January Newsletter.

Please note info change on donating from U.S. and from Canada. Thanks!

         As we approach the end of January I am amazed. I have been in Guatemala almost 3 years. I am definitely not the same person I was when I first came. I have grown closer to God and tried to follow His plans for me and change to become more the child of God that He wants me to be. Some days I am more successful than others!

         I would like to share with you His calling for me to start a Children’s Home for kids with special needs. I have decided to call it Treasures of God Children’s Home-Casa Hogar Tesoros de Dios, as I want everyone to know how precious these children are to God.

        I continue to volunteer at Rehoboth, but I have the opportunity to start the paperwork process now. In order to start I need 50% of the $5000. USD fee. The whole process to become certified and licensed as a Children’s Home will take approximately one year. A social worker will be facilitating this and has a team of people that work solely on certifying and maintaining certification for children’s homes. He has worked for Rehoboth for many years and is completely trustworthy.

         I am going to start the process as soon as I have the $2500. Please pray about giving. Donations of any size are welcome and appreciated. If you are donating from Canada, you can visit www.ctenc.ca/naomiheye/ to make a donation online. Then choose one-time or continuous giving. On the next page you will be able to enter your country, amount donated, etc. If you are donating from the U.S., visit www.cten.org/giving and do a search for my name. Follow the instructions for giving after that. Please be sure to write me to let me know the money you are sending is specifically for the Home.

         When I was here in Guatemala for a visit in 2006 I met a little girl who had “brittle bone disease”. She had been tied to a chair by her mother and kept in a corner all day sitting in her filth for up to 12 hours a day. It horrified me.

         Here in Guatemala children who are born “different” or have problems are considered a punishment from God or a curse. Babies are often abandoned in the hospitals and the parents are never seen again. Often mothers are told by other family members to just kill “it”. Some kids are thrown on the side of the road and left to die. If the family chooses to keep them, they often never go outside as the family is embarrassed. Public schools won’t allow special needs children to attend. In the out-lying villages there is little education and families feel desperate and without hope.

         God has put a very strong desire in my heart to take special needs children that are unwanted and abandoned and make a new family. I want to take them to the pools and out to the store and down the street for ice cream. I want to provide therapies, medications, specialized surgeries and love.

         I have spent the last 2 years volunteering full time at Rehoboth learning as much about sponsorship, leadership, raising children and administration as I could in preparation for this. Before that I spent 5 months at a home for children with special needs. I learned a lot about the day to day care and needs of some very disabled children.

I am going to do some traveling to small towns with some people who work closely with families with special needs. This will help me get an idea in what geographical area I might be needed, as well as to meet with the families and really get a sense of how I can help them in a broader sense. Is there something I can help with without just taking their child into my care?

         As I near the end of my time at Rehoboth, I ask that pray for all of us. My biggest prayer is that the children don’t feel rejected when I leave. I have already told them I am leaving, as I wanted to give ample time for them to mentally process it. Pray for me. I have become family to these children and the staff there. It will be hard to leave. Pray for the people stepping in to take my place.

                                                                   God bless.                   

                                                                             Naomi Heye

Rough week.

This has been a bit of a tough week for me. Although I knew it was coming, it still hit me hard.

I have my leaving date for Rehoboth Children's Home. I tear up again just thinking about it. As of March 30th, I will not be seeing my kids every day. And it breaks my heart. 

When I think about starting there almost 2 years ago, I think about how I was a different person. I have learned a lot about the definition of love. I have learned what parents talk about when they are so angry with their child they could scream, and yet they love them so much. 

I didn't expect it. I thought I would enjoy the kids, play with them, help them with their chores, and learn what I could about really living and working in the ministry of a Children's Home. And then I thought I would happily leave and move on to the next phase in my life.

I have learned about words and actions. What I say and do affects each child differently. I have to constantly show them that I love them, and that God loves them. I have to set boundaries and limits, and give out disciplines when those lines are crossed (even though that was a great struggle for me to begin with). These kids are physically abused, sexually abused, abandoned and unloved. They don't trust adults. They sometimes don't even trust themselves. 

And now I am just one more person that is leaving. 

I tell them that I love them and I tell them why I am moving on and I tell them that I will visit them. But it won't be the same. I know their personalities and their likes and their dislikes. They tell me what they did in school that day ("nothing". I am sure every parent/guardian has heard that one. I used to say it myself all the time!). They notice when I have a new pair of pants or different shoes on. They express their delight when they are drying dishes and find a brand new plate that wasn't there before. They tell me their little jokes and tell me that my joke is lame. (I really only have one joke that I ever remember and I think it is pretty cute. What did the number 0 say to the number 8? Nice belt! Hee hee.) They tell me bits of their past: unprompted and at random times. They feel safe with me. 

I give them hugs throughout the day and kiss them when I tuck them in at night. And now I won't be there. I am so excited about my next step and yet my heart is breaking saying goodbye to my nephews and nieces. I love to be called auntie. I love just being with them. 

My biggest hope is that I somehow made a difference in their lives. That they will remember me, and most of all remember how much I love them. I want to continue watching them grow up. How much they have changed in the 2 years I have known them! I was talking to one of the 19 year olds the other day. We were talking about how I wasn't married and didn't have children, and maybe I never would. I told him that I was happy right now, but would I be sad and alone when I was old? I jokingly asked him if he would be around to hang out with me when I was old and he replied jokingly that he wouldn't. Then he got serious and said the his kids and his grandkids would be around for me. I pray that this is true. I don't want it to be a complete ending of my relationship with them. But I need to be intentional in my visits with them. I can't let a year slip by without seeing them. And maybe that wouldn't happen, but it so easily could.

So pray for me and my kids. Pray that we transition well. Pray they don't start to reject me before I leave as a form of self-preservation. Because as much as I understand it, it will hurt me. Pray that they will truly understand WHY I am leaving them. I think of individual kids and the absolute sadness on their faces when they found out. And I think of how much it means to me to see their sadness. I know that they truly love me back. 

Pray that I finish up my time with them in a positive way. That I accomplish with them all that God had planned for me and my time with them. 

I'm not sure how the kids will go on without my positive example in their lives. I  am sure my friend Amy sitting next to me wonders how she can go on being my friend.

Just so you know, it is not all hugs and smiles and butterflies with me. Sometimes I just don't want my picture taken!

And please pray for the next steps. I had a medium sized panic attack this weekend when I started thinking about the future. But I will write about that in another post.

Thankful for broken casts.

Today I have a really good excuse for not updating in a while. The kids are out of school now for their long break. And it has been busy! But so much fun. I really do love having them home more. Things are more relaxed. And there is no math homework in the afternoons! YAY!

My mom is coming in two days and will be here with me for 11 days. I have a lot planned! :) I love visits from home and treasure them as they are pretty rare.

5 weeks ago one of our kids broke his arm. He is 9 years old. And I have had a really hard time bonding with him. He is very quiet, stoic, and standoffish. He doesn't like any kind of hugging or kissing. I asked him about it once. I said to him that that was how I showed my love to the rest of the kids. Not knowing much of his history, I decided to back off as I could be adding more trauma instead of making him feel loved.

About a month ago I was looking at some older pictures of him and I together. And I remembered when he first came to the home. He wanted to be near me. He would sit next to me, put his arm around me. When did things change? And how could I get him back? What had happened to make him feel differently about me?

So last week his cast broke at the elbow. It is a cheap cast and he is a 9 year old boy with a high tolerance for pain. It had ripped right open. So I was elected to take him to the hospital to get it looked at. I was nervous, that is for sure. I wasn't sure I would understand what they were telling me (why I still have an issue with that, I have no idea. I understand 95% of the time!)

Off we went. We didn't talk much on the way there. I explained to him that he needed to let us know when things like this happen (his cast had opened up the day before and he didn't tell anyone. He was just happy that he could get his fingers in there to scratch!).  It was a fast fix at the hosptial. They just reinforced it. I was a bit leary but figured it should hold up for a bit longer anyway.

On the way home we had to get a treat. I let him choose a chocolate bar and he got a pop. He was pretty happy and was savoring it. On the way back he started talking to me. I asked questions and he told me stories about the 3 other homes he had been in. He was in his fourth home and he is only 9! He told me about his sisters. It was great. I loved that he was opening up to me. And since then we have been doing so much better!

He now sits with me, comes up to me to say hello, and lets me kiss him. He even initiated a hug yesterday! I am glad to have him back.

In other news, I had a tupperware party on the weekend. Ha! I did it as a favor for a friend. It was fun and I made really good homemade cinnamon buns. :)

Hope you guys have a great week! I will. With my mom. :D

Wednesday nights.

I love Wednesday nights. Well, sometimes I wish I could stay home but mostly I love them.

I go up to the Home and look after the 10 youngest boys. They range in age from 8 years old to 12 years old. The two other house parents lead Bible study and help out with the youth group.

It is fun being with the kids when they are relaxed and don't have chores or homework to do. I get them all to myself! We usually watch T.V. for a bit and then do a devotion. After that, it is their night to play Nintendo and Gameboys. They love it.

I sometimes like to make treats for them. They love popcorn and ask for it often. I will admit, I have sometimes used it as a bribe to get them to calm down and go to sleep!

We do fun things. When the Canucks were in the playoffs last season we all watched game 7 together. They loved it because there was fighting.

Watching game 7

My Wednesday night group

I love to see them in their jammies. So cute!

Playing Nintendo. Popular activity.

And playing gameboy is fun too!

The dog snuck in one night.

Noe, one of the cutest. :)

This was Bible stories with puppets. Very amusing.

Engler and all his buddies.

Daniel the boy playing the Bible version of Daniel. He is in the lion's den. See his lion?

Engler was King Nebuchadnezzer (I just googled the spelling. :)

Noe was some sort of king.

The writing appearing on the wall.

Daniel, the boy and the Bible version,  interpreting the writing on the wall.

I really get a kick out of these kids. They are so creative sometimes. And sometimes they just want popcorn and a movie. :)

Sometimes we talk about serious things. One night I came home completely drained from hearing their horror stories. Sometimes I cry when I tell them things. I try to be honest with them. 

But tucking them in is definitely my favorite part. We pray together, then they all get into bed. This used to take a while. I learned that if I count backwards from 30, and threaten to stand them in the hall if they aren't under the covers by then, I usually get them into bed faster. 

Then I go around and kiss each one on the forehead and tell them I love them and to have a good sleep. Only one out of the ten doesn't like to get kissed. :) When I was little I loved it when my mom tucked me in. And now I love to tuck my boys in.

Once they are sleeping I like to go back in there at look at them. I assume other parents do this. They are so cute when they are sleeping, I can hardly handle it! Every boy sleeps in a different position with the blankets all different. One boy sleeps completely under the blanket on his side. Another is on his back with his blanket halfway down his body. Another is on their stomach and not using the pillow. 

I love that I get to spend this extra time with them. I see them relaxed and put them to bed. And I am always sleeping myself by the time the rest of the folks get home. 

Hope you enjoyed a little peek into my Wednesday nights! 

Antoni and the chickens.

Last week on Thursday Antoni had the day off school. He just turned 8 and is talking even more than ever! We now have a speech therapist working with him once a week.

I don't normally collect the eggs from our chickens, but it so happens that the morning Antoni had off, we had to collect the eggs. I know he has never done this before but because he is so anxious to do anything "helpful" I quickly decided to take him with me.

We had a little chat about how we need to walk slowly and not get scared when the chickens get near us. We can't yell or frighten them. I wish I had a video for what happened next.

He opened the door and held it for me (he has become quite the gentleman lately and LOVES holding the door open for me). Then he said "Excuse me chickens" and started walking towards the eggs. Every time he had to move a step he said again "Excuse me chickens". Then at one point he was holding the basket and was still for a minute while I filled it with eggs. They started pecking at his feet. I admit it, it wigged me out too the first time it happened to me! Then he kept saying to them "Not my feet, not my feet chickens". Then he would say "Aunt Naomi, the chickens got my feet". All this time he was obviously uncomfortable but remembered we have to be kind to the chickens. But every time he said "excuse me chickens" I about died from the cuteness of it.

On the way back to the house he held the basket on his head like a good little Guatemalan! I just kept holding my breath and hoping he wouldn't drop and break any of the eggs.

I love that kid!

He was at the front of the church for us to sing Happy Birthday to him.

One day I was trying to get a good picture of the two of us together. Didn't happen, but then again, I got a kick out of him laughing so hard every time he saw his picture:

Take 1!

Take 2!

Take 3!

Forget it!

Saturdays.

I love Saturdays. When I worked shift work, Saturdays didn't mean much to me. I was often working or sleeping. I worked and slept a lot when I had shifts, but I always had so many days off and that is what I loved! I still miss the fact that I can't take off when I want to. But it sure makes my Saturday's precious!

Yesterday I went to visit the Los Gozosos home. That is the Home I volunteered at for 5 months starting in October of 2009. I hadn't visited in just over a year and I was missing the kids and the staff. I knew Gaby and Leidy wouldn't be there (both recently passed away) so I knew it would be a little hard.

I spent the afternoon with them and had so much fun! They were watching movies and so it was relaxed. I got to take pictures and visit with the staff. It was so good to see how each child had progressed in behaviors or their physical capabilities.

Andres has grown a lot! He can sit up by himself much better now and he is definitely easy to make smile with a little tickle to the belly. :)

Daniel has grown about a foot! He has the longest and skinniest legs. He is 14 years old now (I think). He also sounds like a man. His voice is so deep it scared me! And yet he is just as sweet as ever. It was cute to hear his grown up voice singing along to Sesame Street. :)

What a goof!

Helen and Andrea where much better behaved. Especially Andrea! I couldn't believe when she was told to sit properly and she did! Of course, it didn't last long, but she did it whenever told. I was amazed! I would still love to hear her talk more.

Rosy was walking much better and also behaving better too. She also developed a sense of rhythm. More or less. She was dancing! Sort of. ;)

I'm pretty sure Nancy remembered me. She was the one that I had written off before as not understanding anything. She sits and constantly makes a noise somewhere between a scream and a groan and a laugh. It gets louder with excitement but only stops when she is sleeping. So when I told her I was leaving last time, she actually stopped the noise and looked right up at me. It stunned me. She understood what I had said. Rule #1. Never, never NEVER underestimate the kids you are working with. She touches people briefly with her hand when she knows someone and likes them. She started off with her soft brief touch but after a couple of minutes sitting beside her and talking she was grabbing my arm with a lot of force and holding on for much longer. That is why I think she remembered me. :)

Candy. As cute as ever.

Helen's comprehension is much, much better. I actually felt like we were communicating this time. And she is funny! Even though there are still very few words that she speaks. And she can still bust a move! :)

Pretty sure Goldie remembered me. She wouldn't go away from me! And she was definitely more aggressive in asking for a attention. And man she stunk! She really needed a bath. I told the ladies that both Goldie and I had gained weight over the last year. :)

It was a very good day. Being a Saturday, I knew they would be eating tamales for dinner so I was trying to leave before dinnertime. They caught me! They had bought an extra one for me so I had to eat it. I really don't like them. But, this one was a different kind and was made of potatoes. So much better! So I was glad I stayed. :)

Then I went home and made this:

Perfect way to end the night, I'd say.

Have a great week all of you!

Facebook.

How did we ever survive without facebook? How did we get along without daily updates on what everyone we know is doing? Whether they are good friends or just acquaintances. How else can we pry into lives of people we don't know or see pictures of our favorite people?

I have especially loved facebook since I moved to Guatemala. I am able to catch up on what others are doing. And see pictures of how everyone is. Somehow it is so much easier to write a message on facebook than to actually write an e-mail. Weird.

Anyway, I was stalking people on facebook this a.m. and a friend who I met while I was in Haiti had linked a note written by someone in her family. Not sure what the relation but he and his wife had just had a baby. But there was a problem. With her brain. With her breathing. With seizures. Being a NICU nurse, I could read a lot between the lines. I could look at the pictures and understand what I was seeing. And right now it isn't good.

This is such a hard time for families. I have stood by many families and not had the words of encouragement that I wanted. I didn't speak to them of Jesus and His healing power. Or His love. Or His control in this world.

I have learned so much since being down here. I don't ask the "why". Why were my kids abused? Why did that little girl die of something that would have never been an issue in North America. Why are kids hurting and starving and no one helping? There is no Why. God is in control. And we don't understand why it is all happening. But we don't need to.

Now it is very easy for me to write this. I am not very closely and personally affected by any tragedy. There are definitely serious things that I deal with, but I deal with them by the grace of God.

This dad has a very strong faith. He wrote of John 9 and the story of the blind man. And how no one knew why he had been born blind since birth. Doesn't that sound terrible? Not being able to see all of your life. And then Jesus healed him completely. And He said "this happened so that the work of God may be displayed in his life".

This tells me that this man and his wife have great faith. Would I see that in the middle of that kind of tragedy?

Then I was reading farther down his wall. Many, many people had posted that they were praying. Prayer is such a powerful thing. And then I came upon a post were someone had just left a quote from the Bible.

Psalm 139:13-18 "13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand."

I cried. It was so beautiful and moving. God saw this precious girl as He was forming her. She is fearfully and wonderfully made, just as she is. He loves her. She is His precious daughter. It was such a beautiful reminder. This little girl was NOT a mistake. She may struggle in her life. And her parents will struggle right along with her. Or she may be completely healed. It is not up to us. We just have to trust the God who put us all together.