New Faces at Breaking Chains

In early May a team from Alabama built 22 sets of bunk beds.  For those of you short on math skills thats FORTY FOUR BEDS!  I thought they were crazy but I smiled and was grateful for the work and love they were pouring into our ministry.  However, in the back of my mind I was thinking, there's no way we're ever going to have more than 15 people staying at our building.

Well it's 2 months later and we are well on our way to filling all of those beds.  We fluctuate a little bit but at last count we had 32 people living in our building and every set of bunk beds was in use.

Here are just a few of our new faces.

Osman breaks my heart.  He is not well liked at the building and often does things that cause others to distrust and dislike him.  He's a sad 16 year old who obviously has a very difficult past.  I suspect that Osman may have some level of Autism but he may just be unable to cope with the things he's been through.

It's hard to know, he speaks very little about his past and his younger brother, who only visits us occasionally, refuses to speak about his past at all.  Edgar, the little brother, is sleeping on the streets rather than give the barest of information about his past.

Luis Fernando is a joy to be around. 

He is very quick to help everyone around him and will go out of his way to avoid a problem. 

I often find Luis reading to the little ones or helping clean the kitchen.

Araly, her husband Dennis and baby Alison are a precious addition to our community.  Dennis is quick to help and is very responsible.  Araly is shy and eager for a hug and I always love a new baby.

Eugenio and his wife Edy (pictured below) live with their 3 children on the front side of our building.  They mostly stay to themselves but they are kind and a wonderful example of a family unit to the teens living in our building.

Mirna and Edy are sisters and a complete joy to be around. 

They do the cooking for the nights that we hand out food and are a joy to have around.

Mirna is expecting a baby soon and we're eager to meet the little one.

Erickson is one of Belkis's older children and moved in with his pregnant girlfriend Pamela about a month ago.  Erickson has quickly become our handiman and seeks out ways to improve the building.

German and his sister Kimberly are precious.  They came by a couple of weeks ago to stay a night and ended up staying.  They are very young and their mom is a prostitute.  I've yet to meet her but supposedly she comes to check on them on a regular basis.  I don't know what the long term plan is for them but I'm glad we can keep them safe, if only for a little while.

Rene is everyone's favorite. 

He has a temper he hides well but mostly he's a sweet old man that everyone calls Grandpa.  He shares the Bible with the teens often and is even helping a couple of them learn to read.

These are just a few of the new faces.  I'll do my best to post more soon.  I love their hearts.  Each of them is unique and I see in each of them a hunger for love, acceptance, and a place in the hollow of God's hand. 

I am so thankful for the opportunity to meet and love these precious souls.