Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos

Hello All,
Yesterday, I went to an orphanage called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (www.nph.org). I have now visited an orphanage in every country I´ve been to (except the U.S., oddly enough). That orphanage yesterday was phenomenal. It was essentially its own little town. It was founded in 1954 by a priest, Father Wasson, from the United States who was stationed in Cuernavaca. He had no intention of starting any orphanage, and he had no intention of staying in Cuernavaca. However, God had other plans in mind when a little boy was caught stealing the communion bread from Father Wasson´s church. The little boy was taken to jail, but Father Wasson decided to visit him. Upon this visitation, Father Wasson learned that the young man hadn´t eaten for a week, so he agreed to take in the child. Soon, the jailer gave Father Wasson nine more children who were in the same situation. That is where it all began. Now, NPH has orphanages in Peru, Bolivia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Honduras. Father Wasson died in 2002.

The orphanage that I visited was roughly an hour from Cuernavaca and was located on land donated by the Mexican government that included an old, respected building built by Cortés himself. Over 500 orphans--most often economic orphans that have family who can´t afford to take care of them--live there. Along beautiful cobblestone paths, they have a school with standard classes required by the Mexican government, along with English and computer literacy classes. They also have their own clinic with a doctor and nurses, their own cafeteria, their own store, their own church, and their own farm. They are completely self-sustaining, maintaining crops and livestock for the children they house. Their children are divided by section and are housed there until our equivalent of ninth grade. They work with Mexican social workers to bring in orphans, and they have several psychologists who work with children who have been physically or sexually abused.

The woman who gave us the tour told us a little about a day in the life of her own section of girls: They wake up at 5 in the morning, shower, dress, and then go to the cafeteria to eat first breakfast--usually bread and milk. Next, they go to classes until second breakfast which is eaten during a recess. Then they have more classes until lunch and after lunch. After classes, they come back to their dorms, take off their uniforms and wash them immediately, hanging them out to dry to be worn the next day. All the kids of age wash their own clothes. Next, they usually have some sort of activity planned by the section caregiver--usually playing sports. Each section also has their assigned chores. They don´t use corporal punishment at the orphanage. Rather, if a child misbehaves, he or she must complete more chores. If their behavior is particularly severe, they may be assigned to miss a day of classes to complete manual labor--for boys, it is working on the farm and for girls, it is helping in the kitchen or cleaning. Following their activity time, the children do homework for one or two hours. Dinner is at 7, and the children are usually in bed by 8. On the weekends, the children have more free time, but they don´t often leave the complex. Every Saturday, they have mandatory mass, and throughout the week they have mass that students can choose to go to. While NPH is Catholic by nature, Father Wasson specifically chose not to establish NPH through the Catholic church. Thus, the Catholic church has no ties or control over NPH.

Once a child graduates ninth grade, he or she may go to NPH´s high school in Cuernavaca. Life at the high school is more independent and is less of a regimen. However, once any pequeño (that´s what they call them rather than ¨orphans¨) reaches the age of 17, he or she is free to go if they choose. If, however, after high school, the pequeño chooses to, he or she can serve for two years as a volunteer caring for younger pequeños at the main house (orphanage). Once this time of service is complete, NPH will pay for that student to go to a university--often either UNAM or one in Monterey, although they currently have a student now who is attending a college in Michigan.

A sidenote about UNAM: My conversation teacher told me that UNAM, located in Mexico City, is one of the most important international universities in the world. She believed that it was ranked at #26 on a list of best international colleges, and it has the greatest reputation of any college in Mexico or Central America. An interesting element of UNAM is their philosophy of education. They believe that every student has the right to an education. Although they are a public university, they are not funded or affiliated with the Mexican government. Any Mexican student (I´m not sure about foreign students) only has to pay 20 centavos--less than one peso--a year to go there. To put that into perspective, the exchange rate here is 12.50 pesos to one U.S. dollar. And, according to Marielle, students aren´t even required to pay that. The university has many partners that help fund their endeavors. However, the university is also incredibly selective. Because of connections between NPH and UNAM, any pequeño that can make the grades to get into UNAM, can go there for free.

The rate of pequeños that go on to university and higher education is 40%--the national average of Mexican students that go on to higher education is only 10%. Not all pequeños go on to a university. Many stay to help in various positions or choose to be tortilla makers, taxi drivers, etc.

While we were there, one woman asked our tour guide how the students are able to overcome the stigma of being ¨orphans.¨ The guide explained that while many pequeños, upon reaching high school, must grapple with the idea that their parents didn´t want them, in general the pequeños don´t face much of an ostrization because they are sharing the struggle together as a grand family. Many pequeños have biological brothers and sisters in the house, and the neighborhood around Cuernavaca actually calls the pequeños ¨fresas¨ which literally means ¨strawberries¨ but carries the connotation of ¨privileged¨ perhaps to the point of being snobs. This attitude is due to the fact that pequeños receive more opportunities and a better quality of life than many of the people in the city itself.

NPH reminded me greatly of Emmanuel Orphanage in Honduras, which I visited while I was there last summer. (www.orphanageemmanuel.com) It, too, was huge in size and was started by a couple from the U.S. The opportunities and quality of life at Emmanuel was amazing. They were self-sustaining, had wi-fi internet, had safe-to-drink tap water, and were almost like a mini-U.S. in the middle of nowhere, Honduras. The trouble that I had with Emmanuel and a bit with NPH as well was the idea of what happens when the orphans leave. At Emmanuel, they experience an amazing quality of life and become pretty accustomed to some of the luxuries and opportunities of the U.S., but when they must leave around 18-20, they don´t know how to live as Hondurans. They don´t know how to take a bus, find a job, find a place to live, etc., and they have become accustomed to a gringo life of luxury in many ways. In this regard, NPH seems better equipped because of the opportunities of higher education and remaining to help.

At every orphanage I have been to, I feel like a sponge, trying to soak in all the lessons the place has to offer, all the revelations God can show me in that space. I don´t fully know why I feel such an urgency in these places to understand and to discern. When I walk through the quarters of orphans and see the smiles and hold the hands of orphan babies, I just get a heavy sense of belonging, of purpose. A preview, perhaps. There are many words and things that God has shown me that hang in the air when I´m in these places. The best way I can describe it is to give you the words from one of my favorite songs--¨Waiting for My Real Life to Begin¨ by Colin Hay: ¨On a clear day, I can see, see for a long way.¨ Sometimes days and experiences are clear, and I get a strong sense of what God has planned for me, and other times, they are not.

One element of the orphanages--both Emmanuel and NPH--that struck me was how they both began--with obedience. None of the founders of either ever set out to start something big. They didn´t draw up blueprints. They didn´t start a building fund. They didn´t write grants for their marvelous plans. They didn´t intend to do anything big, and they likely had no idea of what they were going to be doing at all. They were just obedient. I initially struggled with the grandeur of these places because I just struggle in general with institutions and establishments on a grand scale; however, when I look at how they started, I know that it´s a God thing. God starts from the ground up. He gives us small responsibilities first and asks us to be faithful with those and to be content with being irrelevant. He typically doesn´t just smack us in the face with a huge task or a magic manifestation of big things--big buildings, big congregations, big anything. With God, there is a learning curve, and He gives more responsibility, more blessing, more tasks when we learn to be dependent on Him and obedient with what we have. It´s a simple principle that I believe in many cases the church in the U.S. does not get. We constantly expect that just because we´re God´s children that we´re meant for greatness, that we deserve prosperity, that we´re entitled to the blessings of all kinds of things. And while I do believe that God does want what is best for His children, I also believe that He has an order to it. He calls us to submit everything we have--small or large, prosperous or meager--first. Otherwise, how would learn trust and dependency in even the small things?

The people who started these orphanages are now impacting hundreds and thousands of children. The impact of Father Wasson, one man, has spread over a span of several countries! They are operating in a way that I believe blesses God´s heart. As I was walking through NPH surrounded by beautiful flowers and heart-warming architecture, I initially struggled with just how amazing it all was because sometimes, I think that I assume that God expects us to be poor and lacking. But, God reminded me that this is what He does--He brings joy to the captives, He elevates the poor, He grants a full life in the emptiest of places. It is a way of showing His glory because these people didn´t force anything. He provided it all in His way and His timing, often unbeknownst to the receivers themselves. What, however, I am also reminded is that He does still expect us to go forth, to not be complacent even in the grace of warmth and blessing. It pleases His heart most when even after He´s granted us prosperity or ease that we once again offer it up to Him, fully willing to lose it all, so that He can choose what is best for us and what gives Him the most glory.

I don´t know why I was born in the United States and was so blessed to have every need met throughout my life. I don´t know why I wasn´t born in extreme poverty, dying of starvation in Africa. I know that my birth had nothing to do with me, and because I am not entitled to anything and because I want God to have glory throughout the world, I want to willingly and gladly be obedient in surrendering all that isn´t mine anyway.

When I was in middle school after our family had just moved, I was really struggling. I didn´t have any friends. Although unseen, there was a small emptiness and a wall between me and my family, and I was very lonely. It was in that time of change and frustration that my faith became real to me. I began to read the Bible, seeking Him when I had nothing else that seemed stable. During that time, God gave me Isaiah 58, and I remember that it was my favorite chapter although I didn´t really know why and didn´t really know its significance to me at the time. As time passed, I forgot about it. Before I went to Honduras, though, my dad once again brought that section of verses to my attention, specifically 9-12:
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
¨If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people´s sins, if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I´ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places--firm muscles, strong bones. You´ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You´ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You´ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.¨
When I was in Honduras, a Christian woman and friend of Nellie Anderson, prayed for me and gave me word, telling me that I am called to leave it all behind. I am not to be afraid because God goes before me, preparing the way. I am called to rebuild the lives of many young people, and I will be looked to for advice and support, love and wisdom. I am called to be a woman of constant prayer.

I don´t know the how or the when and, in some cases, even the specific where or the why, but I do know that I am called to Honduras, that I am called to leave it all behind. And as many of the verses I´ve included in earlier posts indicate, God has given me an adoptive spirit for a reason because His words for me echo ¨many children.¨

I appreciate all of your prayers and am blessed that you read,
Sarah