Open for Business

As we finished up with our 3rd official meeting, I continue to be amazed at how God is working through this whole process, and how talented these girls are! These earrings have all been made by the girls only by copying a model of a pair that I have made, and I don't think it will be much longer that they will need to copy from me before they start coming up with their own amazing creations. I have also been very impressed with the ambition I am seeing from each of the girls, and how they are naturally working together in groups based upon their talents and abilities. The older girls seem to be taking the younger ones under their watch, and are genuinely producing quality jewelry.

This past Saturday we had 30 pairs of earrings, and within 1 day I sold 22 pairs to co-workers of mine. The goal was to have enough ready to sell for a group that Melvin is currently working with, and now I barely have anything to show them! While sending out support letters in the states, I had several people volunteer to be a representative of Semillas de Esperanza by selling for us stateside, and I'm afraid that most of the jewelry will not even make it out of the country before being sold!

This whole process has been a wonderful reminder to me of when we are serving in the capacity that God created us for, how natural the fit seems. I am not struggling to make this whole process work, forcing it to be something that its not. But rather, because I have been obedient to what God was putting in my heart, I am seeing the fruits of my labor and the blessings and POTENTIAL that God has in store.

A small goal of mine was to create a weekend retreat at Lago de Yojoa for the girls where we could continue building relationships as well as have a time to teach and disciple them with bible study and other activities. Many of these girls have never really been outside of their neighborhood, so to spend an all-paid for weekend at the lake would be an unforgettable experience for them. This past Saturday, I was approached by a friend of mine, Anna, who works for a Christian organization from Denmark, and she has a team coming in July that would like to completely sponsor the retreat as well as plan the entire thing! Please keep this in prayer that it would come to be, and that this will all go smoothly as well.

With this retreat being paid for, this frees up some of the money made from sales to be used for other areas. One thing that I have felt is the need for these girls to be in school. Most of them are no longer in school because of financial reasons, and if this program could even sponsor 1 or 2 to be able to attend school once again, I will find it well worth the effort. However, this can only be done if I continue to have support from the states. I have been overwhelmed at the amount of generosity I have seen from my family and friends in this ministry, and I am putting out the call to all of you to please let others know about this ministry! I am compiling e-mail addresses together so that I may send out newsletters and updates online, so I appreciate your help in this matter.

Once again, thank you to everyone for believing in this endeavor. I can't explain to you the joy I have in working with these girls, and I couldn't do it without you! Please take a look at some of our products, and hopefully I can start putting some online for internet sales and orders.

P.S. Check out the bracelets we have been making! These are really cool & artsy, and each bead tells the story of Jesus.

Star- There once was a star in the east

3 Yellow Beads-That guided 3 wisemen, Melchor, Gaspar, & Baltazar

Clear Bead-To come and see the birth of the new King of the Jews.

Wooden Bead-When Jesus grew up, he was a carpenter,

Fish-and a fisher of men & souls.

12 Pearls- He had 12 disciples,

Clear Bead-Who preached the truth & the Gospel.

3 Black Beads-But one day he was denied 3 times

Cross-and was crucified

Red Bead-giving up his precious blood

White Bead- to forgive us and purify us of our sins.

Blue Bead-But he rose from the dead & is now in the heavens,

3 Clear Beads-with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Heart-All this was done because of his love for us.

Semillas Biographies Part 2

Name: Jessenia Yamileth Gunera

Name: Ingris Graciela Varela

Name: Wendi Yamileth Mendez Ochoa

Age: 12 D.O.B. September 3, 1996

Parents at home? Yes

Occupations: Mother works in construction, father is a police officer

Number of children living at home:4

School? No longer enrolled in school

House: Homemade wooden house

Semillas Biographies

I am currently in the process of typing out all of the girl's biographies, but in the meanwhile here are some pictures! Even though you may not know them by name, you can begin to pray for them and their home situations.
Name: Jennifer Nolasco Gutierrez
Age: 11 D.O.B. May 10, 1997
Parents at home? Yes
Occupations: Mother is a housewife, father is a "motorista" (a person who may make deliveries or do bill collecting by motorcycle)
Number of children living at home: 4
School: No longer in school
House: Homemade wooden house

Name: Evelin Maria Zolorsano Alvarado
Age: 14 D.O.B. August 10, 1994
Parents at home? Yes
Occupations: Mother sells tortillas, father has been unemployed for over a year.
Number of children living at home: 9
School: Currently enrolled in school
House: Homemade wooden home.

Name: Yuri Vanessa Colindres Avila
Age: 13 D.O.B. October 1, 1995
Parents at home? Yes
Occupations: Mother sells "golosinas," (candy, gum, cigarettes, etc.) father is a painter.
Number of children living at home: 8
School: No longer in school
House: Homemade wooden house

Name: Rosa Elizabeth Colindres Avila
Age: 10
Parents at home? Yes
Occupations: Mother sells "golosinas" (candy, gum, cigarrettes, etc.), father is a painter.
Number of children living at home: 8
School? Yes
House: Homemade wooden house

Name: Soamy Waleska Lopez Sanchez Age: 11 D.O.B. August 25, 1997 Parents at home? Yes Occupations: Mother is a housewife, step-father is a vendor in the street market Number of children living at home: 2 School? Yes House: Homemade wooden house, cement floor

Name: Maria Aleyda Zolorzano Alvarado Age: 13 D.O.B. September 7, 1996
Parents at home? Yes Occupations: Mother sells tortillas, father has been unemployed for over 1 year Number of children living at home: 9 School? No longer in school House: Homemade wooden house

Name: Dilia Lopez Hernandez
Age: 15
Parents at home? Yes
Occupations: Mother is a housewife, father is a street vendor
Number of children living at home: 5
School: Is not in school this year because of economic hardship, but plans to enroll again next year.
House: Homemade wooden house with a roof in need of repair.

Name: Kimberling Lizeth Baca Herrera
Age: 11 years old D.O.B. July 14, 1997 Parents at home? Yes Occupations: Mother is a housewife, father is a construction worker Number of Children living at home: 4 School: No longer is in school House: Homemade 1 room wooden house, cement floor.


Name: Odalis Nohelia Aguilar Vasquez Age: 12 years old Parents at home? Mother only Occupations? Mother does not have work, whereabouts of the father unknown. Number of Children living at home: 4 School: Entering High School House: Homemade wooden house

Some of the girls

Name: Gueiby Yamileth Caballero Cardona
Age: 11 D.O.B. December 2, 1997
Parents at home: Yes
Occupations: Mother works in the home, father works as an electrician.
Number of children living at home: 5
School: Entering 6th grade (more than likely, this will be the last year of school for Gueiby because in her neighborhood, there is no high school).
House: Homemade wooden house


Name: Ritsy Pamela Flores
Age: 15 D.O.B. July 9th, 1993
Parents at home: Yes
Occupations: Mother works in the home, father works in a factory.
Number of Children living at home: 3 (her younger brother, Wilson, age 10, was just sponsored by a church in the U.S. to have corrective eye surgery and is now seeing well!)
School: No longer in school
Home: Homemade wooden house, dirt floors.


Name: Wendi Yamileth Mendes Ochoa
Age: 12 September 3rd, 1996
Parents at home: Yes
Number of Children living at home: 4
School: No longer in school, but takes care of her younger siblings at home.
Home: Homemade wooden home with cement floors.





I will continue to keep adding more pictures and bios of the girls. Keep praying for all of these girls as they face extremely challenging situations and are at a very impressionable age!

And we're off!

Greetings to everyone, especially my 2 loyal followers! (its so great to have people so interested in this ministry!)

We have now had our official 2nd meeting for Semillas de Esperanza, and everything keeps getting better than expected! I now have 25 girls interested, and yesterday I was able to get all of their pictures and biographies that I will be sharing with all of you as well as all of our customers. I also had them working for the first time getting used to using the pliers to bend and twist the wire, and some of them show an amazing natural talent with just their first try!

I will be posting some pictures from this last Saturday, as well as some photos of the girls and some of their biographies that they shared with me.

Thank you so much for everyone's support in this endeavor. I truly could not do any of it without everyone's help and support, and I am so excited and motivated to be working with these beautiful young women. Hopefully I will have some pictures of actual jewelry to post soon....but I must admit that in the meanwhile I've had some fun making some prototypes for them to follow!

Love to all!
Macayla

First Meeting Ever!

This past Saturday I had my first ever meeting with my girls for Semillas de Esperanza, and I am happy to say that it was overwhelmingly better than I could have imagined. Before leaving for the states in December, I had mentioned to the girls my idea of using this ministry as something that will not only teach them a skill, but also help us to have good fellowship, discipleship, as well as raising a little bit of money to do something special for these beautiful girls. Apparently, while I was gone they were asking every weekend when I was going to come back and we were going to start, and my FIRST meeting in the tiny little sewing room under the feeding center held 20 girls, myself, and two adult volunteers. I felt so blessed and like things in my life had just clicked into place. I suppose that's God factoring into that.

So, while I have been so blessed with support from family and friends back home, I am afraid that God is turning this into something even bigger than I had imagined, and I will need to purchase more tools so that we can all work together. I have had one teacher from Pinares who was given $100 to bless a ministry of their choice, and after seeing the turn out from our first SDE meeting said that this was the place to put that money. Today I also received an e-mail in which I have some pre-ordered bracelets that will be purchased to benefit another ministry for young girls also.

Stepping out in faith can sometimes be such a difficult decision. What is known is more comfortable than the unknown, and in the decision making process you are reminded of all of your inadequacies and short-comings, but when you do take that step in faith--that plunge as it may seem sometimes, God is there and he will never let you do it on your own.

I was once again very humbled that God has used me to work for him, and I was once again reminded that if I continue to step out in faith, he will bless me with something bigger than I could ever imagine. I knew there in that moment I was in exactly the right place doing the exactly the right thing, and I felt God telling my spirit that I will never be wealthy if I follow him, but I will never be in want.

Support Needed

Trusting the Lord as my provider, I will pledge a

______ monthly gift ______ one time gift

of $ ________ to Semillas de Esperanza


I will pledge

______ prayer support

______ to be a stateside retailer of Semillas de Esperanza products

Name:__________________________________
Email:__________________________________