Umm, hello again

Okay, so where does one begin when you haven´t updated your blog in almost 2 years?? When I decided to take on the daunting task of keeping up my blog again, I didn´t realize how long it had really been since my last posting. Has almost 2 years went by, really? Time sure flies when you are having fun...(for those of you who have kept up with our lives over the past 2 years, you can find the humor in that!)??? For those of you new to our blog, here is what is up in our current life.

Bobby and I have been serving as missionaries to El Salvador since Dec. 2007. For the first 18 months we served in Shalom Childrens Home, and then due to circumstances that I don´t even want to begin about blogging now, we left there and are now serving with Teams to the Nations (TTTN)and Love and Hope Childrens Home (Amor y Esperanza). Bobby is the fulltime general pastor for their all youth church and I teach english to 5-6th graders in a public school. We also have a teenager, Beatriz, who lives with us. Our time here has been a complete roller coaster and the road has had more twists and turns than we ever imagined, but as the saying goes, God is not interested in our comfort but our character, and we are daily learning to be joyful in all circumstances.

Bobby and I definitely feel that our passion is working with teens,and we have done so for years now. We feel a huge burden on our hearts particularly for teens who have left or are leaving orphanages. During our time in Shalom we seen many teens leave, and all were very ill prepared for the real world. In addition, when they leave, where do they go? Many have no family, and those that do tend to have highly dysfunctional ones (hence the reason that they were placed in and grew up in an orphanage). The time that they first leave an orphanage is a highly vulnerable time, they have lived in this protetive bubble of an institution of all of their lives and are at a huge risk of falling. We would love to open up our home to these youth (ages 18 and up) who are leaving these institutions and have no where else to go. We want to give them the family environment that they have never had and help to equip them and transition them into the real world.

We have come to learn very quickly, however, that this is not going to be an easy task BY ANY MEANS. Those of you with kids, particularly teens, know how challenging they are, and these youth carry burdens, scars, pasts, abuse, and challenges that we can´t even begin to imagine. Currently, we only have one young lady with us, and there are some days that I think that she is the equivalent of 20. Their emotional and spiritual needs can be overwhelming. But, despite all of the challenges, we are so excited that God has laid this burden on our hearts and we know that He will give us all that we need to fulfill this calling.

We love you all and I promise that it WILL NOT be 2 years until I post again!!

Con mucho amor,
Britney