Our visit to Jesus Divino Presno

About Jesus Divino Presno:

This is a home for children whose parents are prisoners. The children here get to visit their parents or family members on weekends. Sometimes this can cause issues because their parents may get them to steal and bring items to them. The children here are between the ages of 4-16. Jesus Devino is located on beautiful land and the kids have responsibilities like hand washing their own clothes, helping with the animals, gardening, etc. The foundation also promotes freedom, which is a little challenging when you have older children who might start to form relationships. The children here were beautiful, precious and some were guarded…..I think God showed us a way to get through to them all if even in a tiny way for some.

Day 1:

·      *We toured the grounds and saw our homes where we would spend the night. We spent the night in the actual home of some of the children. It was very good for all us to experience how these kids live.

·     * We did crafts with the kids. We did a craft called “He knows my name” where they got to write their name (or we did) and decorate their paper with glitter and markers. Who know they would LOVE glue and glitter so much!! This craft kept going and going! I think we used all the construction paper for our other crafts but the kids were soooo happy!!

·      *The boys played soccer and the girls did face and nail painting. It was a good opportunity to split up the older boys and girls.

·     * Who knew that we would be able to connect to these girls through Justin Beiber. Yes, even they know JB!!  So we sang and we danced!!

·      *We saw some bullying going on here.

·     * Jason had an opportunity to speak with Jimmy. He was definitely the leader of the older kids here. We pray that he listened and his words sank in.  We believe that God could use the life of this child in a mighty way if he chooses the right path!!

·      *We climbed a very steep mountain with all the kids and gathered wood for a bonfire. It was a crazy experience but fun! We had a large bonfire at night. Jason danced for the kids. His break dancing skills were put to good use.  We sang. La Montana was definitely the kid kids favorite song.

·     * I got to make homemade bread from scratch. It was gooooooood!!

·      *That night we decided we had to have a strategic plan for the next day. Ministry here was different. It was not about helping with construction projects, etc. We knew we needed to teach the children and workers about Jesus. We knew that they needed know how much God loved them and that they could call on him in their difficult times. They did not have to make the same decisions in life that their parent made.  They could choose a different path.

Day 2:

·      *After breakfast and devotions, we began our day working in the garden and looking for minor things that needed repairing that we could easily complete that day.

·      *It started raining and that lead us under the porch where we began to talk with Frankie about life and then about Jesus. It was Frankie’s birthday. Frankie became a Christian on his birthday!! It was an amazing time. Later, in the day we got cake and ice cream to celebrate Frankie’s birthday!!  I will post his picture so you can see his huge smile!

·      *Crazy things started happening at Jesus Devino. Many kids wanted to know about Jesus so for a couple of hours we sat in little groups all over the property telling children about Jesus. It was an amazing day!!

·      *We played soccer again in the rain.

·      *The kids at Jesus Devino preformed a traditional dance for us. It was so fun to watch them. They all looked beautiful in their costumes. They really did a great job!!

·      *We decided to end our time with a simple planned out service with the kids to recap the day. We sang songs in Spanish and Jason and Dave spoke. Many kids accepted Christ. I have never experienced anything like this before. It was a very real and powerful time……truly life changing.

·      *It was hard to say goodbye especially to sweet Diana, a girl I had spent a good amount of time with during the day. I pray that she knows how special she is and that she turns to God for comfort during her times of feeling lonely. She has had to endure more than any child should.

·      *As we drove away, the girls all shouted “bye Justin Bieber” over and over to Cameron!! It gave us all a good laugh during a sad time! J