Educational stuggles

One thing that we have noticed in the youth that live in our home is a consistent struggle with their classes. It doesn't matter if the youth is in highschool, middle school, college, public school, private school, weekend school, whatever...they have all struggled. This is something that has been difficult for us to understand especially since education is so important to us and is something that we value greatly.

Last month, I went with Elias to pick up his final grade card and was very upset to find out that he had failed the school year. Elias came to live with us in June and he seemed to be a very responsible youth here in our home. In August I got the opportunity to see his grades for the first time and was shocked to see that he was failing almost every class. The even more shocking thing was that he too seemed to be surprised by it, like he didn't have a clue and didn't understand what had happened! I went to the school and talked to his teachers and all of them reported that he wasn't turning in his homework and had done poorly on his exams. Elias had been through a lot of changes this year, and many many family problems. His father died, he lived with his mother, then his grandmother, then his grandfather, then an uncle, and then he moved in with us. He had also suffered abuse physically, emotionally, and verbally. After thinking about all that he had been through this year, we thought, "who wouldn't have poor grades after going through all of that?" So, we told him we understood, we reassured him, and we set out to make an improvement for the fourth quarter grades.

We thought that all was going well, until I received his final grades and seen that there hadn't been any improvement at all during the fourth quarter. At first, I admit, that I was quite frustrated. Were these bad grades a result of laziness or a lack of self-discipline? My answer came shortly thereafter.

In mid-October I began teaching a basic english class in the church. The class is 12weeks long and meets twice a week. Elias's english skills are very very basic so we felt like it would be a good idea if he attended the course. There are 12 students in the class, with an age range of 9 years old to 60 years old, with a variety of learning styles and levels. Slowly, however, as weeks went by, I began to notice Elias falling farther and farther behind in the class, despite the fact that I am the teacher and the material is constantly reinforced at home!

I had begun sitting down with him and working with him one-on-one several times a week and have noticed that he is very far behind for his age and that he has a lot of problems analyzing and setting up problems. For example, I was reviewing money with him (in english) and asked him to tell me how many quarters are in five dollars. He didn't know the answer. Thinking that perhaps he didn't understand because I had asked him in english, I then repeated the question in spanish, and he still didn't know. I went on to try and walk him through the problem by asking him (in spanish) to tell me how many quarters are in $1, he told me 5. Oh no. I corrected him and told him 4, then went on to ask, "if there are 4 quarters in $1, how many are in $5?" He couldn't answer and seemed confused. This is when I realized that his struggles went beyond foreign language learning. He wasn't able to set up the problem, and he doesn't know his multiplication tables.

So, with all of this new insight, we have now been trying to decide how to best help Elias succeed. A friend of mine (who is a teacher) suggested homeschooling. At first I laughed off the idea because the thought of homeschooling a teenager in another language seemed crazy. However, after a little research, we are feeling like this may be the best option for him! Actually it seems that homeschooling adopted or traumatized teens is a fantastic option! I am following a blog of a homeschooling mom doing just that, check it out http://teacher-mom.blogspot.com/2008/10/homeschooling-esl-part-1.html

It seems that many teens who have been adopted, or come from difficult family situations, abuse or trauma, struggle greatly in school. These kids need an educational style that will meet them where they are at. My kids may all be in their late teens/early 20s but there emotional age does not match up with their chronological age! In addition, these kids suffere from a lot of emotional problems, and the social pressures of school (as well as the frustration from not being able to keep up), adds to their problems.

Okay, so this brings us to our next problem....homeschooling isn't recognized here in El Salvador! Yikes! So, now what do we do? Well, after much thought and prayer we have come up with, what we hope, is the next best option. There is a school one block away from our home that offers Saturday only classes for adults who want to finish their high-school education (kind of like GED equivalent classes). The students go to school just on Saturdays and then, after 18 months, receive their high-school diploma. Since he will just be studying on Saturdays, this will open up the ability to be able to work with him during the week. Our plan is to bring in a tutor two days a week to work with Elias one-on-one reviewing the content of his Saturday classes. Then, I will also be working with him two days a week on more basic levels of reading, math, and english, using a homeschool curriculum. Our hope is that the combination of the Saturday course, with the private tutor as well as myself homeschooling will help to get him caught up as well as improve his self-esteem and chances for success in the future.

The other flips-side of homeschooling is that it does decrease his opportunity to socialize, which is also extremely important when working with traumatized youth. We are hoping to address this issue by signing him up for the local soccer league here in Nejapa (he really loves soccer!), as well as having him take computer courses at the youth center here in town as well.

Lastly, he has also recently begun seeing the same psychologist who has so wonderfully worked with Beatriz and Jonathan. We hope that she too, will be a great resource for all of us as well.

We would love to hear from any of you who may have homeschooled, are teachers, or who may have children with learning disabilities or who have struggled in school. Your prayers, support, advice, and wisdom would be so greatly appreciated!

Important Information

Dear Friend,

We hope that this email finds you well and that you have been able to take some time to slow down during this busy season, breathe, reflect, and to really remember the real reason for it all. We recently watched the movie, "The Nativity Story" for the first time and it helped bring the story of His birth to life for us, we would highly recommend the movie if you haven't had the chance to see it (it also has a great soundtrack!).

We recently communicated with you regarding a possible change in the NGO underwhich we serve, due to Love and Hope International dissolving. We would like to let you know that we are now serving under AME International ("ame" is the spanish command for "love"). Their address is as follows:

AME International
PO Box 670631
Northfield, OH 44067

Just as you did with LHI, please don't forget to include a note with your donation stating that it is for Bobby and Britney Hibbs so that they can be sure that the donation gets directed to us. As always, 100% of your donation is tax deductible and will go directly to us.

Love and Hope International will be accepting donations for us until the end of the year, so if you have recently sent a donation, rest assured that we will receive it.

Also, please know that although we are now serving under a new organization, our ministry here in El Salvador will not change or be affected in any way. If you have any questions, as always, please feel free to let us know and we will be glad to answer them for you.

God Bless and Merry Christmas,
Bobby and Britney Hibbs

November update

Dear Friends,

I hope that this email finds everyone well. We have been very busy here but are doing well.
The reason for this email is two-fold, the first is to give everyone an update on what has been going on here (I admit that I have fallen behind with our monthly email updates!) and the second is to respond to a letter that many of you received from Love and Hope International.

1. Love and Hope International (LHI) letter - I was made aware this past Saturday that LHI sent out a lengthy letter stating that they were no longer going to be handling the finances and overseeing Love and Hope Children's home as well as explaining their reasons why. Bobby and I do serve under the LHI non-profit as well, however, we want to assure you that the differences that LHI has with the Children's home has NOTHING to do with us or our ministry. Although our ministries both served under the same NGO, our ministries are completely separate and the LHI board of directors does not, nor have they ever, had any grievances with us or our ministry. Here in El Salvador, our ministries both serve under the same NGO as well; however, the ministries are in the process of being legally separated which will result in Bobby and I being able to appoint a local Board of Directors here in ES to oversee our ministry and hold us accountable here as well.

Right now we are asking for your prayers for wisdom and unity. We are in need of wisdom as we are faced with some big decisions and boards are in need of wisdom as they too make life-impacting decisions. It grieves us to see this end result and LHI's decision and we pray that God will be glorified through this.

If any of you have any questions, or would like to talk more specifically about this, please let me know and I will be glad to answer any questions or concerns that you may have. Please rest assured in knowing that us, the church, the youth we work with, and our ministry here WILL NOT change. We may have to change the NGO that we serve under in the States, but nothing else. We will continue to keep you updated on any changes, and we apologize for any scare that you may have received from the letter - we had no prior knowledge that it was going to be sent our or we would have forwarned you.

Until further notice, you may continue sending donations to support us to LHI. Please know that the donations that you designate to us, as always, will 100% go to us and our ministry. Once again, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let us know.

2. The kids -

Beatriz - Bea has been doing excellent and her grades this quarter are very good! We are really very proud of her! She continues to swim with INDES five days a week and is excited about almost finishing her first year of college (only 3 more weeks left!). It is amazing to see how much she has changed and grown since she first came to live with us two years ago!

Samuel - Samuel is doing very well and is working at Pierre Cardign clothing store in San Salvador. As a result of poor grades last semester, we made a decision to have him "set" this semester out of college and work; which has been a tremendous learning and growth experience for him. He will be returning back to the university in January. He continues to be extremely active in the church, as he both sings and plays the guitar in the praise band and attends a weekly guys accountability group that Bobby leads.

Elias - Elias is doing well also and is excited to be finished with the school year this week. He continues to be active in his high school band and will be busy over summer break as they have several performances scheduled. He is also busy learning english as he attends the bi-weekly english classes that we are now offering at the church.

Jonathan - Several weeks ago Jonathan made the decision to move out of our home and is now living with his mom in Santa Ana. We are saddened, and do miss him greatly, but we are still in constant contact with him. In addition, we are working with Jonathan and his mom so that we can continue to support (emotionally and financially), encourage, and mentor Jonathan as well as encourage and support his mother.

3. The church - Three weeks ago I was finally able to begin teaching english classes in the church. The class filled up very quickly, and my original "maximum" of 10 students was quickly stretched to twelve with an age range of 9 to 65! The course is a 12-week beginners course that will end in early February and then an intermediate course will be offered. We would like to say a big "thank you" to Sam and Charity for donating the table for the english classes as well as to Luke and Laura Fischer for donating materials, finances, and wisdom! Thanks guys!

Another exciting event that recently happened in the church is the Expand Conference. The Conference was a three day training event for leaders that was offered at a large church in San Salvador. We were blessed with the ability to be able to go and to take along 8 youth leaders as well. Over 100 workshops were offered on every imaginable topic, so there was definitely something for everyone. Each person who went learned and was challenged in new ways. We hope to be able to attend the Expande 2011 event that will be held next year during spring break.

4. We got a car!!!! - Yeah! We are super excited because, after many many months of prayer, we were finally able to buy a car! Whoo-hoo! Things that were once complicated (like going to the grocery or meetings) are now soooooo much easier. Having a car also opens up our ministry in many ways. For example, several young ladies in our church have been wanting me to meet with them in their home for prayer every week, but I was never able to because of the limited bus schedule, but now I can! Bobby has also been wanting to take a youth into San Salvador for some counseling, but the counseling center was always too difficult and time consuming to get to by bus. He is now going to be able to do that easily since we have a car! Thanks so much to all of you who contributed financially to the purchase of the vehicle, we are extremely grateful!!!

5. Prayer requests - We ask that you would please join us in prayer in the following areas:

1. Jonathan - That his transition into his mom's home would be smooth and that she would have wisdom and patience in raising him. We pray for his heart to be touched and opened to receive Christ as his savior. Also, we pray for his physical protection and that God would give us wisdom as we continue to try and mentor him and be a part of his life. We pray for the financial resources to be able to continue supporting him as well.

2. The church - For revival amongst the youth and that they would know Christ intimately and have a truly personal relationship with Him. Also, for the programs in the church (music and english classes), that these programs would be used for His glory and that we would be able to reach people through the classes. Lastly, for continued financial resources to be able to continue offering the classes, as well as for upcoming events and regular church maintenance and rent.

3. The "kids" - That Samuel, Elias, and Bea would have an intimate personal relationship with Christ and that Bobby and I would be granted lots of wisdom and patience as we raise them. We pray for their friendships, and their families. We also pray for the financial resources to be able to continue meeting their needs and paying for their education.

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your prayers, support, and encouraging emails. It means so very much to us and we are truly truly grateful.

In Christ,
Britney and Bobby Hibbs

September newsletter

Oooops! I just realized that I never posted our Sept newsletter, so here is the link for Sept just in case you didn't get a chance to read it!

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6Lg_K71NECuMDk4YmE0YjUtNjU2Yi00MjQ0LThiMzQtMzlkODE2NTBiYmIw&hl=es

June newsletter

So, after much delay, I have finally finished our first quarterly newsletter! Here is the link to it if you would like to check it out :)

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6Lg_K71NECuNjVjY2NkZWMtOTE4Mi00OGEyLTk4NzMtNTU2YTA5NWQ5YmY4&hl=es

Isaiah 54

Have you ever had this happen to you? You know, you have read a book in the Bible several times, and then all of a sudden one day you reread it, or certain verses within it, and it feels as if you are reading something new for the first time? The verses pop out and speak to you and you say to yourself, "this wasn't here before!" (as if the book somehow changed!). This is exactly what happened to me recently when I reread these verses from Isaiah. They seemed to speak exactly to me and my ministry...

"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.


How beautiful!!

TV trials

So, due to some bad behavior, we decided last week that we would take away tv priveledges from all the kids for a week. For those of you with kids, especially teens, you know that the removal of any electronic device causes panic, as they now have "nothing to do!" and no clue of how they are going to fill in all of this free time. For us, the tv has been somewhat of a problem in our home. It's like it has magical powers and the minute that it is turned on, the kids ability to do anything else, or even hear me speaking, immediately stops. They convert to instant zombies with their eyes glued to the screen, their mouths open, and drool (okay, maybe not the drool part...)We want them to enjoy tv and movies, because we too enjoy tv and movies, but it seems that this box and screen is more addicting to them than heroine, and without intervention they could forgo sleep and food and watch it for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours.

Because of their inability to control themselves (and to choose tv over other things like homework or getting up for school/class) we have slowly been placing restrictions on them. This, admittedly, has been hard because 2 of our "kids" are ages 19 and 20, and really aren't "kids" at all. They are, technically, adults. However, due to their life circumstances, their chronological age doesn't always meet up with their emotional/maturity age and poor decision making and irresponsibility on their part has caused us to restrict tv viewing time for them. We initially started by having a "no tv time" in the afternoons from 2-4, and also by having a rule that the tv has to be turned off by 10pm rule (they don't have to go to bed at 10pm, just turn the tv off, if they want to stay up after that and read, do homework, etc it is fine). It was actually this rule that got them into to trouble last week. We returned home last Thursday at 11pm from an evening of prayer and fellowship with other missionaries. As we approached our home we could see through the windows the kids up in the living room watching tv, but somehow...miraculously...by the time we arrived at the door and entered, the tv was shut off and 2 of the 3 were in their beds fast asleep!Hmmm.......

So, Bobby and I decided that a week without tv was in order. At first, the kids were severely afflicted, not knowing at all what they would do...and then it began....they discovered that there is life outside of television! The first day that the tv was turned off they pulled out some dusty board games that we had (and that I could never get them to play)and played...together...without killing each other...and enjoyed it. Since then, we have had board game tounaments almost daily. On Saturday a visitor came to stay with us, and we informed him of our tv "fast" so he participated in a vicious game of Monopoly with us. He enjoyed it so much that he told us yesterday that he plans on coming back to our home on Saturday to play again! In addition, other amazing things have happened...Samuel has finished the first 2 books in the Narnia series and Jonathan has read half of the book Twilight. And, (this is the BIG miracle!) the boys cleaned their room (Bea's room is almost always clean...difference between boys and girls!) and washed their clothes! Whoa! Two other great things that have happened is that they have been studying more and also have been more physically active. Bea had several tests this past week and her test grades went way up; and Samuel has went to the gym with Bobby almost every day this week and even suggested a late night game of basketball on Tuesday (which left me exhausted and realizing that I need to work out more too!).

The one week of no tv ends tomorrow, and I must admit that I am saddened by it. Bobby and I talked yesterday and he too has really enjoyed it, and we feel like the kids have too (although I am not sure if they will admit to it!). We decided that we would like to have 2 "no tv" days a week now. Days where we all can enjoy the simple things in life like playing a game, bouncing a ball, reading a good book, or having a heartfelt conversation. We are going to talk to the kids about it tonight and allow them to choose what 2 days we will be "turned off" so that they will have ownership in this decision(the only rule is that one of them has to be a weekend day). We hope that this "unplugging" allows them to grow more in all aspects of their lives. So "stay tuned" to see what happens next :)

March update

Hello everyone!

Okay, so I know that the subject says "March update" and it is April, but if we go with Salvadoran culture's view of time I am actually on time in sending out the March update instead of late (that's the advantage of being bi-cultural, you can use it for great excuses!). LOL! So, here is an overview of what has been going on in our very busy lives over the past month or so:

1. The "kids" - So I know that they are not "kids," but that's what we like to refer to them as :) We have had a super busy month with them with lots of stuff going on in school and also spring break.

Beatriz has been the busiest over the past month with lots of projects in the university. One of the major differences between college education here and in the States is that here the students begin taking classes specific to their major from the very beginning. So, although Bea is only in her first semester of school, she has already had to begin doing some student teaching (she is a special ed major). This, in addition to swim, has her running most days and on weekends as well. She also participated in her first swim meet last month, where she took 3rd place in the backstroke (pics are posted on Facebook and on our phanfare website)!

Samuel is still studying at the university where he has an almost perfect grade in english (I have been trying to engage the kids in english conversation more and I also give them little english activities to do like making out my grocery or market list)! He was taking guitar classes on Saturdays but has recently begun taking them during the week also. He is excited because he can now play a couple of songs! It is a little challenging though because he does not have a guitar of his own to practice with here at the house (his guitar instructors lend him a guitar during his lessons). So, if anyone out there has an acoustic electic guitar sitting around their home that they aren't using anymore and would like to donate, please let me know!

Jonathan is definitely adjusting very well to family life. He is always making us laugh because he fills the "annoying little brother" role so well for both Samuel and Beatriz! I love watching him hound them with a million questions, imitate Samuel's behavior, and give Bea fashion and "boy" advice! He is also your typical 16 year old in many ways in that he always has the answer for everything but at the same time is also insecure in so many areas as well. He is definitely the most enthusiastic and best cook of the three kids! Each of them has an assigned day of the week that they have to prepare dinner, and Jonathan enjoys his cooking day and is always enthusiastic to cook something new. After seeing his big brother learn the guitar, he shared with us that he would like to learn the bass, so he began lessons a couple of weeks ago. He is excited about it also and has been practicing (although I have to admit that my ears have gotten a bit tired of listening to the same bass chords over and over and over and over.....).

Spring break week was a very busy week for us and we did lots of activities with the kids. We spent an afternoon visiting the town of Miramundo (which is near the highest point of El Salvador), went to the movies and out for pizza, visited Puerta del Diablo (a national park), went swimming with the youth from church at the Polideportivo here in Nejapa, set up the projector in our back yard and had a movie night, and put together a big panoramic puzzle! It was a very busy week but the kids (us too!) had so much fun.

Some of the challenges that we have been facing this month have been with grades. All of the kids received bad exam and interim grades last month (with the exception of Samuel who only received a bad grade in Math). I was speaking with a psychologist who is working with Bea about this and she said that poor grades are normal for kids who were raised in orphanges or who were abandoned/abused/neglected. She said that these kids have a lot of test anxiety (which is what is going on with Bea, she gets excellent grades on homework and projects and then bombs her exams because she gets nervous) and that they also tend to have problems analyzing information (they also have a hard time managing their time). In addition, Jonathan shared with me that it is hard for him because he has had to switch to a new school every year since he left the orphanage, so he is constantly having to learn a new system and materials. We have been trying to address this issue with the kids. Samuel is taking a math refresher course, Bea's counselor has been giving her "homework" to help her with analysis and also exercises to help with anxiety, and we have worked with Jonathan to set up homework times.

Another challenge that we have encountered recently is with Jonathan in school. He was suspended for almost a week last month due to disrespecting the teacher and principal. We also discovered that he had been hanging around a group of guys at school who were not exactly the best influences. The principal was very direct with us and told us that she will only give Jonathan one more opportunity and if he is disrespectful again then they will expel him for the rest of the year. He spent his week of suspension doing lots and lots of cleaning at the house and church and then had to apologize to the principal when he returned. We are praying that he has learned a lesson and that he also will begin making wiser decisions concerning his friendships and who he hangs out with at school. Lots of prayers in this area would be greatly greatly appreciated!!!!

We are also very happy because, with the help of a friend, we are trying to connect each of the kids with a mentor. We really feel that the influence of a Christian mentor in their lives will be significant. The kids, especially the boys, need to be exposed to strong Salvadoran role models. They need to see and know other young Salvadoran men/women who are successful and are actively living out their faith everyday. We met with a friend a couple of weeks ago who is helping us find just the right mentor for the boys and then I will be working on finding a mentor for Bea through the church that we attend on Sundays. Our friend has already found a great young man to mentor Samuel and Samuel will be meeting with him for the first time this week (lots of prayers please as Samuel is a little aprehensive about it!).

2. Church - Unfortunately, this month presented many challenges in the church. As many of you know, a little over a year ago we brought on an assistant pastor, Daniel, to work with Bobby in the church. We were so excited because God blessed us with the financial ability to begin sending him to seminary in San Salvador and it was our hope to turn the church over to him and make him the general pastor at the end of the year. However, it was discovered a few weeks ago that Daniel had made some decisions and engaged in some activity that would not allow him to continue in his pastorship position. This was extremely heartbreaking for us and the church. Since then Bobby and I have been in a number of meetings and brainstorming sessions with various friends and leaders trying to make some big decisions regarding the future of the church and the direction we should head. A lot of ideas have been laid before us and we are just searching and praying for God's wisdom and His will. We have peace in knowing that He already has all of this worked out and a perfect plan, we just have to patiently wait for His guidance!

3. This and that - Some of you have brought it to out attention that there has been a little confusion regarding where to send financial donations, and we are sorry for that! There have been several address changes, but here is the official address where you can send financial donations:

Love and Hope International
9555 Vista Way, Suite 230
Cleveland, OH 44125

Please make checks out to Love and Hope International and include a separate note that the donation is for Bobby and Britney Hibbs or you may write our names on the memo line of the check. If you have recently sent a check to another address, do not worry, your donation will get to us. There have been a number of organizational changes to Teams to the Nations (which is now Love and Hope International) over the past few months which caused a couple of address changes, but any donations sent to an old address will be/have been forwarded on. In addition, many of you received a letter in the mail from Love and Hope International regarding donations and the Love and Hope orphanage. Although we serve under the same organization (Love and Hope international) our ministries, and funding are separate so any donations made to us go to us and any donations made to the orphanage go to the orphanage. If you have any other questions, please let us know.

4. Prayer requests - We are so thankful to everyone for your constant prayer support! Your prayers have protected us (we were recently in a car accident and no one was injured, and Bea/Samuel/and I have all recently been on buses that were robbed yet we were left alone), given us wisdom, strength, guidance, comfort, and carried us through every moment that we have been here. Thank you so much! Our current prayer requests are as follows:

1. The kids' grades
2. Jonathan's salvation and improved behavior in school
3. The church and wisdom for some big decisions that have to be made
4. That each of the kids will learn what it means to have a truly personal relationship with Christ
5. A car - we have begun saving little by little to hopefully purchase a vehicle someday soon (as taking a bus can be difficult and dangerous in addition little things like going to the grocery are very difficult when you have to go by bus!)

Thanks to everyone for everything that you do to love and support us! We are truly thankful!

Dios les bendiga,
Britney and Bobby Hibbs

February update

Hello everyone!

We hope that this email finds everyone well...and warm! February has certainly gotten away from us very quickly, but here is a quick overview of what has been going on here in ES:

1. The "kids" - Life has definitely changed a lot for us here over the past couple of months! As most of you know, Samuel and Jonathan came to live with us on December 28th. They both are doing very well. Samuel is studying Computer system engineering at the Evangelical University and Jonathan is in the 7th grade at a Christian School in the nearby town of Apopa. Both are involved in extracurricular activities as well. Jonathan is playing soccer for a local team here in Nejapa, and Samuel is taking guitar lessons on the weekends.

Bea is doing well also. She began classes last month as well at the Evangelical University. She is majoring in Special Education. She is very busy as she goes to class every morning and then has swim every afternoon through the week. She has also joined the praise and worship team at the university. This group has proved to be wonderful for her because it's not just about singing. Actually, they haven't even began to practice singing yet! They have been spending all of their time working first on building themselves up spiritually. They meet every Saturday morning for discussion, accountability, and leadership training. They have also split into small groups that will meet bi-monthly for Bible study. I am really impressed with this group because they have really helped Bea socially and spiritually and am very proud of her for her openness and willingness to grow.

Of course, despite everything, problems still arise in our house, as they do anywhere. It was especially difficult for Bea the first couple of weeks that the boys moved in. Bobby and I have been learning some of the big differences between "raising" boys and girls, and the "kids" have all been learning to adjust to each others differences and the importance of grace!

Some of you may remember me telling you about a Harvard psychiatrist that I met with last year about Bea. Well, she came down again last week and took Bobby and I, Rachel, and Ben and Shelly (a new missionary couple) out to a wonderful dinner. She is a professor of child and infant psychiatry at Harvard Medical school and also has her own private practice. She shared with us that she wants to devote the rest of her career to caregiver consultations. She has offered her services to us, free of charge, and we are more than grateful. So, we have set up a phone conference with her every Friday morning and we will all "set down with her" via telephone and talk about different challenges that we have faced during the week and ask her questions. She is also coming back again in April to work with us all again.

2. Church - The past couple of months have presented some challenges in the church with some of our youth leaders, but Bobby has been working through them well. We are also very happy because we were blessed with the ability to begin sending Daniel, the assistant pastor, to Bible school last month. He still has 2 1/2 years left, but this is definitely a step in the right direction! Yeah!

Bobby and I each have also started up small groups in the church. Bobby began the Mens Fraternity. Some of you may be familiar with it as it is a popular program in the States. Well, a great church donated the program (DVD's and workbooks) to us in spanish and it has been really popular. The group meets every Saturday morning at 7:30am and has been growing and growing until now there is hardly room enough for all of them in our house! This is a HUGE blessing and is so important especially in the Salvadoran culture where so many men abandon their families (for example, in the Saturday group only 4 guys actually know who their fathers are!) and marital unfaithfulness is considered culturally acceptable.

I have started a ladies group that meets every other Tuesday evening. This group has been great for the girls in the church, who have had problems connecting in the past. It has also given them a safe and open place to talk about the problems and issues that they are facing and to have the encouragement of other young ladies who are walking through the same things. The group was initially challenging for Bea, who, admittedly, tends to be jealous and very closed. Getting her to participate initially was a challenge, but I have slowly seen her open up more, share, and actually start to develop relationships and friendships with these girls. What a blessing! I am also very excited because a great friend of mine, Kelly (who was a missionary here last summer) will be bringing a team here in August and will be presenting True Love Waits to these girls! Yeah!


I also still teach my free community english classes every Saturday before the church service. Wow, the group has grown so much that I can no longer do it myself and now Ben is helping me. Last week the group was so big that I also enlisted the help of another friend and we split the class into 3! Thank God for this blessing! Bea and Jonathan are also participating in the classes.


3. Fellowship - One of the biggest challenges for missionaries is isolation. Bobby and I had been praying that God would send us friends for fellowship and accountability. We are so happy because in December God answered that prayer and a new couple, Ben and Shelly, came here to serve. They are currently serving in the Love and Hope orphanage handling finances, driving, etc. Initially they had only commited to 3 months of service but have recently decided to extend their stay. We are so happy because we have treasured their friendship so much. We have been meeting with them every Thursday for dessert and prayer, and it has quickly become one of my favorite times of the week!

Thanks so much to everyone for all of your prayers and support. We are so thankful and definitely would not be here today if it were not for you all. We ask that you all would please continue lifting us up in prayer in the following areas:

1. Jonathan's salvation - Jonathan is not a Christian and is very angry with God with what happened with his sister. He does come to church with us every Wed and Sat and we just pray that one day he will open his heart back up and accept Christ as his savior.

2. Love and Hope - The children's home is undergoing many many changes and definitely needs covered in prayer right now. In addition, as some of you may know, due to some problems Teams to the Nations has dissolved as a missions organization and a new nonprofit was formed called Love and Hope international. All donations now need to be sent to Love and Hope International with a note included that the donation is for Bobby and Britney Hibbs. Please contact me if you need the address and I can get it to you. Although we are very thankful for the change in organizations, as this new organization will provide us with more financial accountability, we ask for your prayers as we begin working with them and present to them our ministry and vision.

3. Beatriz - For her studies and as she continues to struggle with anger at times

4. Samuel - For his studies and continued spiritual growth

5.Bobby and I - that we would have LOTS and LOTS of patience, wisdom, and find time for rest.

We love you all!

In Christ,
Bobby and Britney Hibbs

December 2009 update

Hello everyone!

We hope that everyone is doing well and had a very Merry Christmas!!

It was so wonderful seeing everyone during our trip home. We initially thought that a one month trip home would be more than enough time to see friends and family and catch up with everyone that we love, but we found out quickly that it wasn't! We want to apologize to our friends, family, and those in our church family that we weren't able to see or talk to. Please know that our desire really was to spend time with each of you, but the days and weeks flew by too quickly to make it all possible.

Since we returned back to ES, life here has been SUPER crazy. Our time in the States was very refreshing and we were able to return back here with a renewed energy, and lots of new ideas for our lives and ministry. So, here is an overview of what has been going on over the past month that we have been back:

1. Beatriz - Just two short days after returning back to ES, Bea graduated from high school! Yeah!! We are so excited and proud of her!! She has decided to continue her education and go onto college. She has enrolled in the Evangelical University in San Salvador and will be starting classes on January 4th majoring in special education. She is very talented in working with small children, so I think that this is a great career choice for her.

Bea has also been busy over the past month working as an assistant teacher for the swim club where she trains. Although the position wasn't a paid position she was very excited to accept it when it was offered to her. It was a great opportunity for her to not only improve her swim skills, but also to learn increased self-discipline and responsibility. She was responsible for teaching swim to the littlest kids in the mornings and then in the afternoon she trained. She left in the mornings at 6:30am and returned home very tired at 4:30 in the afternoon.

2. Church - Over the past month we have had some ups and downs in the church. Some really positive things that have happened include our baptism celebration that we held in November. Bobby and Daniel (the assistant pastor) had the priviledge of baptizing 5 of our youth! Praise God! Following our home church's example, we made the event a celebration. We rented a small park and held our normal service there around the pool, followed by the baptisms, lunch, and then spending the afternoon hanging out and swimming in the pool. It was a great and blessed day!

Another blessing in the church is that attendance for our Wednesday services has been up, way up!! We began having the Wednesday services and attendance has slowly been on the rise. We had only 12 at our first Wednesday service, and last week we had over 50 (of course, last wednesday was our Christmas service, so this attributes to the increase as well) and the week before we had almost 40! Yeah!!! On the down side, attendance at our Saturday service has dropped dramatically. What was once routinely 40 or more has dropped by half. In addition, some of our leaders on our leadership team are waivering right now as they walk through some personal struggles in their own lives. But, the awesome God that we serve always has everything in control and we are going to be blessed with a short term mission team that is coming down Jan 2 - 9th to help us! The awesome thing about this team is that they were originally planning on coming down and distributing back packs filled with school supplies, but due to some problems with customs, they had to cancel that project and were scrambling at the last minute to figure out what to do. At the same time we began praying that God would show us how to reach out to the many youth who have fallen away and give them a renewed fire and passion. So, to make a long story short, God connected this team with us and now a week long project has been planned that includes a church "spruce up," evangelism and personal visits, a really cool game day, and a special "kick off the year" service! I am so excited to see how He is going to work in all of this!

In addition, thanks to the financial blessing of a wonderful friend, we were able to have an awesome Christmas service last Wednesday! It was a great service with more than 50 people in attendance! We decorated the church with lots of red and green and Christmas lights, Bobby gave a great message (he talked about how God gave us the awesome gift of His son so what gift will we give Him this year?), and we topped it all off by serving pizza and giving away tons of gifts! It was an awesome service!!

3. Samuel and Jonathon - As many of you know, two boys (Samuel and Jonathon) will be coming to join our home this month. We have been very busy working with them and planning for their arrival over the past few weeks. They picked the day that they would be coming to live with us, and they picked the 28th (so lots of prayers on Monday please!!). Samuel has decided to continue studying at the Evangelical University. He took some classes there last year, but didn't do so well, so we are praying that he is able to turn things around this year. We enrolled Jonathon in a Christian school and he will be beginning the 7th grade in January.

In addition to preparing physically for their arrival (painting their room, furniture, school) we have been trying to prepare them, ourselves, and Bea emotionally for this big change. We have spent a lot of time talking to everyone individually and together, and of course, lots of prayer. We understand that this is going to be a big change for everyone so we welcome your prayers as God leads us into this next chapter of our lives.

Well, that about wraps up the major highlights of what has been going on in our part of the world. We now have the blessing of having internet in our home, so hopefully keeping up will be a bit easier now. We have posted many new pictures to our phanfare website www.bobandbrit.phanfare.com as well as to our facebook page, so please feel free to check them out! We haven't updated our blog in a while, but plan to do so soon, so stay tuned.

Lastly, we want to say a big giant thank you to all of you who pray for us, support us, encourage us, and love us! We are truly grateful!!

Feliz Navidad a todos y Dios les bendiga!

In Christ,
Britney and Bobby