Leonardo: Eighth Grade

Originally posted January 12, 2016

-LEONARDO IS NOW SPONSORED!-

Name: Leonardo

Age: 13

Grade: Eighth

Oscar and Alba have been the house parents at Breaking Chains for just one year, but we already don’t know how we ever survived without them. Their care and love for our BC teens combined with the godly discipline and structure they provide has been invaluable over the past year.

Oscar and Alba have four children. The older three are grown and out of the house, and their son Leonardo is 13 years old. We value Oscar and Alba and the way they work so hard to serve Breaking Chains and provide for their family, so we are continually seeking ways to make sure we serve them also. One way we would like to do that this year is by sponsoring their son Leonardo’s education. Oscar and Alba have fought and struggled in the past to make sure their family has what it needs, and covering the cost of Leonardo’s education would allow them to save more and give them more peace.

Leonardo came with us this year on our Beach Christmas trip and was an absolute joy to have around. He interacted easily with our BC teenagers, was respectful of his parents, and was gracious to everyone around. Leonardo will be in ninth grade next year, which is an incredible accomplishment in Honduras. Our plan is to place him in Santa Monica, a private school which many of our BC kids attend. Leonardo has already demonstrated great discipline and hard work by making it this far in his education, and we hope to be able to help him continue along that road.

Please consider sponsoring Leonardo’s school costs!

Melvin: Second Grade

Originally posted January 12, 2016

MELVIN IS NOW SPONSORED!!

Name: Melvin

Age: 7

Grade: Second

Needs: $50 per month

Melvin and his family have been a part of Breaking Chains almost since its inception. For the past few years, he and his older sisters have been a part of our education program. If you have ever met Melvin, you know that he can come off as very shy. Until you get to know him, he will give you sheepish looks and barely audible one-worded answers to questions. But watch Melvin playing with his friends, and it is a different story.

Melvin loves playing with his friends, both at Breaking Chains and at school. Having a solid educational environment has allowed him to open up and grow in confidence. He still struggles with motivation at times, but Melvin continues to succeed in school and is ready for second grade next year.

Melvin is in need of $50 per month to round out his monthly sponsorship costs. Please consider donating to give this sweet, quiet boy a shot at a better future through education.

Michel: Pre-K

Originally posted January 12, 2016

MICHEL IS NOW SPONSORED!!

Name: Michel

Age: 4

Grade: Pre-K

Needs: $100 per month,

               One-time $600 donation for upfront costs

Little Michel has been a part of Breaking Chains her entire life. Her family is one the first family’s with whom the ministry ever worked, and she was born during a time when her family was living in our building. The family has since moved on to their own place, but we still maintain a strong connection with them.

Michel’s older siblings, Nayeli, Escarlen, and Melvin, have all been sponsored as part of our education program for the past few years. Now, Michel is old enough to enroll and join her brothers and sisters in private school.

We are excited about giving Michel and opportunity to attend private school from the get-go of her education experience. We pray that getting an early start will build confidence in Michel and that she can continue to grow in knowledge and faith as she, along with her siblings, seek to break the cycle of poverty for their families.

Please consider a full or partial sponsorship of this little girl’s education costs!

Dayana: Third grade

Originally posted January 12, 2016

–DAYANA IS NOW SPONSORED!!–

Name: Dayana

Age: 9

Grade: Third

Needs: $20 per month

If you’ve visited our ministry at any point in time over the past several years, you’ve likely met Dayana. But if you haven’t visited recently, the Dayana of today may be very different than the image you have in your mind. Dayana has grown so much over the past couple of years that it is at times hard to believe she is the same person.

Circumstances of Dayana’s past had formed her into an out of control child, acting out wildly in attempts to gain any attention she could get – be it positive or negative. She was aggressive at school and home, threw fits with her teachers, and manipulated any situation she could. A combination of changes in her home life and school life have turned things around for her in incredible ways.

Dayana switched schools a couple of years ago to a location with smaller class sizes and where she could be with completely new kids and in a new environment without baggage. Dayana is thriving there. It took some time to adjust and her first year was not without behavioral issues, but every day Dayana is growing more and more in all the right ways. She feels more secure in herself, she trusts the people around her and has easily made many friends, she feels more rested in God’s grace and has the confidence to succeed in her school work. At the school’s Christmas program this year, Dayana was tasked with reading a poem in English all by herself. Watching her on stage confidently reading in a language that she is still learning was such a beautiful picture of the way that God has been working in her little heart. The school believes in Dayana, and so she also believes in herself.

Please consider sponsoring the transformation of this strong little girl!

Jonathan: Fourth Grade

Originally posted January 12, 2016

JONATHAN IS NOW SPONSORED!!

Name: Jonathan

Age: 11

Grade: Fourth

Needs: $60 per month

Jonathan is one of the brightest students we have in our education program. He has a love for learning and easily picks up new subjects. Over the course of his bilingual education, he has picked up a great deal of English and loves to use it to joke and interact with our U.S. groups.

Jonathan, along with his brother Arol, have recently changed schools.  When the two began their initial schooling, they both had to start a little behind due to not having been enrolled in school previously. That caused them to be older than the majority of their classmates. The new school operates on a different schedule (August to May rather than February to November). That means that the boys were able to start immediately after finishing at the first school in November and eliminate a chunk of the age gap that separated them from their classmates.

The new school offers smaller class sizes, a more challenging academic environment, and a very involved and caring school staff.

With the new school environment, however, has come an increase in costs. Instead of $100 per month, Jonathan will need a sponsorship of $160 per month. At this point in time, he remains $60 short of that goal. Please consider sponsoring this bright boy and his education!

The New Year is almost here! Keep BC in mind for year-end giving and 2016 support!

Originally posted December 15, 2015

Dear friends of Breaking Chains,

As 2015 draws to a close, we pray that your family, like ours, is reflecting on another year of God’s faithfulness. With each year that passes, we are more and more humbled and grateful for the family God has given us in Honduras and the way in which he works so powerfully in our lives.

This year, Breaking Chains was strengthened through the addition of our dedicated and loving house parents, Oscar and Alba. We rejoiced as our church family grew closer together, and we witnessed 15 of our number give their lives to Christ through baptism. We cheered as our 13 private school children passed their respective grades, gaining confidence as well as knowledge along the way. And we rode the highs and lows of life with our teenagers/young adults as they sought to work hard in school, grow closer to God and battle through their circumstances to create a better future. (Click here to see snapshots from 2015).

As we look to 2016, we pray that through God’s grace and your support, we can continue to grow in love and service in Tegucigalpa. We have goals of growing and continuing our education program. We seek to help our teenagers continue to grow in faith and knowledge and find appropriate transitions, and we seek to grow strong leaders among our church family. We believe strongly in the importance of having faithful, indigenous support to sustain the ministry. That’s why this year we are also seeking to expand our Honduran staff through a new preacher, house parents and staff psychologist.

As you seek to bless others through your year-end giving, we ask that you keep Breaking Chains in mind. Your tax-deductible donations will be instrumental in supporting the ministry’s mission and continuing to create more opportunities like those mentioned above. The majority of the ministry’s daily operations are run on the monthly support of generous donors. In addition to considering a year-end donation, we ask that you also consider making Breaking Chains a part of your regular monthly giving. (Click here to view our 2016 Giving Guide).

If you wish to contribute, you may do so online through the “donate” page of our website (bchonduras.org). You may also send check donations to our U.S. mailing address at P.O. Box 20454 Oklahoma City, OK 73156. 

We cannot say thank you enough for your continued support of Breaking Chains. We pray God’s richest blessings on you this holiday season, and we look forward to sharing another year of ministry with you.

Bendiciones,

The Breaking Chains Honduras Family