Maria Teresa...

It has been a week since our newest child, Maria Teresa, has joined the Casa family and she is doing wonderful.  Teresa (as she likes to be called) is 7 years old and comes from a small little village in the Sierra Madres.  In fact it is so small and hidden you can only walk to get there.

She was actually brought to the orphanage by her father.  He is in a very difficult situation as he needs to travel around in search of work and must leave his daughter with her mother.  Sadly, Teresa’s mother is an alcoholic and spends more time out in the nearby towns then she does taking care of her 7 year old.

Upon returning to their village after being gone for over 3 months, Teresa’s father learned of more bad things that had taken place while he was away.  Enough is enough and with the encouragement of Teresa’s grandmother, he took Teresa and headed to Corarayvo.

Corareyvo, if you recall, is the small town where Maria Ana and Erasmo are from (about 7 hours away).  One of their cousins, who still lives there, suggested Lazaro bring Teresa here.  With no other options, Lazaro boarded the train and began the trek to the orphanage.

They showed up at our doorstep last week, with only a small backpack and a blanket.  We spent a few hours in my office listening to their story, asking questions and coming up with a game plan as to how we could help and minister to this family.

It was agreed by all parties, including the government after talking with them, that we should try to find Teresa’s mom and share what was desired for Teresa’s future.  I was a bit skeptical of this at first because it was clear she didn’t want NOR cared for her daughter anymore.  However, since she is legally her mother and didn’t know where her daughter was, it was important to at least try to find her.  Even more so, we were praying for an opportunity to share the Lord with this lost and struggling woman.  And so the decision was made to make the 3 hour trek to San Rafael to try to find where she was.

Thank the Lord everything worked out Just fine.  The team that went were able to find Teresa’s mother and share what we all desired for her.  She had little response and was quick to sign the paperwork for her daughter to come into our care.

Our children have done a wonderful job of making Tersa feel loved and welcomed.  She is very bright and bubbly but also feisty and aggressive.  We were able to enroll her in the school for next year and she will be in the same class with our daughter Ayantu.

Please join us as we continue to pray for this sweet girl, her transition to our family and especially for both her mom and dad!

Golf Date Correction....

It was brought to my attention that after the most recent blog post, I mentioned the wrong date for our golf tournament.  The ACTUAL date for the tournament will be Saturday, July 23rd.

Sorry about the error!

Jason

8th Annual Golf Tournament...

The other day I was going through some pictures on my computer and came across this pic of Luis and the broken window in my old office.  I had actually forgotten about this event because it was almost a year ago.  However, having just celebrated Father's Day this past Sunday, it reminded me of the story and how this unfortunate event took place.

Let me go back to Father's Day, 2015.  My dad and his wife were down visiting and we had a wonderful time hanging out, celebrating Father's Day together and especially watching the final round of the US Open golf tournament.  On this particular trip, my dad brought down some sets of golf clubs and balls.  This was something new and exciting for the children to see and the boys LOVED learning how to wack the small little white ball as hard as you can.  I think the part they enjoyed most was fielding golf balls with their baseball gloves that were being hit into the field by my dad.  If you caught one in the air, it was worth $5 pesos.  If you found one in the field, then it was $3 pesos.

The rules were carefully explained by my dad on how to properly swing and play.  Always make sure your hitting away from people, out into the field.  Retrieve your ball, properly store your gear, don't hit kids with the clubs, etc. 

I actually wasn't at the orphanage when the fatal shot occurred but Jackie informed me on the via text and this picture.  Luis had decided to play golf.  Things started off well as he hit the ball away from the house.  However rather then retrieving the ball and "walking" back to the orphanage, Luis thought he would just "hit" the ball back.  It was a good shot that was a direct hit with the window.  It scared Jackie at first, but that soon left to laughter as she realized what he had done.  One of those "hard not to laugh" situations.

Unfortunately, Luis won't be playing in this years golf tournament up in Washington.  Yes, it is that time again for the 8th annual Chapel Church Golf Invitational.  For the past 4 years, the Chapel Church, located in Puyallup Washington, has graciously donated all proceeds from the golf tournament to Casa de Bendicion.  This is our main fundraiser that we do each year and it is such a blast.  Last year, over 80 golfers came out for a day of fellowship, food, golf and raising over $6000 for the orphanage.  We had an incredible time and I am so thankful I get to fly up and be apart of the event again this year.

Whether you are old, young, male, female, a good golfer or you golf more like Luis, we'd love to have you join us at the Classic Golf course in Spanaway Washington on July 25th.  You can find out all the details through the following website, www.thechapel.church/events/golf.

If you are a business owner or work for a company that likes to donate items or sponsor charity events such as this, please let myself know, jason@thehouseofblessing.org or the golf event coordinator, Mike Melchior, mikem@thechapel.church.

Thank you so much and we hope to see many of you in July!