Decemeber 2023 Newsletter: Hearing from Hope Recipients

Let’s hear from participants from some of our programs:

Building My Horizon:

BMH Mother:

I´m very happy and grateful to ASOSAP as they gave my son Kevin the opportunity to be part of this project. We’ve seen the progress he’s made in learning new things.

This year he got good grades in the English class at the public school he attends. His teacher congratulated him and asked where he’s learning English. He shared with her that he’s part of this project. 

What has brought me even more happiness is the example that Kevin has become for his siblings and for us parents. At home he teaches the Bible verses that he’s memorized to his siblings and prays with them every night. He includes us parents in this learning and prayers too. This is the big change I’ve seen in him.

I thank God for this opportunity that has been given to my children to be a part of BMH for five years. I can testify that they have learned so much about how to be people who are responsible, plan for the future, and follow God.

Infant Malnutrition Rescue Program:

Mother of Infant:

My name is Olga, I’m Calixto Adrian’s mother. Calixto is my tenth child. I’ve always had my births at home with the help of a traditional midwife. This time, my labor didn’t start, so I went to my pre-natal checkup at the health post. Nurse Alicia examined me and said that I had past my due date by various days. She referred me to the hospital to be further evaluated.

At the hospital they performed a c-section. Afterwards, I didn’t know what was wrong with me or how my son was doing. When the doctors saw the condition of my son, that he was born without an anal opening, they referred him to the larger hospital in Coban. There they created a colostomy and he was admitted to hospital for a month. I couldn’t stay with him in the hospital. I was only able to visit him if I managed to get the money together to go and visit him.

When he was discharged home after that month, but I didn’t have enough breast milk to support him. Medical professionals told me that I needed to give him formula so that he would gain weight. I was also given a reference to a hospital in Guatemala City, to start the process of reversing his colostomy and creating an anal opening.

My husband works as a casual day laborer. Sometimes he is able to find work, but other times he doesn’t have work. We didn’t have the money to buy the formula. We only bought what we could to support him and gave him a little of the water that remained after cooking rice.

I was scared, hopeless, and sad because I couldn’t help my son more. I didn’t want to just let him die, so I went to see Nurse Alicia. I told her about the situation with my son. She connected me to ASOSAP for assistance with the formula. They also have been accompanying me to Guatemala City in the process of seeing specialists and doing examinations, in order to one day repair my son’s condition. I thank God and those who work at ASOSAP for helping me with the formula and care of my son. I know there is a long road ahead of us, but my son currently has stable health and I have support for whatever lies ahead.

Integrated Community Development:

Community Education Participant:

My name is Feliza. I’m twenty-eight years old and live in the village of San Lucas. I have been attending the education sessions for four years. I like participating because ASOSAP teaches me how to take care of my family through preventing various diseases and they also teach me about God’s Word.

They taught us that we can prevent illnesses through handwashing, only consuming boiled or filtered water, and maintaining good hygiene. In my community, we don’t have water access in our homes. To obtain drinking water (which then needs to be boiled or filtered), we have to go to a natural spring or well. To wash our clothes, we have to carry our clothes to the spring and wash them there. In rainy season, there is a natural spring that is an hour from my home. When it’s the dry season, I have to go even further from home as the other natural spring dries up.

It was a great blessing to receive my water tank this year. It greatly benefits my family to have easy water access. Because of the generosity of others, who have God’s love in their hearts, we no longer have to worry about how we are going to get water. My two children and myself no longer have to suffer, carrying heavy containers of water back to our house.

I wouldn’t have been able to build a water tank on my own; I don’t have the financial resources to do this. I can never repay this huge gift; I can only pray for those who made this project possible. I pray for their families and their country. Thank you so much.

Don’t you find it exciting to see how God has joined us all together and how He takes care of these families? We pray that God would richly bless each of you. We wish you the best in this season of celebrating God’s greatest gift to us – His Son Jesus Christ, our Savior.