Armor of Hope Ministries

Brian is a 14 year old boy who lives in El Sauce.  He is one of the first children that I met five years ago when I first came to this village.  He is full of life, a little mischievous and always willing to help. 

Two years ago, Brian was kicked out of school.  His lack of interest in academics and his frequent habit of skipping school led the teachers to believe he was a waste of time.  He was put into a special program that met only on Saturdays hoping the one-day-a-week school would work for him.  But the results were the same.  Brian just wasn't interested in book learning.  So once again he was kicked out of school.

Brian had nothing to do during the day except play in the streets, which was turning out to get him into more and more trouble.  He wasn't getting into serious trouble, but that might have been only a matter of time.

Brian's parents are members of the church here and they feared for his future.  His father, Maximino, decided Brian needed to go to work but at the age of twelve he was too young to work a regular job.  Maximino sent Brian to us.  He told us Brian would work for free.  He only wanted him off the streets.  We agreed to try this arrangement. 

Brian worked for free for one year.  Occasionally we gave Brian a few Limpira to show our gratitude for his work, but wanted to honor his father's request that he work for free.  At the end of that first year Brian proved to be a valued worker here at the ministry center.  He is in charge of the yard work, planting the garden and maintaining the trees and property. 

We didn't want to lose Brian as a worker so we approached his father to ask if we could officially hire Brian.  After some conversation it has was agreed Brian could work for us for a wage if he continued with clean living.  His rules are basically no drinking, smoking, cursing or worldly behavior.  Brian is not a Christian but we are hoping in time that all the effort to keep him off the streets and in a good solid environment will have an influence on him.

Brian quickly established his own routine that led to him finishing his work early everyday.  He would ask "what can I do next?"  We put Brian to work with Yul and Claudio.  They are in charge of the construction of the ministry center.  Two years later, The boy who was kicked out of school is now helping to build the mission center.  He has learned almost all aspects of home building along with welding. 

Brian is very intelligent.  He just couldn't function in the school setting.  He is very creative also.  When it came time for Brian to sign on the dotted line for his first pay check he didn't know how to write his name.  I showed him one time and told him I would not show him again, he must remember it.  He has never forgotten how to write his name.

Now we are working on reading and math.  We try to incorporate reading and math into his job skill learning so that he will enjoy it and learn it in a way his brain works best--hands on. 

Armor of Hope strives to be a "hands-on" ministry.  We cannot hope to influence lives if we're not willing to reach out and be involved at a very personal level.  Please pray that the forty hours a week Brian is with us we can be the light of Christ to him and that some day he too will have the desire to serve others in the name of Christ.