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Alejandro was leading a group of the
older boys as a work team Wednesday afternoon.
He's played an important role in the finish work of
each of our buildings and has become a
mentor/builder for our kids to look up to in the days
and weeks after a build... they were enjoying it so
much, wearing tool belts, carrying hammers, being
important... that none of them wanted to go for a bike
ride! Sadly dejected :-( I wandered out to the new
missions house with a broom and began to sweep up
scraps, pick up nails and clear the path for our
workers. It's one of the small things I'll do across a
weekend- make way for the builders -so I did it again
Wednesday afternoon. I'd made a huge pile of lumber
scraps over the weekend and I'd thought I'd also get to
cleaning up that part of the mess I'd left behind our
building. No mess was left to clean. Sweeping, I
started to wonder who could have cleaned up my
mess... than looking through the rusted fence, I
recognized our left overs- little more than the scraps
from our table -neatly piled against the shack one of
Siempre's neighbors lives in. What we threw aside,
they collected for future use, perhaps for a fire to cook
over, support of their walls, a project yet to come... that
photo is a great invitation to those of you who'd like to
change the lives of a family in poverty. We know how
to build the house they need... we've built lot's of
them... we have the plans and the lead builders. Your
group can come and stay at Samaritan House @
Siempre and give this family a future and a hope.
Today they have to live off our scraps... tomorrow...
well the future's as bright as we are faithful. The
contrast in our little community between the haves and
have nots is tremendous. Now, more than ever,
Siempre's an invitation to serve not just children in
crisis, but family's in crisis, a community in crisis... to
bring hope and help before heartbreak destroys the
household. What a wonderful gift. God is too good.
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Our family loves and supports
Siempre... that's my wife Debi, jumping rope
with the kids Wednesday afternoon. One of the
children took a great series of photos of kids jumping
rope- in them you can watch Debi in the background,
patiently waiting with the children in line, for her turn to
jump rope. She spent all weekend doing an
incredible job heading up our painting crew. Our
painters kept our builders on their toes- we paint
everything before we put it up and it was tough for the
builders to keep pace with the rapid work of the
painting team. Serious all weekend, ready to get back
to the business of play on Wednesday afternoon, Debi
shows the best of what we do on our weekly visits: we
hang out with the kids, let them know we love them
and do our best to give them a little of what they may
have lost when they were left at Siempre's doorstep.
It's not too hard a job description to fill... even still, I've
discovered that too many of us grow up to be boring
and quick to neglect the most basic needs of
children... much less children in poverty, abandoned
by family, living so close to our own comfortable
homes and schedules. Can you schedule the
children and community of Siempre Para Los Ninos
into your busy calendar? I'm looking forward to the
day Samaritan House @ Siempre is packed with work
groups every day of the year... I know it's coming.
People will work around Siempre, in the community
and then spend the evenings getting to know our kids,
skipping rope, falling in love, becoming part of the
great siempre family... people who've promised to
never let these children go hungry or without... we've
promised them a future and a hope... it's the promise
of God... a family kind of promise. It can start this
Wednesday afternoon, standing in line to skip rope.
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Building is just a beginning... the more we do the more attention we attract in our local community... children are brought to our doorstep and abandoned into our arms. Your support for Siempre's kids is critical to keep our doors open. I've set a simple goal for this summer: I want to find 100 new people willing to donate just $30- a month towards the budgetary needs of raising our children. I'd love to have you help me, together, we can... we can not just build the building, we can continue to keep the promise to each of our kids: siempre means always... it's a big promise. Ten of us can find 100 people so much faster and more effectively than just one of us. Let me know if you're ready to work with me towards this goal or if you'd like to be one of this summer's 100. Together, we did... the weekend's behind us, everyday needs ahead of us... together, we can. We're going this Wednesday, you're invited, you're needed... now, more than ever.
siempre,
 Eric M. Denton
Siempre Para Los Ninos
email:
eric@siemprekids.org
phone:
1-951-689-5806
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