The team is back! After a great week with our mission partner, One More Child (OMC), the team returned from Guatemala on Friday. This was a vision trip to look at the need for a special needs ministry we could help build as a church in partnership with OMC. It was an amazing trip that was extremely well received by the families with special needs children. We’re already looking forward to another trip in 2025!
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about Guatemala
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One More Child
During this trip, the team visited a missionary family that fosters special needs children and a mom whose special needs son inspired her to start a special needs school. The team, made up of therapists, was also able to evaluate children in OMC’s sponsorship program and visit several children in their homes to help better equip parents with tools and techniques for their kids to thrive. We are grateful for your prayers for the team and want to share some stories from the trip!
Evaluations at the Ministry Center
Our team had two occupational therapists, a speech therapist, and a behavioral therapist, who were all awesome at their jobs! We took a whole day to have kids who are part of OMC’s sponsorship program and have special needs come in to see our therapists. The team loved getting to see these families and were able to offer some initial thoughts that the parents were very grateful for and excited to start using.
Home visits with special children
Some kids in the sponsorship program are not able to easily leave their house because of mobility issues. Our team was able to go see these kids at their home to work with them. This was especially meaningful for the families as these kids are often overlooked and this team was able to go intentionally spend time with them in their homes.
Foster Family for Special Needs Kids
There is a missionary family that has been living in Guatemala for almost 10 years. Two years ago, after seeing the number of special needs kids in need of a home, they became a foster family for special needs kids. They currently have five kids they are fostering with varying levels and types of needs. Our team was able to take a couple of hours to play with the kids and offer some helpful insights and encouragement for the family. This is a very special family that has taken on an important ministry. Please pray for their family!
Inspiring Special Needs School
Our team was also able to meet a mom who runs a small special needs school in Guatemala. This mom was pregnant with a special needs child when the doctor encouraged her to get an abortion. She held firmly to the life of her child and embraced her new role as a special needs mom. The lack of resources available for special needs children inspired her to start her own school for special needs kids. Her boldness is inspiring others and she’s seeing her community show interest in and an openness to special needs kids which was not there before God used her to start this school. She is doing a great job and is excited to continue to build the school out more. Please pray for her family and their school!
Thank you!
Thank you for being willing to give and pray for missions at West Bradenton! You make trips and partnerships like this possible. This team did an awesome job, but there is still more to do. Join us!
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