Wow! Where to begin? The past couple of months have been full of adventure, change, and growth for all of the kids we sponsor, in Casa Esperanza and the community. Our CasaKids have made a leap into leadership and spiritual maturity. Just a couple of months ago they expressed a desire to serve the Lord in new ways! This launched our children into completely running a service in their Church once a month. Gabriela, Lubia, and Alicia began singing in front of the church; Elvis and Jose serve as ushers, and Yessica has began preaching! We are so proud of all of them and we are excited about their spiritual growth and maturity.

We began sponsoring several new families this year. One of these families is Nanci and Jaqueline – two sisters struggling to stay alive. Nanci suffers from Multiple Sclerosis which prevents her from walking and taking care of herself. She is confined to her bed and relies on her sister, Jaquie, to change, feed, bathe and take general care of her. This situation is even more desperate because Jaqueline has 2 little boys of her own and she is both deaf and mute.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to assist these woman with the necessities of life and to help encourage them with their families and their health difficulties. Another new child we assist is Sylvana Julissa Chavez. Sylvana is a very sweet eight year old with a rare and debilitating disease. She suffers from Apert Syndrome. This genetic disorder affects Sylvana’s speech, facial construction and her ability to walk. Sylvana’s family tries to meet the needs of their youngest daughter; however, her needs are so great; they can become overwhelming at times. Through your sponsorship we assist the family with food supplements, vitamins, toiletries, clothing and toys for Sylvana. We are looking into providing Sylvana with added medication to help her reach her potential.

Meet our new kids!

During the past three months we have received six new children to Casa Esperanza. In March Jose Gabino and his older sister Johanna ( top right and bottom left) came to stay at Casa Esperanza. Jose Gabino (2 yrs) and Johanna (3 yrs) were brought to us after the orphanage that they were living in the past year were unable to provide them with a home. Both Jose and Johanna are blessings to us all in Casa Esperanza. They are fun, sweet and full of life and joy!

Then in May we received a young lady by the name of Estefania. Estefania (14 yrs) came to us as a surprise in the middle of the night. We have not received any formal documents explaining why Estefania was placed with us; however we were happy to receive her and she has added some new life and dimension to our group of children.

A couple of weeks ago, Valentina, her little sister Michelle, and Valentina’s daughter, Ruth, came to Casa Esperanza. Valentina, Michelle and Ruth were removed from their home because of abuse - a common scenario in Guatemala. We are so happy to have them with us and to be a part of their healing journey both physically and mentally.

It is always a humbling experience when the Lord grants us guardianship of new children. So many come malnourished, hurting and rejected. However as the Lord leads these children through his loving process of acceptance, their potential to become mighty men and woman of God becomes apparent. It is wonderful to see God move on the hearts of our new children and to see the men and woman of God that He is growing them up to be.

Kindersley Saskatchewan Dental Team

In February we were privileged to host a team of Dentists from Kindersley, Saskatchewan. This team of Dentist’s worked so hard during their time with us in order to perform dental work on all of our CasaKids, our Sponsor families, and our Canadian and Guatemalan staff as well. One large problem affecting Guatemalans is their oral health. Guatemalans typically consume large amounts of sugar and are not consistent in brushing their teeth. Because of bad water, soda is consumed instead.  This leads to rotten teeth from infancy to adulthood, and causes a great deal of pain for the children and people that we serve. It was wonderful to be able to bless our families and kids and to give them an opportunity for healthy teeth that they otherwise would never have had the opportunity to receive.


Village of Faith

The Village of Faith is still in the planning stages, however a team from Edmonton is planning to come to build the first unit in September/October this year. Like our other many projects on the go in Guatemala we are only able to continue our endeavours as finances permit. We are slowly moving forward with our goal of creating houses for ‘Families in Crisis’, and we hope to have an update for you soon with the further progress of the ‘Village of Faith’ project.

Praise Report!!!

Recently one of our sponsorship families received an enormous blessing. The Hernandez family were very happy to tell us that their Grandmother had blessed them with a one room home for them to keep. This may not seem like a lot to you for a family of five, but this family was previously sharing a small home with relatives. Their desire was to have their own home.  Now one of our long time sponsor children, Sarita Hernandez, (Maria’s sister) is now able to have her own bed and more space to do her art and drawings as well. Maria Hernandez’s kids are all doing very well since their move. They are focused in their studies; determined to break out of their situation and to help their family prosper. Henry Hernandez is currently finishing up his last year of Mechanics, and is excited about the ability to soon help support his family. Sulma, Claudia and Jose are all finishing school and are consistently receiving excellent grades. Thank you for your prayers for these sponsorship families.  God has truly changed their lives and is pouring out blessings over the Hernandez family.

In our Own Words (A message from the Directors of Casa Esperanza)

“As the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:11
We are amazed at what God is doing with our kids here in Guatemala.  We are proud of the changes in all of them.  We are blessed to see them happy and searching after the heart of God for their lives. It gives us great joy because there is no greater life than finding one’s purpose in this world and experiencing the fullness of it with the peace & love that so many search for and can not find. We thank God daily for His hand on our children as we serve Him here working with Fe Viva World Missions, Casa Esperanza Children Home and the poor in Central America.
– Steve and Patricia Peters

Thank you all for continuing to support this ministry for children and Families in Crisis.  God continues to bless the ministry of ‘Fe Viva’ with continued growth everyday.

The child or children that you sponsor would all love to get to know you better. If you would like to begin corresponding with them please email your letter to charity@feviva.org, or mail your letter to our Fe Viva’s Canadian address:  2820 Salish Rd.  Westbank, BC,  V4T 2V9

We hope you enjoy the updates about what is going on in Casa Esperanza and finding out how your sponsored children are doing. Please let us know if you have any suggestions as to how we can keep you better informed and up to date. ‘Fe Viva’ invites you to view their new website at www.feviva.org. Our web hostess does an awesome job.  Take care and God bless.

Sincerely,
Charity Weiler for Fe Viva World Missions and Casa Esperanza

For more information on how you can help one or more of our children in ‘Casa Esperanza’ (House of Hope) or one of our Sponsor Families, or if you simply have questions or concerns regarding your sponsor family or child, please email our Sponsorship Director, Charity Weiler at charity@feviva.org