The Perfect Parent provided so much more and in a tiny fraction of the time to those who live their lives by trusting God completely.

God did not Leave Them as Orphans

You know me well enough by now to know that I’m the guy who gathers information and figures out a game plan before I make a move. Then I keep my finger on the pulse of everything so that I can make adjustments to “control” outcomes. My kids’ therapist, Tamatha Smith, would tell you that the word “control” defines my mental psyche. Of course I’m not above denial so as a control-freak, I summarily reject her diagnosis. As a realist I need to tell you that she’s pretty much right. (I might also suffer from schizophrenia.) So today I want to introduce you to some people who do not hesitate when it comes to trusting God completely (something that I have always struggled failed to do).

We just returned from an amazingly inspirational trip where we had the privilege of spending several days immersed in the company of people who have made trusting God completely a form of art.

Earlier this year I was contacted by a mother in her early thirties named Patti Monk. She told me that three families from the U.S. and five Guatemalan families were living on a ministry property in Guatemala called Hope of Life. The families are the first in a program designed to provide family styled orphan care as children are moved from an orphanage in the ministry and into families. What I didn’t realize was that I was about to meet people who were accustomed to trusting God completely. Patti told me that between biological children, adopted children and foster children from the orphanage (whom the government does not allow them to adopt), each family has about ten children. She said that all of the families were struggling at least to some extent with children who suffered from attachment disorders. She asked if I would be willing to come down and help them. I told Patti that while I would be happy to come down and cry for them, while telling them that things could get better, they really needed something more. I talked to the therapist who works with my children and she agreed to drop everything and go to Guatemala to help. Tamatha Smith and I just returned from an amazingly inspirational trip where we had the privilege of spending several days immersed in the company of people who have made trusting God completely a form of art.

While Carlos Vargas’s history shows that he was once a businessman who was not unlike me, he is also a man who has turned himself over to trusting God completely.

Patti’s sister, Jessica Holt and her husband Matt Holt had participated in mission trips to Hope of Life where they spent a week at a time serving people in need. Jessica and Matt recruited the Monks and another couple, John and Tanya Rule. The three couples approached an amazing man named Carlos Vargas who started Hope of Life some 27 years ago. They told him of their desires to walk away from their homes, extended families and “American Dreams” in the United States in order to provide homes and families for children in the Hope of Life orphanage, who wouldn’t have had a hope for families in any other way. While Carlos Vargas’s history shows that he was once a businessman who was not unlike me, he is also a man who has turned himself over to trusting God completely. It wasn’t long before he had the three American couples and their children in Guatemala, where he rounded off their families to ten children, each. Then Carlos recruited five Guatemalan families and did the same thing with them.

The Perfect Parent provided so much more and in a tiny fraction of the time to those who live their lives by trusting God completely.

Sue Carlton-Oquendo sent two suitcases of clothes donated by St Lawrence Thrift Store for the families serving in Guatemala. Jayne Schooler provided Tamatha and me with slides for 18 hours of training for these amazing parents. Better yet, we had slides in English and Spanish. Phil Monk and one of the Hope of Life employees, Jennifer Salguero Hernandez, were kind enough to translate for the entire time of the seminars as well as time that we were able to spend with the families in their homes. We were also able to leave an entire library of the six DVDs containing over twelve hours of training from Karyn Purvis and the team at Texas Christian University. That combined with books by Gregory C. Keck, Karyn Purvis, Mary Hopkins-Best, Deborah D. Gray, Daniel A. Hughes, and Bruce C. Perry will leave the Hope of Life library well stocked for the parents who want more information on kids who come from trauma. As I pondered what God had put in the hands of these parents so quickly, and compared it to the eleven years it has taken me to accumulate this learning and the resources, I couldn’t help but smile. I always think I am so smart for planning and carefully executing. But the Perfect Parent provided so much more and in a tiny fraction of the time to those who live their lives by trusting God completely.

Carlos sees needs and hears the voice of God in them, because his life has become one of trusting God completely.

Before we left, we were treated to an evening of entertainment and words of encouragement from Carlos Vargas. I could really relate to the man who said that God doesn’t talk to him with a burning bush, but with needs. Carlos sees needs and hears the voice of God in them, because his life has become one of trusting God completely. Then he said something I will never forget. He said: “Some people pray and then they do nothing. But WE are people who pray and then do something. I love this practical gospel.” I can relate to a great leader who believes in practical means for removing people from a hell in this life. If you want to serve those who need it, if you want to show your children how “the other half” live, while teaching them to serve, if you want to give back, please visit Hope of Life’s web site and consider a one week trip to serve in Guatemala.

Please take a minute to read the stories of the Holt Family, the Monk Family and the Rule Family. Then, consider making a donation to support their work. Remember, I never recommend that people make donations where I haven’t done the same and I never suggest such things unless I believe that the money is used in all the right places. If you want to feel something special, right now, if you want to feel inspired, watch the video from Hope of Life about what transpired during the week that Tamatha and I were there. If you only ever click on one link that I provide, make it this one: Hope of Life Video April 2015.