the jungle and in God's beauty and with people we love, I was struck with a beautiful lesson. 

I was thinking about the word "to wait" in Spanish, esperar. I was thinking about how this trip was categorized by waiting. The team waited 18 months to be able to take this trip. The caregivers waited and waited for the pandemic restrictions to lift - for the kids to be able to be back in school, for the homes to be out of lockdown, for other volunteers to be able to come and relieve these caregivers who work so hard. The kids have waited for their families to get healthy, waited for the next chapter in their stories. The staff has waited on donations to come, hoping that they would be able to pay the bills as the pandemic affected every aspect of their community. 

So much waiting. 

And yet there's something very cool about the word esperar. Not only does it mean "to wait," but it also means "to hope." The same word that you'd use to say "wait over here" you'd also use to say, "I hope we have a white Christmas." Waiting and hoping. Waiting in hope. How cool is it that the words are one and the same in Spanish?

It made me think of one of my favorite verses:

We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.

Psalm 33:20-21

God does beautiful things in us through our active, hopeful waiting. I think part of the reason that this trip was so special was that we waited so long for this reunion with our Hogar de Amor family.

And now the cycle of hopeful waiting begins anew as we plan and anticipate our spring trip. Waiting, hoping, esperando.

Mourning Mexico

Over the past 8 years, the Hogar de Amor orphanage in Colima, Mexico has become a huge part of our lives and has captured our hearts. Every year, we lead a group of folks from our CenterPoint Church family down to Colima to encourage, support, and be loved on by the kids and caregivers of Hogar de Amor. Our brothers and sisters in Colima truly are our family.

This year, we are unable to take our scheduled trip in April because of the border closings - and we are gutted. It's incomprehensible to us that we won't be spending April in Mexico, and we are mourning missing this trip as a family.

But regardless of whether we can travel to Mexico, the need at Hogar de Amor continues! Will you join us in supporting the orphanage's needs? You can donate online at https://centerpointutah.org/giving (select Mexico Mission Trip as the fund) or make checks out to CenterPoint Church with a memo of "Mexico trip" and mail them to us. Or if Venmo or Paypal are easier for you, just email or text us and we're happy to send your donation down to Mexico.

And above all, please pray for Hogar de Amor. Pray for the kids' health and safety and continued emotional growth even in a tough time. Pray for the caregivers and volunteers at Hogar de Amor as they now need to provide schooling on-site in addition to all of their other responsibilities. Pray that each person at Hogar de Amor would feel God's love, every day.

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Every year, we put together a letter as a family explaining how much Hogar de Amor means to us and sharing our heart for Colima with family and friends.

This year, we asked the girls if they wanted to share a little about their experiences in Mexico and I was blown away by what they shared:

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My name is Sasha. I have gone to Hogar de Amor about three years. This will be my fourth. I enjoy it all because I learn some really important lessons about poverty and what it means to “Help”. When I go there I feel like I'm doing something really great and important in my life and make a big change in the world. I feel like when I grow up that I will lead a mission trip to make orphanages and kids a great place to be. This is very important to me in my life and I feel like we should all put some kind of help into this mission trip for the children and their families, caregivers, friends, and everyone in this world.

 The Hogar De Amor orphanage is full of kids with either family problems or have no relatives. We go there to help the kids go through some hard times and help the orphanage. We like to go there to have fun with the kids and to have a great time with them. We go there every year to have fun. Some great things about this trip is that we get to make great relationships with the kids. We go there to make a difference in the world and help people in need. If you can’t go with us and you still want to be part of our team we would love donations for the trip. All of the donations will go to fund activities and supplies for the trip and for the orphanage. Last year we were able to save enough money to help build the new adolescent’s boy home which is so beautiful and they love it. The donations each year make a great impact and the orphanage gets better every year.

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My name is WanYing, I have been going on the Mexico Mission trip for a few years and it’s so cool to see all the kids and how happy they are to see us when we come. It’s a nice little break for the caregivers, too, because when we go down we hang out and do crafts and activities with the kids and that means the caregivers can take a rest when we’re doing those things.

One of the things that’s cool about going is you can make some friends or buddies and if you go again they’ll remember you and want to hang out again.

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Truly, Hogar de Amor has become part of our family’s identity and mission over the past 8 years as we have traveled annually to Colima, Mexico. As a family, we are proud and grateful to support Hogar de Amor Orphanage with our time, prayer, and finances year-round.

We invite you to join us in support of the orphanage financially. If you choose to donate, your entire donation will go to Hogar de Amor. Thanks for being an important part of our support team.  We are grateful for your prayers and enthusiasm for our family, and for the kids and caregivers of Hogar de Amor!

Mexico Memories

Our friends at the Hogar de Amor orphanage in Colima, Mexico have become a part of the fabric of our family; our annual trip to Colima an expectation and requirement on the family calendar. Over the past seven years, our brothers and sisters in Colima have truly become family.

And many of our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and community here in the U.S. have been a part of God's work in Colima by supporting us and this trip. We wanted to take a minute to report back to you the impact that you're having on the kids and caregivers of Hogar de Amor.

I know that describing our trip is destined to fall short - the only way to get it is to go (for sure, come with us!)! But photos are probably the next best thing, so here's a quick video summary of our 2019 visit to Colima. You can also read all about our adventures and see a day-by-day photo summary in our team blog at http://centerpointmexico.blogspot.com

In May we had the honor and pleasure of giving an extended presentation about the trip and its deeper meaning and impact at CenterPoint Church (our home church). This video includes an interview with my co-leaders about the trip and also about 15 minutes of me sharing the impact of our time at Hogar de Amor:

This year, we fundraised hard for Hogar de Amor to raise money to build a new home for the adolescent boys. The current teen boys' home is a rental and is poor repair. This winter, a plot of land was gifted to Hogar de Amor to build a new boys' home, and we've been working hard to make sure they can build a home the boys will be proud to live in.

Thanks to your gifts, the new adolescent boys' home is now fully funded! Here's a photo of the construction that we took in early April:

And here it is in mid-May!

We can't wait to see this home completed for the boys. Here's a photo of the boys who will move into the new Adolescent Home just as soon as it's ready for them. Your gifts, prayers, and support are making a difference to these kids and to over a hundred more just like them at Hogar de Amor.

Thank you for your support for Hogar de Amor. The outpouring of love from our community to theirs has been such an encouragement to our family and is impacting these kids for a lifetime and beyond.

If you'd like to stay even more connected to Hogar de Amor year-round, they have an excellent sponsorship program. The kids write frequently, you're encouraged to write back, and you get to stay really connected to their lives. If you're interested, just fill out the form at http://www.hogardeamor.org/en/sponsor-a-child and the staff will contact you with next steps.

Mexico: Our Week in Review

We had an amazing week in Mexico, as you could see from the video!

This is the 6th year that a team from CenterPoint Church has embraced the chance to go and grow at the Hogar de Amor orphanage in Colima Mexico. This year we brought 26 people from CenterPoint - singles and families, kids and grandparents - all bringing their own unique passions and skills to the week.

Over the week we were able to contribute about 600 hours of labor to jobs around the orphanage:

• We painted and painted
• We plumbed hot water to a house that previously only had cold running water
• We added shelves to closets
• We sewed curtains
• We mended clothes
• We paved a patio
• We repaired bikes and computers

We were blessed and so excited about the support and gifts for Hogar de Amor that we received this year. From this church and community we were able to donate over a thousand pairs of underwear, 700 pairs of socks, 800 toothbrushes, and almost $20,000 in support.

And we created some great memories with the kids:

• We got to host a pool party for 100 kids and 30 caregivers - that was a big day and we still have the sunburns to prove it!
• We got to play games and sing songs and do crafts with the kids each day.
• We stuffed and hid 1500 Easter eggs in an empty lot and reveled in the pandemonium of a crazy egg hunt.

It was a big week!

It was a blessed week.

Thank you for supporting us, for sending us, and for praying for us.

This trip matters. Not because of the dollars or the supplies that get donated or even the jobs that get done. Those things are what we do, but they aren’t why we go. Those things and those activities are an outpouring of our love. They’re the effects of our devotion to our brothers and sisters in Colima, Mexico.

This trip matters because it’s a time to learn from and actively participate in God’s sustaining love in action:
God’s love for each of us
God’s love expressed through us to the kids and caregivers of Hogar de Amor
God’s love expressed to us through the kids and caregivers of Hogar de Amor

This week I got a beautiful note from one of the caregivers at Hogar de Amor. I think it sums up our week perfectly:

Thanks so much to the whole team... I don’t think we have the words to thank all of you for your work and support… Thank you especially for all of the love and care you all gave us and for treating us like family - really for us you are part of our family and we admire you so much and love you. Thank you! You are like angels of God who make us feel loved. Thank you so much.

Thank you for being a part of what God is doing for and through Hogar de Amor.

Please keep Hogar de Amor in your prayers!

• Pray for the kids of Hogar de Amor - that they will know they are loved and precious and complete because they are children of God. 
• Pray for the caregivers and staff of Hogar de Amor, that they will be blessed with wisdom to parent kids in tough places and the energy to carry on in this tough calling. 
• Pray that Hogar de Amor would have favor with officials, would have ample funding, and would have many many hands to share the work 
• And pray that in the dark times, the tired times, the discouraged times that everybody in that ministry would know that they are loved fiercely and passionately and sacrificially and tenderly - by us and most of all by God.

Reflections on Serving: Steve

This year was my first trip to Mexico, and I was rather apprehensive. I'm not great with foreign languages and so I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to communicate with the people we were serving.

First, it was amazing to meet the kids we sponsor. It really makes a difference to meet the kids in person that we have been writing and sending gifts to all these years.

My best experience was fixing bicycles for the kids. My son, Ben, organized donations from the local bicycle club that we ride with and we were able to take down new tubes and pumps and patch kits for a many of the overly-loved bikes at the orphanage. It was terrific to have so many interested helpers engage with the tools and us. When one of the bike was finished there would be happy cheers and a little niño proudly test-riding the bike around the grounds.

One boy, Yair, was so excited to see me everyday that he would run over and shout, "Steve, Steve, I fix too!" I admit that so much "help" got in the way of fixing the bikes quickly, but the time spent with the kids and showing them how to use the tools was more valuable for me than getting every one of the bikes working.

I was happily surprised by how reciprocal the trip is. Jamie has gone on this trip six times and as much as we love on the kids and caregivers it's amazing how they love us right back. These relationships that have been forged through time and shared experience: we are all in this together. This isn't just a team of Utah Christians who head to Mexico to paint a wall or two, but this is a larger family who share their experiences and their hearts despite any language barriers.

This was so clear as we spent time at the water park hosting a pool party for the kids and caregivers. I couldn't go ten feet into one of our cabanas without being offered some food or a drink. Everything that was brought by every orphanage house was shared. There were generous cuts of grilled meat at one tent and luscious fresh fruit sliced and spiced at another. We were the ones being taken care of as much as we caring for others. This community of believers truly lives like the early church in Acts, breaking bread together in community with glad and sincere hearts, giving to everyone in need, and praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

Reflections on Serving: Sasha

(age 11)

One of my favorite things I like doing down in Mexico is hanging out with the kids and doing projects with the kids. This year my favorite project I did was paint the Golondrinas house we had to paint three girls bedrooms. Which had were painted pink and purple and one boy bedroom which was all blue. The people who worked on the bedrooms were me, Lazavia, Cindy, and Julie.

Why it’s special to me when I go down there is:
One: I get to spend time with the kids and make them feel loved by people.
Two: I get to do projects to help the orphanage and the kids.
Three: It’s fun to go down there and see new things and try new experiences.
And finally it’s fun to see how the children like what we have done and want to help us with our jobs.

My favorite thing we did this year was:
One: We went to a pool party with the kids and I enjoyed that because I got to hang out with them and they were having fun.
Two: Was the tour that we did I got to see new things and learn more about the culture.
And three: The easter egg hunt with the kids because they could celebrate easter with us and they all had fun together.

And those were some of the things I really enjoy about going down to Mexico.

Reflections on Serving: WanYing

(age 9)

The Mexico trip is very fun. You go down to the orphanage and you get to help out and spend time with kids, do crafts with them. It's really fun because you get to hang out with the kids and it's just fun because you get to make friendships and stuff.

My favorite day was where the kids made picture frames and we took pictures of them with a Polaroid camera and every kid got one picture and they could hang it up on their beds or do whatever they wanted to because it had a little magnet on the back. It was really special because I got to take pictures with my camera and all the kids got a little present from us.

There was a Easter egg hunt and there's like a thousand eggs and we hid them and then the kids came out and got the eggs and that day the craft was making little bags with decorations and stuff on it so you could put the Easter eggs in there.

I want to go back because it was really fun, you got to hang out with a lot of kids and do crafts with them and help them out and just support them and help the caregivers.

Reflections on Serving: Jamie

This was my 6th year leading a group of folks from CenterPoint Church, Utah down to Colima, Mexico to serve at the Hogar de Amor orphanage and each year God does something a little bit new, a little bit uncomfortable, and a whole lot deeper in me.

I'll level with you: The trip is kind of a lot of work to put together. It turns out that arranging travel and logistics in a foreign country for 26 people of all ages and backgrounds is tough. And stressful. So why? Why do it at all?

Because I can't imagine not doing it.

Because my family gets to travel with our church family to visit our Mexico family.

Because it's not a visit; it's a reunion.

When we first started this trip, we did it for the kids: our kids and the kids of Hogar de Amor. I have two kids adopted internationally, and it was really important to me to keep our family connected to what it means to be a kid in institutional care. Adoption, the fatherless, kids in need are such an intimate, essential part of our family's story. Adoption is how God expresses his relationship to us: chosen and pursued and cherished (much more about that here).

Over the years, God has used Hogar de Amor to break down my performance-driven tendencies and focus on relationship. The walls we paint will get dirty again and the curtains we sew will rip and the crafts the kids make will get thrown away.

But the relationships we make;

the sure and certain knowledge we leave the caregivers with that they are supported, prayed for, and never ever alone in this work;

the kids knowing that they're worth coming back for year after year after year

that lasts.

And I get to be a little part of it.

Love...  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:7-8

Want to learn more about our trip? Check out http://centerpointmexico.blogspot.com

Big Saturday!

When I look back on yesterday, well, I don't feel so bad that our tree isn't up, no cookies are made, and half our Christmas cards still need to bet addressed. Because our lives these last few weeks have been crazy. Fabulous, fun, and really really hectic.

Here's our Saturday in summary:

Outing 1: The first Nordic race of the year!

Ben and I braved the cold and had a darn fine time at Saturday's classic race in Park City. We were proud finishers :)

Outing 2: Time to decorate the church!

Every year we decorate the church with hundreds of poinsettias. It's our main fundraiser for our annual orphanage work trip to Mexico and a wonderful chance to increase awareness of the trip, make the auditorium look super festive, and raise a bunch of money for Hogar de Amor.

Outing 3: Company Party!

This year the theme of the Qualtrics holiday party was Masquerade and Steve and I went all out with our outfits. We had a blast and looked darn fine doing it! Black tie events sure are fun... once a year.

Thank goodness I'm off all next week because I've got a whole lot of Christmas to get ready for!

Reflections on Serving - Jamie

I admit it, I was nervous about this year's trip to Colima.

This is my fourth year leading the CenterPoint team to serve at Hogar de Amor, but this is the first time that we've traveled completely solo without our sister team from North Carolina. As excited as I was to see the caregivers and kids I have grown so attached to, I was anxious about going it alone. Would we get lost or have trouble driving in Mexico? Would the team grow tired of me nagging?Would the strain of organizing without my co-leaders suck the joy out of the trip?

And did I miss our sister team? Did it get stressful navigating Colima? Did I have moments of exhaustion? You betcha. 

But you know what? The differences I was dreading ended up just being nice changes - not necessarily better than previous trips, but sweetly different.

I got to rely on the team and my co-leader from Utah more, and they amazed me every day with their willingness to do whatever it took to serve each other and the kids and caregivers of Hogar de Amor. We got to explore Colima in a new way, finding our way around the city and visiting the places that we wanted to go. We got to know Pastor Pablo from Grupo Amor and work more closely with the amazing caregivers as we worked directly with them on the projects that would make the biggest difference in their everyday lives.

Change is scary. Especially change that involves taking fourteen people to another country for a week. 

And the 2016 Mexico Mission Trip was beautiful. It was beautiful to see the transformation in the team that came from hard work borne of love. It was beautiful to see smiles light up the kids faces when they saw us return for another year - coming back year after year speaks volumes to these kids about their worth and our (and Jesus') love for them. It was beautiful to see the caregivers open up so readily to our presence, inviting us to meals and welcoming us into their lives and work with open arms.

I love how God took my nervous worry and used it to teach me a new lesson in trust and transformation. For me, our 2016 Mexico Mission Trip was one big experience of Ephesians 3:20

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Reflections on Serving - Sam

Hogar de Amor is the best place in the world. Its amazing to watch the kids play so happily, despite the turmoil they left at home to come to the orphanage. What I mean is that the situation has to be really bad at home for the kids to come to Hogar de Amor. In Mexico, family is everything. The kids only go to the hogar if nobody else in the extended family is able take them.

Adoption is also very difficult in Mexico as well, bordering on impossible. So that leaves the kids in the orphanage until adulthood. And yet, despite it all, these kids are happier than a lot of people in America, where people have a lot more going for them than these kids.

I truly find this beautiful and inspiring, and gives me something happy to think about when I'm feeling down. I am so glad that we found Hogar de Amor, and that I get to serve the kids and caregivers, and help this wonderful place do its wonderful work. I hope Hogar de Amor can do this for years and years to come.