The Needs and the Rescues
We have much to praise God for and to share with you this month. I (Tony) have just returned from the Santa Maria Children’s Home, where the chicken farm is progressing very well, and we have purchased the second batch of 300 chicks! I wish words could suffice to express the joy I felt at seeing those lunch plates and dinner plates with healthy, home-raised chicken being served to the children. Few things in life are as beautiful to my eyes as watching children that once knew hopelessness and the nagging ache of hunger and poverty now joyfully eating regular, hot, healthy meals while they sit at a family table, with decent clothes and shoes to wear, surrounded by love and care. This is all because of the Lord’s provision, made possible by YOUR giving. Thank you for caring about these boys.
The chicken farm success brings with it a pressing need, for which we turn to you for help. The home desperately needs a deep freezer because it is time to 
harvest the birds, yet because there has not been sufficient room for freezing them after they are harvested, the staff is forced to harvest at one time only the birds that will be eaten that day. This is not only the least efficient means of harvesting, but it also requires that too much money be spent in ongoing feed costs for the birds that remain alive each day past the time we had originally planned for harvesting. The older the birds are, the more they eat. It is most efficient to harvest all of them at once and keep them frozen until needed. We ask you to please consider what you can supply to help us purchase a freezer for the children.
Aside from this need, there is an additional need of tremendous importance, and it concerns one of the orphanage boys named Robert. Each day that Robert lives is a day filled with pain. He has scoliosis, a disorder causing an abnormal curve of the spine. Already hunchback and progressing in deformation, Robert has been waiting for over a year for government assistance to cover the costs for a much needed, spinal fusion surgery. Without that surgery, Robert’s continued growth poses an increased risk for a heart attack, as the spine continues to extend in a frontal direction, adding stress to the heart. We are asking that you please pray for Robert’s upcoming surgery. It is an extremely delicate procedure he will undergo, and we want it to be a success. The government will only cover 80% of the medical costs, leaving the orphanage with a need for increased support from us to pay the remaining 20%. Can you help us?
We are delighted to announce that two new boys have been added to the Santa Maria Children’s Home, bringing the total to 69. Today, we share with you the brief account of one of those boys.
Luis Fernando, 12 years of age, was found wandering the streets of Lima in January of this year. He had lice, infected wounds, and was desperate for help. Thankfully, a man took Luis from the streets to the local police station, and eventually Luis was brought to the orphanage. What do we know of his past? According to an aunt of his, Luis was never cared for by his mother, who is now pregnant by a different man. Abandoned to the “care” of friends and relatives from whom Luis always escaped, Luis preferred street life and spent his time in internet booths, begging, and singing on top of cars to get money for food and the rental of a shack in which to sleep. Luis did not attend school last year, but now that he is in the orphanage, he is eager to get ahead. He is already attending school and in the coming days will be given all of the needed notebooks, a backpack, and a pair of new shoes…a dream come true. He still has problems with his skin, but is adapting nicely to the orphanage and demonstrates a very caring attitude towards the younger children in the home. He is always attentive to the other children’s needs and seeks out help when problems come to his attention.
How do you imagine Jesus feels about Luis? Or about Robert’s deformed body? Do you really think that it matters to Christ that the Santa Maria Children’s 
Home exists and has electricity and food each month to operate and to be a refuge for boys like them? Is it important to the Father that there are chicken dinners in these boys’ bellies and hope in their futures? We all know the answer. Perhaps the real question is, “What can we give to see that what matters to Christ continues to survive?” Till next month, we bless you in the name of the Lord.
By His Grace,
Tony and Rosa Rivera
Home of Refuge International
