#hope for the future of Paraiso

Derek Retreat in Benaiah Home

/0 Comments/in , /by

This week, Engadi hosted it’s first ever retreat for boys in the Derek Program. Some of the oldest and most active boys in the program were invited to Engadi’s Benaiah Home for a three-day retreat. Six boys were able to attend the event and arrived to the house Tuesday afternoon. The retreat served several purposes, and much was accomplished during the time with the boys.

#brotherhood

#brotherhood

During the days, the young men had devotional and discipleship time together where Engadi’s Director of Discipleship, David Medina had prepared a series of messages with them during the time they were here. With a one-to-one ratio of boys to Engadi staff and volunteers, we were able to be attentive to the needs and concerns of each boy and spend precious time discipling each one.

Prayer time in the Benaiah Home

Prayer time in the Benaiah Home

 

Volunteer, Brenda Stephens teaching the young men how to give a three-point speech.

Volunteer, Brenda Stephens teaching the young men how to give a three-point speech.

Boys practiced giving three-point speeches to their peers

Boys practiced giving three-point speeches to their peers

Volunteer, Brenda Stephens also had a sequence of classes planned for the retreat with material covering, honoring God though career choices, how to choose a career, tips on giving presentations and doing job interviews, and general restaurant etiquette. The boys were attentive through each of the classes and at the end of the week were able to give presentations to their peers on their career of choice and how they planned on reaching their goal. We are very proud of the efforts they put forth through each of the classes and seeing #hope awakened in each boy.

Playing tug-of-war on the bad of the Benaiah House

Playing tug-of-war on the yard of the Benaiah House

Connor and Brooklyn handing out materials to begin a recreational activity

Connor and Brooklyn handing out materials to begin a recreational activity

Volunteers, Connor and Brooklyn headed up recreational activities throughout each day to give the boys a time to get energy out, build #brotherhood, and just be boys. The boys played a variety of games including tug-of-war, scavenger hunts, and creating contraptions for a two-story egg drop.

 

 

 

At nights, boys gathered together to watch movies in the Benaiah Home in including both Courageous and God’s Not Dead, both which almost every boy had never seen before. By the end of the two days, to say that the boys were worn out would be an understatement. Engadi is grateful for the opportunity and resources to host an event like this and deeply impact the lives of some of the boys that we have worked with the longest in Paraíso.

Settling in for the night to watch "God's Not Dead"

Settling in for the night to watch “God’s Not Dead”

#engadi

IMG_7423

The Derek Boys with Engadi Staff and Volunteers

Benaiah Home Update

/0 Comments/in , /by

Engadi Ministries is excited to announce that we are on the verge of taking three at-risk young men into the Benaiah Home. This marks a milestone of growth for the ministry, and while we are very close to welcoming all three boys into the home, there are still several things that must take place before we can do so. Here is a simplified breakdown of the primary steps to officially opening the doors of the Benaiah Home, and several ways that you can pray for Engadi as that date draws nearer.

The first step that must take place is that each boy and his parents must provide a set of legal documents that allow Engadi to care for him within the Benaiah Home. After receiving that paperwork, Engadi is then able to work with a local private school and Guatemala’s Department of Education to enroll each boy there. This educational step is a vital step since it would be counterproductive to remove a boy from his current situation without having a way to continue his education.

One of the schools in Paraíso where the boys are transferring from.

One of the schools in Paraíso where the boys are transferring from.

Engadi has chosen three boys that were slated to enter the home during the first part of 2016, and has a second three boys picked to join them in the home after a few months of acclimation. We have received the legal documents to complete the first step for each of the first three boys, and are working to have them approved by the Department of Education to transfer to our local private school. One has already been approved and is move-in ready! Due to the unique situations of each of the other two boys, we are still awaiting their approval to transfer schools which could happen any day.

Of the second set of boys chosen to move into the Benaiah Home, Engadi has begun the process to enroll them in the home to hasten the process. We are still waiting to receive the first legal documents for each of the second set of boys, but two of them have already been approved to transfer schools by the Department of Education! Praise God!

Engadi wants to specifically request prayers that Guatemala’s Department of Education would approve each of the remaining boys (two in the first set, and one in the second) to transfer to the local private school near the Benaiah Home. Pray also that the legal documentation for the second set of boys would have no hangups, and that their families are able to provide the necessary documents. Finally, we ask your prayers for each of the boys as the will soon transition into the home and also begin attending a new school. Pray that they are able to acclimate to differences in their environment with relative ease. Pray that they are able to catch up in school during the coming months as many of them have fallen behind by several grade levels or have dropped out all together to help support their families.

Engadi thanks you for your prayers, and praises God in faith for what He will do through each of the boys that comes into the Benaiah Home, and for the plans He has in store for them. We look to Him to open all of the doors, and make this chapter of Engadi a reality for His glory.

#engadi #hope #brotherhood.

IMG_2597

Opening its doors soon- The Benaiah Home

Beds Delivered To Benaiah Home

/0 Comments/in /by

Imagine growing up without a bed to call your own. Perhaps your bed was a shared couch your family found in a trash heap just outside their squatter community. Maybe it was a simple bedroll of cushion spread out on a dirt floor each night. If you were lucky enough to have a mattress, it was undoubtedly several decades old, had numerous previous owners, and was shared between you, your siblings, and maybe even parents each night. This is a far too common reality for children growing up in the slums of Guatemala City such as Paraíso.

9398888044_31035e6bb7_o 9406995636_c9a88027f9_o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending your childhood years in one of the conditions above, could you imagine if, one day, you not only had a new mattress with sheets to sleep on, but you got to call that bed “yours?” This will very soon become a reality for the boys who are coming to live in Engadi’s Benaiah House. This week, nine brand-new mattresses were delivered to the home from the local mattress factory. As we prepare to take in our first three young men to the home, please be in prayer for the transition each of the boys will make. It will certainly be difficult at times, but we pray that it would ultimately be a transition that would bring a #brotherhood to the future men of Paraíso, and foster their #hope of becoming Mighty Men in Christ.

Mattresses

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
Psalm 4:8

#engadi

Benaiah House Furnishings

/1 Comment/in , /by

For the past week, men from Avenue Church in Waxahachie, Texas have been working on a very special project for the Benaiah House, Engadi Ministries’ first boys home, which is scheduled to open its doors early this year. The house is already home to Engadi’s main offices, and houseparents, James and Ellie Carr. It is now even one step closer to housing its first three at-risk boys from the slums of Guatemala.

201501 Avenue Furnishings 201501 Avenue Furnishings 201501 Avenue Furnishings

Part of the all-men’s team has constructed beds, dressers, and desks for the first three young men to move into the Benaiah House, and even began construction on three additional beds that will be needed later this year as the ministry grows.

Benaiah Furnishings Benaiah Furnishings

These beds are designed to give each young man his own area within his shared room, with his own space to study, place to keep his belongings, and his own bed, things that these boys have never experienced in Paraíso, where most families currently live in small tin shacks that are generally shared by many individuals. These rooms will help create a close bond of brotherhood between the boys who share them, in addition to cultivating the hopes and dreams of each individual boy.

201501 Avenue Furnishings

Thank you, Avenue Church, for believing in the vision of Engadi Ministries, and making it a reality through your hard work and dedication. The beds look wonderful!

IMG_2936

Moving Day

/0 Comments/in , /by

This week, Engadi Ministries’ houseparents, James and Ellie Carr, moved into the Benaiah House, a home the Lord has provided to be Engadi Ministries’ first boys’ home. The home is designed to house a maximum of nine at-risk boys, the houseparent family, and will also be Engadi’s home office in Guatemala.

The Carrs will spend the coming weeks preparing the house to take in boys, and the home will open its doors to boys from Paraíso early in 2016. This is the first step in getting the boys into a safe environment – sparking #hope and true #brotherhood for years to come.

To learn more about Engadi Ministries’ boys’ homes, click here.

#engadi

thumb_IMG_8469_1024