By Amber Foster
When the Honduran government issued its decisions about a country wide lockdown, we were forced to make some hard decisions. We cut back on the number of staff coming in and out and ordered a complete lockdown of our young people, along with the rest of the country. There was no public transportation and any outing posed a risk to everyone. As the weeks turned into months, our concern grew. Lockdown is hard on everyone, but to young people who have grown up with the complete “freedom” of street life it takes an extra toll. Virtual schooling for kids that struggle with in-person school seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. In the past, a week without being able to go out would have been enough to cause them to give up. We began to worry about how many of our “kids” we would lose back to the streets before it was all over.
Incredibly, our young residents have stepped up to the challenge placed before them. With the exception of one resident who had a preexisting reason for leaving, every one of our young people continues to fight hard for their own future. There have been some very rough patches along the way, but everyone continues in school and continues to hold their place within our family.
We’ve seen Karen blossom as she took on the job of washing clothes for some of the boys so she could save money for a pretty mirror and some makeup. The joy and pride she emanates when she talks of her savings is contagious! We’ve seen Yeri really struggle and want to give up, followed quickly by our staff and his school coming around him and supporting him above and beyond expectation until he was where he needed to be. We’ve seen Luis, who is at his mom’s, overcome technology issues and do things on paper packets provided by the school. We’ve seen Nohemi endure two weeks of solitary quarantine with a smile on her face after attending the funeral of her grandfather. We even added a new young lady to our family, David’s sister Genesis, within the last month. She is already blessing us with her sweet smile and great work ethic.
We’ve seen them all grow closer to each other and to God through evening devotionals. The sweetest blessing has been to see how proud they are to be a part of packing up the weekly food bags for distribution. It is long, hard, repetitive work that they dive into each week with their whole hearts. Watching them serve others with a joyful heart is evidence of the changes God is making inside each one of them, and is such a beautiful picture of what we are striving to teach them at BC.
This season continues to be difficult but we are honored and amazed to be a part of the work God is doing in each one of their hearts. As things begin to open up, please pray with us on the leadership team as we make decisions about how much freedom to allow them and when is the right time to lift restrictions. Also join us in praising God and our young residents for how successfully they have met this challenge.