Now Safe, Maria and Her Daughter Are Free to Imagine Home.
Home, a word with so much meaning.
For some, home is a place to:
belong
be yourself
create good memories
be safe
be fully known
Unfortunately, for others, home is none of these things.
Maria grew up in places where home was unsafe.
Maria’s dad left the day he found out Maria’s mom was pregnant, so her mom was often gone, trying to make ends meet. She did the absolute best she could to provide. Having never been given the opportunity to study, she took every odd job she could find to help support Maria.
Some nights they’d stay with friends. Most nights they’d sleep hidden in a nearby field. There, Maria would drift off to sleep listening to her mom tell stories about how one day things would be different.
One day, they would have a place to call home.
Then everything changed.
Late one afternoon while selling small packs of gum on the side of a busy road, a nice man stopped and offered Maria and her mother some work and a place to stay.
Was this finally the opportunity they had dreamed of?
Desperate for hope, they climbed into the vehicle.
Days later, Maria was living the worst nightmare of her life.
Home had become a dark room where men would come and go. Nothing and nobody was safe.
Eventually, her tears stopped, along with her dreams for the future.
Two years later, Maria was pregnant and alone, sent to live on the streets. For weeks, she survived on whatever food she could find digging through garbage cans.
By the grace of God, someone found Maria and brought her—along with her daughter—to live at Village of Hope, our Lifesong partner in Guatemala.
Today, Maria is thriving.
Since coming to Village of Hope, Maria finished elementary school and is continuing on to middle school while learning to be a barista.
“My dream is to one day have a coffee shop where I can share the hope of Jesus with everyone who comes in for coffee.”
Home and The Well
For over a decade, Village of Hope in Guatemala has provided a place of safety and healing for over 450 children. Some of these children were eventually reunited with extended family members, some were adopted into new families, and still some remain at Village of Hope.
For many of these young adults, our team in Guatemala has become their family.
A couple years ago, Village of Hope obtained a plot of land adjacent to the existing property. The team now believes this land would be the perfect place to build a community of tiny houses—called The Well—where young adults like Maria who age out of the program can find independence and growth while continuing to be surrounded by education and support.
For Maria and her daughter, a house of their own would be a welcome place to call home.
Would you stop and pray for Maria and her daughter, as well as this new project?
Thank you for being part of this story.
