You can be involved in Acapulco

So, if you have been reading our blog for the past several weeks, you are obviously interested in what is happening in Acapulco, and maybe you would like to stay involved in the future. If so, I am going to share a few ways in which you can do that:

1. Pray- the most important thing you can do. If you are already praying for us and work going on here in Acapulco, thank you! Unfortunately, after Simone and Amanda go home in a couple of weeks, there will probably not be any more updates to this blog, but you may occasionally find updates on the Casa Hogar website. Also, there plenty of prayer requests for Acapulco that remain fairly constant:
• Pray for the city, that God will soften the people's hearts and make them open to the gospel. Pray for the church, that God will grow them not only in size but especially in their passion for Christ, that they can be a light to the people around them. Pray that the church would remain true to God's Word and God's purposes, as they are surrounded by many of the same worldly influences that face the church in the United States.
• Pray for the kids at Casa Hogar, that they would grow strong spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Pray that God would give them an understanding of His deep love for them. Pray that He would heal their emotional scars and would allow to grow into healthy, Godly adults.
• Pray that God would provide for Casa Hogar financially, that they can continue to serve these children.
• Pray for the staff at Casa Hogar and Sobre el Puente, that God will encourage them in their work, showing them fruit for their labors and giving them strength to persevere and trust Him when the work becomes discouraging.
• Pray for the kids Sobre el Puente and all of the street kids of Acapulco. For those who are Christians, praise God and pray that He will continue to grow them in their faith, give them strength to resist the temptations of their old lives, and give them the means to get off the streets. For those who are not Christians, pray that God would work in their lives through their circumstances and through the witness of the people at Sobre el Puente.

2. Another way that you can be involved in Acapulco is by supporting Casa Hogar financially. Through their child sponsorship program, Promise Project, you can send $30 or more a month to offset the cost of caring for a child. Not only will you be helping Casa Hogar financially, but you will also be able to pray for and encourage one particular child. Sponsors are extremely important for Casa Hogar! They help pay for food, clothing, and a quality education, from elementary school through university or trade school. For more information, go to the Casa Hogar website and click on the Promise Project link.

3. Finally, you may feel that God is calling you to actually go to Acapulco. If so, here are two opportunities, and there may be others that I am not aware of.
• You can come work at Casa Hogar for anywhere from one week to several months. You can come by yourself or with a large team from your church. You don't have to know Spanish!!! The majority of the people on the teams that have come this summer didn't know Spanish, and they got along with the kids just find. The kids actually know more English that they let on, and you would be surprised how much you can communicate with nothing but body language.
• If you are interested in teaching, you can come teach at New Horizons Christian School here in Acapulco. This is the PreK-6 school that many of the Casa Hogar kids attend, and they are always happy to have Americans come and teach for several months or longer. Once again, you don't even have to know Spanish to teach here! Laura, an intern who left a week after we arrived in June, had been here during the spring semester, working at Casa Hogar and teaching at New Horizons. She knew only a tiny bit of Spanish when she arrived, but she made a great English teacher!
If you are interested in these or other opportunities, pray carefully about God's will and contact MTW. They can help you plan a trip to Acapulco or to a variety of other places. MTW has missionaries all over the world (at Pre-field Training, we met people going to Wales, Germany, Greece, Kenya, Ethiopia, Thailand, Peru, and even an immigrant community near Atlanta, Georgia), so if you are interested in missions in any region of the world, they can help you get there.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for your involvement already this summer, through your prayers and support of all of us interns. We have all had a wonderful summer so far, and some of us still have a few more weeks to go! Your support and prayers have been an essential part of everything we have been involved in.