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Today my heart is so grateful to God for His mercy and faithfulness for the Oasis and my Kids Alive Guatemala team. We are celebrating 70 days of prayer and we have seen how the hand of the Lord has sustained us. Every morning at 9:00 we meet together to pray for Guatemala, our government, the girls’ families, our leadership team, and every team member of Kids Alive Guatemala. We have had some really sweet moments with the Lord.
I thank the Lord for my team! Before the pandemic, I felt like I knew each one of our house moms well. I knew each of them was responding to the call of God to work here. However, during this Covid-19 crisis, I have had the opportunity to get to know each of their hearts at a deeper level. Each member of our team has been so determined and willing to serve!
Our house moms have been faithful and persistent – doing a difficult job at a difficult time. Even though I can see that they are tired, I also see how their strength has been renewed each day. They continue to stand as firm soldiers in the midst of a battle. I have witnessed how well they treat the girls despite their exhaustion and stress. This resilience has shown me that our house moms have dedicated hearts full of God’s love.
They are willing to change plans and adapt to irregular schedules and longer than normal work rotations. On top of all of this, many of them have sacrificed time at home with their families during this crisis to assure our children are well cared for.Until quite recently, some house moms couldn’t even return home to their family during their days off, because of the strict travel restrictions imposed by the mayors of their hometowns. These house moms remained at Oasis for multiple weeks.
During their time off, they had alternative housing so they could rest, sleep, relax, and have the freedom to do whatever they wanted. However, they often chose to work and help and the other house moms, “We can’t stay here and do nothing. We prefer to help in our houses.”
Seeing the house moms play, laugh, and simply being mothers during this crisis means watching them be full-time: teachers, since the girls are being sent homework weekly (Guatemala schools run from January through October), cooks, Zumba instructors, artists, and pastors. To see their joy in everything they do reveals the work of God and His love manifested throughout this whole team.
Opportunity for picnics together.
Opportunity for changing stagnant routines.
Opportunity to work overtime if desired.
Opportunity to be more active and work out.
Opportunity to spend more focused time on school work.
Opportunity to pray more.
And an opportunity to work together as a more united team than we have ever been before.
I only have one thing to say: “Thank you, Lord! Your love is infinite!”~ Karla Galván, Kids Alive Guatemala Director of Residential Programs
