Silvia, Bryan and Jose Antonio join the Amigos Family

About one month ago today we had 3 more additions to the Amigos de Jesus family, including our first girl.  It has long been the dream of Fr. Den to be able to include girls as part of our family, not just boys.  We now have the capability of reuniting our children with their siblings and will never again have to separate boys from their sisters.  I have often heard Fr. Den remark about how thrilled he will be to see little pink bicycles alongside the rest.

Silvia is our first girl.  She is 4 1/2 years old and came to live with us along with her brothers Brayan and Jose Antonio.  Brayan is 3 1/2 and Jose Antonio is 8.  What our directors thought would just be a home visit to learn more about their case turned into a welcoming home of the three.  They are now settling in nicely to their new home, getting used to their 60 big brothers, and are beginning to adapt to the love of their new family. Please keep them in your prayers as they transition to life at Amigos de Jesus and give thanks for this milestone in our family.    Thank you for being a part of making this possible!

Harvard / Agros Trek to Amigos

For the second year in a row, a group of Harvard MBA students from The Harvard Graduate School Christian Fellowship (HGSCF) made the journey to Honduras to study the unique economic development model of Agros International.  Part of their trip involves a visit to Amigos de Jesus.  Fr. Den hosted the group and shared with them our beautiful home.  The group laughed, played and prayed with our children and were able to experience the hope for the future generation in Honduras.  Thank you to everyone that participated and supported this trip and to Agros for the good work they are doing in Honduras. 

Amigos First Solar Energy Project

Amigos de Jesus has been blessed by the opportunity to incorporate solar energy at the hogar.  In January, a team of local men traveled to Honduras to install the solar panels and set up the system.  Dave and Steve Santoleri, board members and owners of TerraSol Energies (http://www.terrasolenergies.com/), worked with us to design and implement a system that would be most efficient for our needs.  This first project with generate enough power to run our well.  Frequent power outages result in a lack of water as the on-site well is run by electric pump.  This is the only source of clean water for the home.  This solar project will save energy costs and ensure that the children and staff have consistent access to clean water supplies.  Thank you to Dave, Steve, Tony, Matt, Jeff, and Danny for your time, expertise and love for the children of Amigos de Jesus!

                                  

 

Amigos de Jesus School Graduation

Amigos de Jesus recently celebrated school graduation.  Our on-site primary school works with our children in all academics, life skills, vocational training, tutoring, English, computer skills and more.  Congratulations to all the graduates.  Keep up the good work!

Juan, Olvin and Chilo receive their First Communion

After much preparation, on Monday, December 19th Juan, Olvin and Chilo were baptized and had their first communions at the local parish.  Below are pictures of the event.  

Congratulations Juan, Olvin and Chilo!  

A Happy Holiday for 10 New Children

Late this past Saturday night a tragic fire struck the Nueva Esperanza home for children located in San Pedro Sula (http://laprensa.hn/Secciones-Principales/Sucesos/Cierran-hogar-Nueva-Esperanza-por-incendio).  The home for 155 children, infants to age 12, has been temporarily closed and housing is needed for all of the displaced children.  Amigos de Jesus was contacted and asked to take ten (10) of these boys.  The boys were welcomed into our family yesterday, filled with hope and smiles.  The transition will most likely result in permanent placement for them and Amigos de Jesus staff is working to make them feel safe, secure and help them adjust to their new surroundings.  Below is a picture of Wilson Escoto holding an introductory question/answer session with the children to explain to them where they were going and what to expect.  The ten boys seem to be doing well and arrived just in time for our school graduation celebration that will be held this Friday.  One of the boys told Wilson on the car ride to Amigos, "We are gonna have a great Christmas!"  Please keep these boys and the others who are still awaiting placement with safe homes in your prayers.

Donation Collection Success!

Thank you to everyone who donated in-kind goods for our donation collection!  We successfully packed and sent to Honduras a 40 foot container full of donations for the children.  Among these donations were over 50 bicycles, 15 scooters, 100 bags of clothing, 25 bags of shoes, school & art supplies, backpacks, sports equipment and so much more!   Thank you specifically to Carr & Duff for allowing us the facility to store all of the donations, to Bob Kurtz for endless waves of donations, to Jim Henry, Anthony Granese, Matt Santoleri, Rob Santoleri, Jeffrey Santoleri, Tony Taglione, Aaron & Tim Zupko for tirelessly packing all 40 feet of the container.  The children say "Muchas Gracias"!