A peek at our Christmas!

The last couple of weeks have been really busy around here. The kids have been doing a lot of fun activities (I'll write more about them in another post). For now, I'll give you a little peek into the things that we did.

 In the second week of December we had a party with all the kids, staff, our social worker and our psychiatrist.  It was a fun time of games....

                                                                               and food!

 The kids took part in their Sunday school play at church of the birth of Jesus.

                                                              The older kids (11 and up) were given the option to receive money to buy clothes instead of a different present. They all went to the market before Christmas to pick out their clothes. Most of them chose shirts etc. from their favorite soccer team.

 We went to the Rehab Center on Christmas Eve to put on the Nativity play and give each resident a gift bag of treats as well as a sandwich and juice. The men really enjoy our visits and it teaches our kids how to share the love of Jesus with others. 

On Christmas Eve we went to church. Our kids did the Nativity play, we had worship and a sermons, then ate tamales (a traditional food for Christmas Eve). 

 Once we got home from church, it was time to open presents! The kids each have a bag with small presents inside. Everyone opens at once and it is an exciting and loud time of opening presents and showing off the things they received. 

 On Christmas Day we invite missionaries from the church to eat with us. It is a fun time of eating and fellowship. 

We all had a great time but in all of the excitement of opening presents and eating good food, we reminded the children the greatest gift we have ever received, or that is available to receive- our salvation through Jesus Christ.

We hope you all had a great time with family and/or friends and may the Lord bless you in the new year.

Rehoboth children and staff.

New Life and Peace Ministries

December 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters
It is strange how time went very fast. The year is almost finished and we are very close to celebrating Christmas again. We really appreciate all the support that you gave us the whole year. This time of year means a lot to us because we can bless the children and the men of the rehab centers with something special. We are family to the children and men and we want them to feel the love of God through us by having a special dinner and some gifts that can encourage them to feel loved.

The children really enjoy this holiday time. In the first week of December they decorate the Christmas tree, and of course they already know what kind of present they would like to receive. It might not be a big present but the fact is that they can count on us for that.

Also, the men at the rehab center will receive a present that they probably are not expecting. When they receive the present, it breaks my heart when I see the happiness in their faces because some of them have never received a present before. We also want to give a financial gift to the staff that works at the rehab centers here and in Nicaragua. They don’t receive a salary for the work that they are doing they live by faith.

If you have it on your heart to help us with a special one-time donation for Christmas gifts and offerings, please make the check to Christ Chapel and memo NLPM. Please include a separate note designating it for Christmas. Please don’t write this on the check for IRS purposes!

The kids are now in their vacation time until the first week of January. We are happy because all of them passed into the next grade and they have improved in many different areas. They are excited because they have a few activities planned like climbing a volcano and going to a camp overnight.

One thing that we are very happy to share with you is about Antony. Some of our children have sisters in another home nearby and they go to visit them once a month. One month the staff was surprised to see a girl who looked like Antony. It turned out that she is Antony’s older sister. She is unable to talk or walk and we are praying for her healing. The next morning after meeting his sister Antony, without prompting, began to pray asking the Lord to heal her, and it really touched our hearts. When he prays, he does so with a strong faith. We thank the Lord He is filling and healing Antony.


The rehab center in Nicaragua is doing well. Praise God the men are doing a very good job. They are growing in different areas in administration and also in their spiritual lives. There are 20 men in the program and we really pray that they are going to allow the Lord to change their hearts and to give them a vision to continue doing this work. In Guatemala we have two men from Nicaragua that are doing a yearlong commitment to learn how to run the center. It is very strange how God works in us and sometimes we don’t realize the great job that he is doing.


In the rehab center here in Guatemala we have 32 residents. Some of them are really allowing the Lord to change their hearts and others are just hanging around. We know that God’s mercy is great and He is going to perform his plans in his time. Last month a man came back into the program because he was doing very poorly. He had asked his family to bring him back to the program because he felt really bad. We accepted him on Tuesday and he was doing ok for a few days. Then on Saturday he started feeling bad and early Sunday morning he died. I think he came back just to die in a secure place, and not to die in the streets like a dog. We are very happy that the Lord allowed him to come here and repent before he died.



We are very happy to share with you all our experiences and the different things that are happening here. Thank you for your faithfulness. Only God can give you a reward for everything that you are doing.


We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!


God bless,

Victor & Chici Barbella & Staff

Written by: Sandra Morales

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Rehoboth Home for ChildrenThe kids are now in their vacation time until the first week of January. We are happy because all of them passed into the next grade and they have improved in many different areas. They are excited because they have a few activities planned like climbing a volcano and going to a camp overnight.

Antoni found his sister and went to visit her,he is so presous!

        We are very happy to share with you is about Antony. Some of our children have sisters in another home nearby and they go to visit them once a month. One month the staff were surprised to see a girl who looked like Antony. It turned out she is Antony’s older sister. She is unable to talk or walk and we are praying for her healing. The next morning after meeting his sister, Antony, without prompting, began to pray asking the Lord to heal her, it really touched our hearts. When he prays, he does so with a strong faith. We thank the Lord He is filling and healing Anthony.

Thank you!

Thank You all for your fast response to the need for the children's camp. All of the children and staff are now sponsored and we have pledges that covers everyone. Thank You all and may God abundantly bless you and your families.

This is how excited all our kids are to be able to go to camp this year!

In His Love Chici & Victor, Staff and Children.

Would you like to sponsor a child?

The camp that we go to every year now has a new owner and they have raised the prices. We also have more kids to pay for. 

Camp and climbing a volcano are usually the highlights of their school vacation. The cost for each child is Q200. or $25.00. We also have to pay for the staff to accompany them. 

Please pray to see if you are able to help with this need. May God bless you abundantly.

In His love, Chici Barbella and gang. :)

Construction Update on the Transition Home

The kitchen and the storage

The tiles of the kitchen are finished

Now the house is almost done, it really looks very nice with all the tiles, the sink and the toilet. I think Samuel, Jose, and Edgar really did a very good job with the tiles and everything. The next thing to do is painting, and to put in the furniture.

The floor makes the house to look  brighter !

Also very nice color

We are very happy that the house is almost done, and  I know the the boys that are going to live in this house are more happy than us, because they really need more privacy.

Miguel.

This post is pure bragging about one of our boys. Miguel came to us when he was 8 years old and is now 19 years old. His history before coming to us had been a hard one full of abuse.  Some people never learn how to overcome that kind of history and learn to succeed in this life.

He attended regular school until 3 years ago when a private school opened up here in Parramos. It is run by an American and there is a greater emphasis on learning and especially in Math. When Miguel started attending this school, due to poor education in the past, he was behind in most subjects. Within the first bi-mester he had improved a lot and by the end of the second bi-mester, he was in the top group of students in the school. That doesn't just happen. Miguel worked hard and studied and worked towards his goal.

For 2 years he studied at that school and when he graduated last year he was at the top. He had won 3rd place in a math olympics that included thousands of kids. He won 2 other medals for achievements I don't remember. But he was obviously an accomplished young man and I took pride watching him make the good-bye speech for his class.
Here in Guatemala they finish to the end of grade 9 (which Miguel did) and then have to choose a career path to work towards for the next 3 years. Then they can continue another 3 years in a university. Miguel won a scholarship and then was sponsored by someone in the U.S. so that he could attend a good school in the field that he chose.

He wanted to do digital electronics. He has done well this last year. He has struggled a little with the new math that has come up but he fights on. He studies and has brought his marks up. He has top marks in english. Literally. He came home with a 99% this last bi-mester. He is doing very well in physical chemistry as well.

He is taking his final exams this week. Two days ago he wanted to show me his project. He had put together a clap on/clap off light. By himself! He just had a diagram to go by and he had to weld the little wires together (of course there is much  more it is than that!) and make sure it was working. He was the first student in his class to do it successfully. And as of a couple of days ago there were still 4 out of 10 in the class that didn't have it functioning.

 We are so proud of him!

Ice cream

The children missed me so much they took me out for ice cream or vice versa :)

Trip to Nicaragua

     Two weeks ago Victor and I were in Nicaragua and we really had a very good time with all the men at the rehab center.  God is really taking care of everybody and everything, new men are entering to the program while others are leaving the program, but we know that some of them really want to change.
     Our purpose was to encourage the men and to buy all the supplies that were needed. We had some meetings with the staff to promote and advance the men's positions in the program.

We bought some clothing and food for the next few months in different markets.

Victor and Guillermo, a volunteer who comes in once a week to teach a Bible study. 

     Victor led some bible studies with all the men, and also we had special food during the week to spoil them.

     We are happy that the men from the rehab are attending a local church and they are allowed to serve in different areas like to read the Bible on Sunday's service and also to welcome the people in the entrance.
     We are looking forward for some volunteers to work in Nicaragua to develop the ministry.  We are looking for people that speaks spanish and is willing to be trained and who is teachable.

Construction Update on the Transition Home.

The Home construction is going really well. Every time I go up there, I feel like it looks more and more like a real home and less like a construction site.

We have doors!

 The living room.

 The big bedroom.

 Another door! :) To the big bedroom.

 The smaller bedroom, also holding space for the toilet. 

 Smaller bedroom.

 The kitchen.

 New border tile for the kitchen.

 Another wall in the kitchen.

 Storage/pila area.

Border for the tile in the bathroom . I think I am holding it upside down. Not sure.

Now we just need to finish the tiling, do the plumbing in the bathroom and it should be about done. I am excited to see the finished product with all the furniture in. And we all know that the teens are ready to move in!

A Group from Michigan.

A few months ago Steve, a member of the Living Waters Church, came to Guatemala to look for opportunities to minister. He visited our ministry and we shared with him our needs and when he went back to his church, the pastor decided to help us with some projects.

A couple weeks ago some members of the church came with Gary who is the pastor of the Church. He shared Sunday morning at our church and it was a very good sermon about being fruitful in our spiritual lives, and how even when we are fruitful God sometimes prunes us back in order to be even more fruitful.

On Monday eight people from the group came to the rehab center to replace the cement floors in two of the bedrooms that were in a very bad shape. Even though they were not used to working the way we work here in Guatemala, they were very excited to learn how to mix cement by hand. We can't use a mix machine because is very expensive.

Over the four days that they were here, they ripped out the old cement and put the new one and painted the wall of the two bedrooms. Men of the ministry worked along side the team and even though that they couldn't speak to each other, it was a very good experience for everybody. We had a very good time sharing our faith in Jesus as well as our lives.

They had already taken the old cement out. Now it is ready for the new cement.

They have to pour water to be ready for the new cement.

Pouring water.

First step is to mix sand with stones.

Second step mix cement with water, sand and stone.

Working all together.

Chici & Ginny. Ginny did a very good job with the garden.

Victor working very hard.

John carrying the cement to the rooms.

Cichi and the guys ready for a snack.

Painting the rooms.

Painting.

The new floor and new paint.

Gary sharing at the church in the Wednesday service.

The group was able to come and eat lunch with the kids during the week and on Thursday more members of the group were able to come and do a craft and play.

Fernanda with Keith.

Thomas and Megan having lunch with Debora and Antoni.

Each kid got to decorate their kite.

Playing with the kites.

Playing with water balloons.

After they played with the kids the group shared their testimonies at the rehab center.

God really blessed us with this group because He showed us his love through them. Both the kids and the men enjoyed their company and we would love for them to come and visit us again.

Thanks Living Waters Church for coming.

God bless.