Do Not Hold Back

Joy, tears, friendship, challenge… opportunities!  That’s how I would describe the last two volunteer trainings we have had at Centro de Vida these past two weekends.

24 women participated in this training, and together, they represent about 15 churches from our city.  I was in awe to see in the group a girl in the group who I met about 3 years ago, and I had the privilege to attend when she came as a client.  When the training was over, we hugged each other for a while.   There was so much emotion among all of us that nobody understood what only her and me understood.  What a joy to be witness of what only God can do in the lives of people. I already see God working in her life right now and can’t wait to see more!

Also we all were very blessed to have Marisol with us.  Marisol is a young lady from Santiago, Chile.  She came to Bolivia for a couple weeks to get training on how to start a pregnancy center.  Isn’t that awesome?  We are enjoying filling her with as much information/training/materials as possible.  It seems God is working within her heart in a very special way while she is here.   

One of the biggest strengths of Bolivia is its location.  Bolivia is very strategically located in South America, and we cannot stop to think about all the countries close to us who don’t have pregnancy centers; such as Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, etc.   It is not an option, we must pray.  At this point we are just dreaming about how God would use us to impact other countries around us. In fact, I was just talking with my Chairman Pável about all this; those who know him would say he is not just a dreamer, but also very practical.  So, his question was:  What would be our part to make this happen?   It seems that Marisol is just the beginning of many more Marisols we want to reach.

Rejoice with us for these new Pro - Life warriors, rejoice with us for our clients and now co-collaborators in ministry; rejoice with us for Marisol and her plans to open a pregnancy center in Chile; rejoice with us for the opportunities given to Centro de Vida to expand its territory.

Thank you for dreaming with us and for helping us dream bigger than what seems possible.  My question to you would be: What would be your part to make this all happen? 

“I used to be afraid to take this step, but I understood that God can work through me to reach young women” 

“I feel that God has brought me here with a purpose and with the help of the Holy Spirit and  continued preparation I can give more”

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

Isaiah 54:2

 

 

 

 

April, 2009: A Tree and its Fruits

A tree and its fruits 

It takes time for a tree to grow, but what a pleasure it is to see a tree bearing good fruit.   

Carmen was with her classmates; one of them just found out she was pregnant, so they were chatting about pregnancy.  Suddenly the conversation moved into talking about friends from the class who were pregnant at a young age. Carmen was asked what she thought.  She said, “I admire them; I wish I would have continued with my pregnancy when I got pregnant four years ago.”  They became quiet and she shared her story. 

Dear ones, I am thrilled to share this with you.  We met Carmen three years ago when she was only seventeen years old. Her pregnancy test was negative back them.  On that day, she opened her heart for Jesus and since then she started a slow process of growing in her faith and healing her heart.  There were great Christian people that surrounded her with love and accompanied her in this process.   It’s been a slow process: she went through the post abortion recovery groups, she was part of our abstinence program, she followed discipleship courses, she is attending a Christian church, and now she is at the point where she is sharing her testimony.   

This is the first time she publicly shared her testimony of going through an abortion.  I know it is not easy for her, but I know for sure that God will use her past experiences for His glory.   She said that when she finished her story, one of the girls asked where could she find help to overcome it.  Isn’t it amazing how a testimony can impact people?    

 

Carmen rejoices in God's promise that “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” and I rejoice in who Carmen is today.  I celebrate her  faith, I celebrate the Holy Spirit working in her heart, I celebrate her passion to reach others, I celebrate her sanctity and purity standards which she lives by today.  

While you were praying…

…We were able to carry the abstinence message in the streets of Santa Cruz the previous days to Carnival.  Ever heard of carnival in Brazil?  Ours is pretty much like that, just a smaller version.  It was an awesome experience to share with people a new message to most of them.   This year, we worked with other ministries, but our plan is to make our "Abstinence Campaign" a huge event in the city.  We believe we as Christians are called to be a counter-cultural and impact our society. 

 

Some other ways we have been active are: 

…Staff and volunteer members of Centro de Vida participated in pro-life conferences in Lima, Peru.  God used Centro de Vida's testimony to encourage people who want to start a pro-life ministry in South America.  We also had the opportunity to get a bigger vision for Latin America.  

…Christian couples have contacted us and have showed their interest in adopting our babies. We keep praying God to confirm His will.   

…Recently a high school girl of seventeen years changed her mind after watching her baby on the ultrasound and listening her baby’s heart beat with the Doppler.  We praise God for tech provision! 

… Our wonderful Board members, staff, and volunteers got trainings from LIFE International!  (Our board members are in the picture above) 

…  and finally, I can’t stop sharing some pictures of our newborn babies and some awesome visitors this month! 

Future plans 

   The last time we shared about our partnership with SIM mission in order to have the ministry inside the local university.  Due to the entire unstable political situation in the country, we won’t be able to be inside the local university anymore.  The mission found land 15 minutes from the public university and this month they will be purchasing the land in order to start the construction.  We hope to move to this new place early in 2011. 

   For a long time, we were toying with the idea of opening an income generating project.  Again, the whole political situation made it hard to come up with a successful idea.  Our board came up with the idea of opening a kid’s care place.  If you ask me, I think it is perfect!  It won’t only be a place that would raise funds for the ministry, but also our clients will have a place to leave their kids as they continue with their education and jobs.  I have started research on it.  Our expectations are to open it by next year.  Please pray for the whole process. 

    Ever hear of the post abortion recovery groups in prison?  Our facilitators are excited with the idea of opening the  next recovery groups in our local prison.  The authorities of the prison are very interested about this possibility.  Please pray as we progress on this partnership. 

Would you pray with me for more Carmens to join the Kingdom?  Would you celebrate with me as we see lives of young women & their babies changing? Would you consider investing financially in the ministry of Centro de Vida, which reach young women in Bolivia? 

2009: Let your shine light

Let your shine light 

“I just wanted you to know how grateful I am for all the support you are giving to Adriana as she is part of the restoration group.  She not only told me about it, but I can notice the bond there is between her and her mentor and how deeply it is affecting her life” said the pastor’s wife as she greeted me at a Bible’s study meeting.   

I felt so blessed to hear those words.  Only because God has brought to us incredible volunteers as Marizabel who lead the Post Abortion restoration groups at Centro de Vida.  Marizabel is truly a woman who looks to honor 

God with her life.  By her example of fire for God she is being used to help women who have experienced abortions become the women God wants them to be. 

 When we opened this program in 2006 we had in mind to provide support to our clients who would end up having an abortion.  God had other plans.  So far, 90% of our women who are and have been part of these groups are Christian women who are active members at local churches.  As one of our mentors once said, “seems that God wants us to restore our women first, in order for them to stand up and be a light for life”  

Thank you for supporting and empowering us to be lead to spread the light among a culture of death that is spread over our country.  We would not be able to reach our church and community without your faithful commitment with His kingdom.  May God bless you.  

God’s plans are bigger than ours 

Remember our dream to have our own facility? 

Well, after years of a relationship with SIM (Serving in Mission), our board has committed to a partnership with this mission. SIM is working toward building a building at the local university land and to make use of the land for 99 years.   

In the building they will serve the university students through their ministry of coffee shop, library, children’s care, auditorium for conferences, etc.  The commitment is that we have our own center on the property and serve the university population right from the main campus.  

Personally I was thrilled while looking at the drafts of floor plans of our new building (Expected to be ready to move at the beginning of 2011).  90% of our clients are university students of this public university that at the moment has over 50,000 students.   

Can you praise God with me for this wonderful opportunity to serve our abortion minded women from a perfect location? 

Also, please join us in praises and prayers for: 

We praise for four women who were abortion minded and decided to continue with their 

pregnancy this month.  Three of them will be placing their babies for adoption.  One of the 

women has twins.  Please pray for them as we look forward to see Godly parents having these 

babies.  

Pray for safety for Marizabel (Volunteer of Post Abortion Program) and Cynthia (our clients 

Director) who will be attending some training conferences in Lima, Peru. (60 hours of trip!) 

Some of the experiences in 2008 

 We were invited through churches, ministries and other organizations to present the abstinence programs at different sites.  When doing it in the streets in Santa Cruz we came out with some big games to make the teens play as they learn!  Fun experience. 

 Always a sweet experience to receive our little visitors visiting us at the office.  What a delight especially when they start to speak and clearly can say “hola tía” (hi aunt). 

 We organized our first fundraising event:  A garage sale.  We have come out with a plan to raise funds and realistically expect to raise 10% of our annual budget.  

 We had our annual volunteers dinner in order to honor volunteers and board members and thank them for their commitment and service to Centro de Vida.  

 Yes, as a ministry we need to review our vision, mission and evaluate in order to plan.  We had very intense planning sessions, as we looked for God’s wisdom in order to correct mistakes and dream God’s dreams.  

  Yes, we were robbed last year, but as I shared with you things could have been worse.  Right now we have more security in our facility and above all we trust God will protect it.  

 

2008: Ultrasounds services

 In June we had a team from the States come and we were 

given ultra sound training.   

 

With the addition of our ultra sound equipment and training 

we now offer free ultra sounds every Thursday afternoon.  

 

2008: June

Apolo!

In June I traveled with Marvin, a doctor friend and a volunteer at Centro de Vida, by bus (over 40 hours!) up into the mountains to a little town called Apolo where we worked with local missionaries for a week giving abstinence presentations to local high school students. We had the opportunity to broadcast our message on the local radio station every night that reached 30 communities! While we were attending to their spiritual needs Marvin was active attending to their physical needs. 

We also trained church leaders to give the abstinence presentation so we would not be needed every year. We also counseled with teens and married women in the local churches. Were shocked to find through a survey we handed out that 20% of women reported been sexually abused. This is an area of ministry that we would like to expand into in the future. Overall we presented our abstinence program to over 300 students.  

 

2008: Life Celebration!

 Birthday Celebration 

Last month we celebrated life at the center.  It was the birthday of one of the babies whose mother was abortion minded when she was expecting her.  What an honor 

when we were asked if she could celebrate her first birthday with us.  

 

I remember so clearly when Cynthia (Our Client’ director) shared with me for the first time (Approximately 19 months ago) about this case.  She was returning to Centro de Vida from the closest clinic.  She took the girl to the clinic for an ultrasound and they both were walking in silence after the ultrasound test. Cynthia was so excited about what she saw on the screen, that suddenly she knew Rosario was going to carry the baby, so she asked: “What are you gonna name your baby”, “Andrea” Rosario replied.  “Andrea?  That’s a beautiful name, I would name my baby 

girl Andrea too if I had one” Cynthia said.  That was more of a confirmation than what she was expecting to hear. Andrea was going to born. Cynthia was being honest when she said that if she had a baby girl she would name her Andrea.  

 

At Andrea’s birthday came also Heidi.  Heidi is Rosario’s best friend and roommate and is part of our discipleship program.  She shared with us one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard.  I wish I could share with you everything she said word by word.  I wish I could remind all of it. It was a humble prayer. 

 

Of thanksgiving of how much Andrea’s presence in their lives helped her to become better people as they turned to God.   

 

Please, celebrate with God for being the life-giver, celebrate with us for Andrea’s life. 

Pray for more Andrea’s to be born, for more Heidi’s to be convince of God’s work in their lives. And, consider what you can invest financially this month to advance the life-giving work in Bolivia. Thank you for standing next to us in the battle for life.   

 

 

2008: Our New Boutique!

Yes, this is how our boutique looks like!  Our volunteer Vanessa made a great effort in putting all this together.  

The boutique is a place where women who decided to continue with their pregnancies can come to "buy" different items for themselves and for their babies.  The money that they can spend here is earn at the center through the pre-natal classes, discipleship courses, etc.  

All the items that we receive at the boutique are provided by our local church family in the city and for our girls whose babies don't use those clothes anymore.  

If you are interested in getting more information of how this program works out, just contact us.