“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.” – Jeremiah 17:7-8
One girl at a time
A seed does not become a tree in a couple of days. Growing roots takes time. A tree does not simply bear fruit overnight. Producing fruit takes time. Life takes time. Love takes time. Transformation takes time.
Maybe they don’t know it consciously but the girls we serve have experienced fruitlessness in their families at every level (spiritually, emotionally and psychologically and physically). They know a lot about heat, the fire of trial and suffering. They know what it is to live with physical thirst and thirst of unmet emotional needs. That is why our greatest work is to introduce them to Jesus Christ and for them to come to trust in Him. So they can experience what it means to be the three from Jeremiah 17.
Picture of the latest artwork at an Amparo Club wall. Painted by students from a wonderful Christian School who did they service day with us last week. Shout out to SCCLC.
At Amparo we have learn to abide, to persevere in relationships. Since Ruth’s graduation, at the end of last year, I felt as if we stepped into a new season. 2023 has been marked by growth in our Prevention Program and we are pleasantly astounded of the opportunities of growth for 2024.
One girl, one painted hand, one story, and countless fruit.
Even though they take it as a game and what to dip both hands in paint and fill the three by themselves jajaja
If the current trajectory holds, God willingly, we will conclude 2023 without a single dropout at our home and a Prevention Program success rate exceeding 90% after growing over 100% since November 2022, when the tree of the picture would have had 26 hands. By the end of this year the tree will have at least 60 hands. Our plan and challenge is to reach the 3rd quarter of 2024 with 100 hands on the tree.
Each hand imprinted on that wall, on that tree, carries an investment cost—of time, energy, money, knowledge, and more. God makes this endeavor possible through each one of you and I want to thank you because if you’re receiving this email you’re at least interested in Amparo and hopefully involved at some level. Now I want to extend you an invitation, the more you invest in Amparo, the more we can do and deeper we can go. Please prayerfully consider a deeper involvement that leaves your mark on the lives of the girls and adolescents in our programs.
Now a snapshot of the impact in the community beyond our one on one focus with the girls.
“From the beginning, I have felt a connection with Amparo. However, after this visit, it has moved into a deep, personal connection. Having a front row seat to the Prevention program in action, seeing the talented staff and volunteers spread His love during the community outreach event, was inspiring. The girls at the Restoration program welcomed us into their family, and we were able to spend quality time with these beautiful souls. To say I am impressed by the incredible leadership at Amparo (and their families) would be a severe understatement. I am convinced the Lord is going to bring generational change through Amparo and am honored to join in what He is doing.” – Scott Gotshall
Another sweet visit
The last week of October a young marriage from Tarija, a city in the south of Bolivia, visited Amparo in Santa Cruz for a couple of days. The goal of their visit was to learn from our Prevention Program as they pray, plan and get ready to do something similar in their city. It was a great experience for us to receive them and share what we have learned over the years. To see God raising more people to join the dream of a Bolivia free from child sexual exploitation is very encouraging.
Visiting the Amparo Prevention Program was a great blessing for us. We knew all the theory about how the program worked, but it was when we walked the neighborhood, entered the houses and shared time with the girls where everything took on a different meaning. Amparo is light in their lives, and being part of Amparo is being part of that light that the Lord gives us and allows us to share it with others. One at a time. It is the way of loving that the Lord gave us. Leaving the office, the theory and being face to face with both girls from both Programs was a very important step for us.” – Álvaro Blass
“Visiting the Amparo Prevention Program was a great blessing for us. We knew all the theory about how the program worked, but it was when we walked the neighborhood, entered the houses and shared time with the girls where everything took on a different meaning. Amparo is light in their lives, and being part of Amparo is being part of that light that the Lord gives us and allows us to share it with others. One at a time. It is the way of loving that the Lord gave us. Leaving the office, the theory and being face to face with both girls from both Programs was a very important step for us.” – Álvaro Blass
The first week of Novemeber we were blessed by the visit of David Weir (chairman of our Board of Directors), Mike Sim and Scott Gotshall. Both of whom have been actively involved in Amparo since 2021. Read what Scott wrote about it: