First, please check out the documentary Dayton Children’s Hospital made of the separation of Pedro and Augusto; two incredible boys now in our care in Guatemala.

Skim through July with me!

Ministry Summary as of July 2023

At Hope for Home, We work in Guatemala and Liberia to love children with disabilities.

In Guatemala, loving kids with special Needs sometimes looks like preventative care as in birthing centers and nutrition programs. Sometimes this is providing remote families with the resources they need to keep their child with special needs at home with their own family. And at times when that is not possible, we have 5 small group homes for children with special needs who are not safe at home.

The Liberia team is building a children’s hospital and adding new grades to their school each year. They have formula babies as well, and have a small village for children with special needs.

I’m on the Guatemala side. As a nurse, my role is to help educate families and caregivers in safety and basic medical and nutritional care. I case manage some of our more sensitive children, and aid in communication between providers, parents, and staff.

I most enjoy direct care—when I get to sit with families in their homes or love on our kids in the group homes.

Launching with MissionGo

Last month, I made the switch to working under a larger sending organization, MissionGo. Practically speaking, nothing has changed about the work I get to do, and the people I get to love! I still work with Hope for Home ministries, and my day to day ministry has not changed!

What is changing is some of the administrative side. Working within a larger organization has already opened some doors and made unique connections with other missionaries so we can more cohesively work together. Some options might even help me classify medical donations as humanitarian bags, and wave the fees at the airport! That’s pretty big deal since every trip down I bring at lease one bag stuffed with supplies we can’t get in Guatemala, sometimes more!

This also means snail mail newsletters, something I have not been able to do before. Let me know if you know someone this would help more than blog posts– though newsletters would be more like this post, and not include the chaotic short stories that make up my life with special needs care in Guatemala!

Another help is professional support when I get stumped with things like taxes or health insurance confusion (yes, missionaries still pay taxes, and no, I don’t want to talk about it!).

US visit Early September

As part of this switch, I’ll be coming to the states for training in late August. This will slide right into much needed time with my family. I’ll be sharing at some churches and small groups, and catching up with close friends, including an important wedding!

Please let me know if you would like to try to meet up while I am in Ohio.

Twins Update

Mid-June, one of our homes here in Guatemala received formerly conjoined twins, Pedro and Augusto. They were found by Shriners, and after years of planning, successfully separated in my own back yard—Dayton Children’s Hospital in Ohio.

This was a groundbreaking set of surgeries, and this week, a documentary about the boys was released on YouTube. https://youtu.be/Pf7mgvi4_Dk

It has been a joy to come to love these boys, and an honor to become part of the twins medical team. Detailed medical supervision is uncommon in Guatemala, and I’ve enjoyed exceptional ongoing involvement from the US medical team as well as beginning coordination with the Guatemalan medical team here who are already well established should the boys need intervention.