Investing in Children

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Ministering to families is an essential part of ASOSAP ministry but in the last few years we have taken to heart the responsibility to focus on children, striving to guide them in God’s ways. Building My Horizon and the Post Disaster Nutrition Project are the two we will highlight in this letter.

Building My Horizon (BMH) was our first program directly aimed at educating children. We started it as a pilot project in 2017 with thirty children. We were excited but also nervous as we had never done this before.  Questions and doubts swirled in our heads. The children and their parents loved it so we felt led to continue each year. With each year, we gained knowledge, experience, and confidence. As God had called us to this, He has equipped us. God has been with us, and you have been too. Your prayer and financial support are essential, and we are so grateful.

BMH will start up again this June for the sixth year with 40 children. We have seen the children grow in knowledge of the Bible and faith in Jesus. We have seen them master new life skills and grow in confidence. Their joy as they embrace the activities has brought us much joy. A recent example of this is the Christmas party in December -games, Santa, the Christmas story, presents, and plenty of good food. The children had never experienced anything like it, and we are sure they will treasure the memory. The old year finished well and we look for a good new year with the BMH children!

We plan to continue the monthly in-person English and Computer classes, along with at-home workbooks for English. This will help them develop intellectually at home and in their school studies. The Computer classes train them to be active participants in this world of increasing technology. With COVID, school education is fully or partially online, and these skills will help them succeed in their studies. The Bible education will be at home using workbooks, with an in-person introduction to the topics when we hand out the workbooks. The children will also have opportunities to clarify questions during the other in-person classes. This year we are using two new materials – “Biblical Answers to Common Lies” and “Who is Jesus? Discovering New Life in Jesus Christ.”

A cooking class, which was a big hit in previous years will be a highlight for the children this year as well. While having lots of fun, they learn life skills like: using math to follow the recipe and measure ingredients, and practicing sharing and letting others take a turn. A new addition this year will be a training course for some of the mothers. They will learn how to make soap and shampoo, which they can then do at home. This will create an income for their families. As in other years, we will host a parent’s session which teaches them about Biblical parenting. They will be encouraged to teach their children God’s ways in all that they do.

We still need child sponsors. If you’d like to support a child, you can find more info here:        

Hope of the Pokomchí » Building My Horizon (hopeofpokomchi.org)

The Post Disaster Nutrition Project in New Queja is a very high priority right now for helping children.  We have identified 50 children who are severely to moderately malnourished. How did this happen? In November of 2020 two hurricanes caused a devastating landslide which buried the village of Queja and many of its inhabitants. New Queja was eventually founded so that survivors could rebuild their lives. Many young children became malnourished during the tragic upheaval of these people’s lives. The new area has no access to health posts so these children went undetected for far too long.

The project has run for almost 6 months already. During this time, the children gained an average of 2 lbs and some went from severely to moderately malnourished; however, they need another 6 months of nutritional supplements and monitoring to get their health on a firm footing. Along with nutritional support, we provide weight and length monitoring, home visits, and health care to prevent or treat illness that could hinder their growth. We hold classes for their parents which focus on good nutrition and life lessons from the Bible. With this they will be better equipped to care for their children – physically and spiritually.

Many children still need sponsorship. If you would like to support one or more, please click here:

Post Disaster Nutrition Project

Please pray for the continued recovery of the children and for the rest of the funds to help them.

We will be sharing updates with you as these two groups of children are lifted up and empowered.