Hi there everyone! Thanks so much for your patience with us and the new format that we have for our newsletter and blog. Since this is new, we are trying to learn as we go. So, if something doesn’t look right, let us know so we can try to adjust it!! So, here goes our update from the last 2 months. We hope that we can decrease the lengthy updates by doing it more regularly in the future!
Wheelchairs:
At the beginning of September, we hosted a wonderful church from Houston, Tx for a week of Free Wheelchair Mission distributions. We visited many people in their homes to deliver their wheelchairs and also had a large wheelchair distribution at the end of the week. One of my favorite deliveries was to a sweet little boy, Diego, who was dressed as Spiderman when we arrived. He was shy and didn’t want to take off his mask at first, but then eventually he felt comfortable with us and let us see the real Diego under the mask. He was really excited for this wheelchair so that he could go to school and move around more independently!
We also had the opportunity to host a special volunteer with Free Wheelchair Mission and fellow Occupational Therapist, from Sweden, Pia. She is partnering with FWM to help provide recommendations and improvements to serve the needs of wheelchair recipients all over the world, not just in Peru. It was an intense week of interviews of past wheelchair recipients, hospitals and government offices dealing with people with disabilities throughout Peru. It was a wonderful week helping her to understand the needs of Peru!
In that week before Pia arrived, Clever taught the 4 day Free Wheelchair Mission Certification course to volunteers in the church who are invested in wheelchair delivery program but have not yet been certified. The goal is always to increase the amount of volunteers who have the ability to complete the entire distribution process not only in Lima, but also in provinces of Peru where the need continues to grow. Training the volunteers in an ongoing process, not just during the 4 day training program.
We also have launched a special training program for volunteers who already have received the 4 day certification to learn how to do special adjustments for children or adults who need additional modifications to the wheelchairs. Over the past 2 years our sweet friend Gladys has been Lisa’s right hand gal for these adjustments. We have been giving her more responsibilities including teaching special adjustments workshops to volunteers in the provinces, as well as being in charge of the ongoing workshops that we now have 2 times a week here in Lima. Gladys is so invested and motivated by the service she has learned and can now teach others that it has motivated her to start to study to become a physical therapist! We are so excited that she has taken this next step as she continues to find her purpose that God has put in her. PS, Gladys is with me in the picture with “spiderman” above. She is the woman to the left of spiderman!
Kids with Special Needs (KIDS HD)
This has been an exciting time of growth and new opportunities in the special needs area we provide on Sundays at all campuses. The children’s ministry here called KIDS, and the church as a whole comes together on the 31st of October to have a HUGE costume party and fun festival. This was the first year that we as the area serving children with special needs had a special area with a designated team. The event was from 4pm-9pm! Over 2000 kids attended that event with 20 of them being kids with special needs. Our team was able to provide 1-to-1 support for a few kids who needed extra support including a single mom with 2 boys with autism. We were able to give preferential status in lines for those who could not wait in line, as well as we had our own trampoline that was designated for the kids with special needs. When talking to a mom whose son has special needs, she said there is nothing like this anywhere else in Lima and are so thankful we found ways to consider her son’s needs.
Another special project that is upcoming is the possibility of having the first ever family camp for families with children with special needs. Lisa and one of her leaders were able to travel to a province of Peru to learn how a family camp was run by a non-profit christian organization who has been doing it for years. we are praying and expectant to have our first annual family camp sometime in 2020 Lord Willing. Please be praying for all the details for this to occur to unfold as they should.
Lastly, we are launching our very first trial run of a specialized curriculum designed by 2 teammates and Lisa for Christmas specific to all our kiddos with special needs over all 6 campus locations. We are excited to see how this adapted curriculum will help provide a tangible and easy way to learn about the Christmas Story during the month of December!!!
PERSONAL UPDATE
The past few months we have celebrated many things!
My mother in law, and 2 sister’s in law and I attended the annual women’s conference at the church while Clever served at home by being with Kaleb and then at church in the Compassion International stand.
My sister and brother in law came down for a visit. It was a beautiful time of reconnecting after a year long hiatus.
Kaleb participated in a celebration at his school to honor the national day of Peruvian song, and also enjoyed dressing up in his Marshall costume for our church festival on the 31st.
All 3 of us have celebrated another year of life, of course with Kaleb’s 3rd birthday closing out the celebrations with a bang!
We continue to wait on any movement for his adoption and ask for your prayers for favor and efficiency with his case. We will be spending the holidays here in Peru as we continue to wait on this process. We also ask for your prayers for patience and living with joy in the season of waiting that we are in. It is very easy to see the things we are missing out on while we are waiting, and so we appreciate prayers to remind us of what we have already gained by having him in our home to celebrate each passing day.
We thank you for your continued support of what we get to do here with your help. If it were not for your support , we would not be able to get to do what we do to help support and serve those with disabilities.
