Flowers from Fernanda

We would like to tell you a little about Fernanda. She is another one of our precious, sweet girls here at the project. She has a brilliant smile and lots of energy. However, transition has been difficult for her. Here she has rules, responsibilities and she has to go to school. Some days she will just simply refuse to do her chores, do her homework or go to school.  I’ll ask her why she didn’t go to school today and she will tell me “it is boring”. We give her a lot of reasons to go but the one that usually gets her is when we tell her that we love her and that’s why we want what is best for her. A lot of times after school she finds me when I’m working. I never know when I will hear her call
my name and see her smile and wave or see her peeking around a corner. Occasionally
she will even climb up the scaffolding to deliver some small yellow flowers she
found or a crayola masterpiece of Jesus she made. She requires a lot of special
attention and at times can be a hand full for the staff. However, she is a special
child of God. When we look around here in Honduras we can think “there
are just too many and we can’t reach them all.” This is true. But for now we know we
can reach these here at Manuelito and today Fernanda is safe and cared for and will continue to be. Today she is learning more and more of what it means to be a child of the King.  And when we think of the alternative, we praise God and thank Him for Project Manuelito.

And Fernanda will "praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made.  Your works are wonderful and she will know that full well!"
Psalm 139:14

  "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." - Mother Teresa

Semana Santa

Things never slow down at Manuelito and we are moving right along!  We have two teams here this week, one from Hope Teams International in Oregon and another from Gas City, IN. It is also Holy Week this week so the kids have had off school!

The team from Oregon has been doing Bible School activities with the kids and they are having an amazing time learning Bible stories, doing crafts and participating in some great games!  Thank you for all the love that you have shown our children this week!

The other team from Indiana has been busy working on the new work team building.  Their progress has been incredible! We are so grateful!  As you can see from the photos we are getting so close to being able to use this building!  And what a blessing it will be to the project!  Thank you  for all your hard work! 

And so the old saying is true..."Many hands make light work!"

And there are many hands who have worked on various projects, many hearts who have loved our children, many prayer warriors who've prayed without ceasing... THANK YOU! 

Together we make a great team!

"For just as we have in one body many members, but the members do not all have the same function, so we, although many, are one body in union with Christ, but members belonging individually to one another." Romans 12:4-5

Radio Christmas!

If you get a chance be sure to check out what our friends in England are doing for us here: http://www.radiochristmas.co.uk/ . We are very thankful for all our friends in England and especially Street Kids Direct for all they are doing for us and our kids. God bless and Merry Christmas!

Weekly Update Aug 26

We had a group from Calvary Christian Church from St. Peters, MO. What an amazing week it was! The group accomplished many things, including finishing a sidewalk to the school, starting a new laundry building between the two dorms, completely organizing a mess of a closet, organizing the school library/office, and of course letting our kids know how dearly they are loved. They even cooked us dinner one night! We are so thankful for this team, some of them having been down eight times now!! We can't wait to see you all back next year!!



One special moment last week was when Pastor Jorge Pinto (founder of the Manuelito Project) came with a surprise for the three girls who started in the project over 10 years ago and are now teachers in the school here. The Pastor unveiled a beautiful and touching painting of Jesus being with a street child while she cares for a younger sibling. This painting is significant as Rita and Maribel also cared for their younger siblings while living on the streets. It was an incredible presentation and moment for the project.



Well, I said last week there was a big game on and that I would update you on the results. I'm sad to say while Barcelona won the first game, the game was decided as an aggregate of two games and overall Real Madrid won. There was lots of laughing and dancing and pointing fingers after the game. Even if my team lost it was still a fun time! Always one of the highlights of my week!

Speaking of soccer, the boys played 2 games this weekend in their league. They lost the first game 0-2, but tied the second. They have a tournament this weekend so we will be practicing a lot this week!


We had 3 birthdays last week! Happy Birthday to Erlan, Jorge and Edith! We are so thankful for the blessing God has given us in you three, and we can't wait to see what He has in store for your lives. Our prayer is that you would always seek to follow Him in all that you do!

See you next week!

Weekly Update for August 20

Hello there! In an attempt to keep everyone more informed I (Justin) will be trying to update the news section weekly in sort of a journal format. So let's jump right on in!

For most males (and many females as well) in Honduras one thing in particular is always on their minds, soccer! So of course when the 2 biggest teams in the world face off the project always gets excited. On Wednesday of last week Barcelona played against Real Madrid. Usually the kids try their best to get their chores and homework done so they can all watch the games together. The split is about 50/50 in terms of who supports which team. What makes it even more fun for the kids is that I (Justin) support Barcelona while Mauricio (the director) roots for Real Madrid. In the end Barcelona won and as always after a game of this magnitude bragging rights were won as well. The game was a 2 part affair that concludes this Wednesday to determine the winner, so I'll try to update on the outcome! :)

Another big part of the boys life is actually playing the game as well! This week we trained and prepared for our upcoming match on Saturday. The boys are diligent about practicing and are always excited to show off their skills. Unfortunately on Saturday they lost the game but spirits seemed to be high.


On Saturday a group from St Charles, MO (Calvary Christian Church) arrived to spend a week out here in Talanga. We are always excited to share our lives with teams and to see what God has in store with them. We know this team very well as for some of them this is their 8th time here in Honduras! The plans are to work on a new laundry facility between the 2 dormitories and to work on walkways as it's hard to get around in rainy season.


Adding to all the excitement last week was our quarterly time to let the kids pick new clothes from donations made. There's nothing more exciting than watching the kids as they walk out of the kitchen with all their new shirts/pants/shoes in hands. Thank you to everyone who has donated things, and especially Broadway United Methodist for donating a new pair for every child! What a blessing!

Have a blessed week!

New girl!

We are so excited to welcome Monserrat to our family! Monserrat is settling in well and we are thrilled to show her all God has planned for her life!

Recovered!

We want to thank everyone, all of our friends and brothers and sisters in Christ that have been helping us through prayers and offerings in this time of trial. Please know that these prayers and offerings have been a great blessing to all of us. The doctors now have determined that we are free from the bacteria that produces the illness we were experiencing and that we can now return to normalcy. This will include being able to once again attend to groups and visitors from abroad. We returned to classes last week. Cristopher is now back in Talanga and started classes today. All of our kids and staff are now back to normal and resuming their normal activities. This is not the time to let our guard down, rather to increase the measures to prevent this from happening again. For this reason we ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers and continue to offer what you can so that we can continue doing the will of God in the lives of these boys and girls that need it the most.

Mauricio Flores Director