Good evening to all! Lorne & I are on the way to Los Angeles to fly to Costa Rica in the morning. Bethany And Christina Klassen are going with us. This Sat. is Marlene’s wedding so we are privileged to be able to go. It was not easy driving away and leaving our children behind but we only plan to be gone for 6 days and I’m sure they’ll be fine. Greivin’s also left on Mon., so Corey Yoder and his family are at the home to take care of things while we are gone. We’re riding along and it feels like such a waste of time to sit still and do nothing so I decided to try to write for a bit. Last Thurs. we took the whole family to do the grocery shopping and first spent some time at a park. It felt good to relax for a little. Of course, we don’t all have the same ways of ‘relaxing’.

Last Sun was a milestone day for the home. Merary, Marisol and Bianca were baptized. Their lives are such beautiful examples of the beauty that God can make out of a life of ashes. They are so sincere in their commitment to serving their Savior. This day was a reminder to us as a staff that the work is worth every minute of our time. Every late night spent trying to help a struggling teen, every interruption to my schedule is for a purpose and only God knows how far it will reach. Praise Him for His grace and mercy!!

Remember Lucia, the 14 yr. old from last week? Well, that story took another road as it unfolded this week. Marilu, her caregiver, through working with her, sensed that her story had some inconsistencies. Ana also befriended her and spent quite a bit of time with her. As they shared with her she began to give bits of the true story of her life. She is Catholic and is living in darkness. We spent several late nights trying to help her to understand that there is freedom in truth and that our desire is that she could find that freedom. I believe she was here in God’s timing because this weekend was extra special and there were more activities than normal that allowed her to see Jesus. Friday night was our monthly program night where all the different rooms give a program. Late that night she was crying and told me that she just wants to return to DIF. She was feeling uncomfortable here and we know that it was the exposure to truth that was creating her discomfort. On Sat. night, Marilu and I were working with her and she was very distraught. After a long while, Ana helped her to expose to us the truth.  She has been living a lie these 2 months with DIF, with her story of being kidnapped. The truth is that she ran away from home with this man and was living with him until he became abusive and then she went to DIF with the other story in hopes of finding a way home to Mexico City. We informed her that we would need to inform DIF of the truth as well but she seemed relieved to have the truth exposed. She still wanted to return to DIF and on Tues. we called them and gave her true story. They came out within an hour to take her in to work with her and the truth. Lucia expressed an interest in reading a Bible to find out if the things she heard are really true, so Ana gave her own Bible to Lucia. Our prayer is that she could come to know the lifesaving truth of Jesus!

Pray for us and the children as we are travelling this week and the children are at home.

Casa Hogar Una Luz Encendida

We recently took group pictures so I’ll give you a peek at who we are.

Our wonderful staff! Roland, Marilu, Tony, Heidi, Sara, Darlene, Gloria, Abigail, Cristina, Regina, Bethany, Ana

 

 

Heidi Perez from Costa Rica with  Kiara, Alana, Migel, Fernando, Merary, Alondra, Jacqueline,  Evelin, Alejandra,  Pancho, Angel & Alfredo  

 

Marilu Rojas from Costa Rica with Bianca, Susana, Alejandro, Marisol, Maribel & Eduardo

 

Darlene Wagler from Iowa with Jenny, Jacky, Erika, Micaela, Lesly, Ana, Gabriela, America, Sara & Reina

 

Bethany & Cristina Klassen from Canada with Ivan, Jesus, Fernanda & Cesar

 

Tony Nisly from Arkansas & Roland Rojas from Costa Rica with Daniel, Ismael & Jose

 

 

Our 2 yr. olds!

A blessed week to you all from the Hershbergers!

As for God, His way is perfect...

I am full of mixed emotions tonight. Happy to have the privilege to share God's love with a needy child, sad that a child has had such horrible experiences in her life. Today, 14 yr old Lucia came for a time. In May she was kidnapped from her home in Mexico City and brought to Tijuana by her kidnapper. He was a man that she knew but he told her he would kill her sisters if she did not cooperate. She was treated horribly by this man. They lived with the man's mother until in Sept. one day the man was gone to work and the mother left and didn't lock the doors so Lucia escaped and ran to a nearby store to ask for help. They helped her call her mother and the police and she was taken to DIF. She's been waiting while DIF investigated her case and worked to see if she can return to her family. She has been cleared to return to her family but the family is poor and does not have the money for a ticket so she needs to wait until something can be done. It's been 6 mo. since she saw her family, although she does talk to them by phone. The family has had a difficult time as well with sick children. She has a 3 yr old sister who needs heart surgery and also a sister who needs eye surgery. And so we offer her love, security and a chance to hear about God. Pray for Lucia and her family that they could be reunited soon!