Transformation Tuesdays Blog
by Lisa Steele, FLM Executive Director
We served a record number of 102 children this year at Family Life Missions. And these are not just numbers—these are lives that have been transformed because of our many supporters. Because of your prayers, donations, and volunteer hours, we can provide safe and secure homes, parenting workshops, a Christian bilingual school, foster care and adoption of vulnerable children, trauma training for our staff and other organizations, and build dreams!
Each face you see is a life that has been changed as we reach out to the community and within our campus. Your generous donations allow us to provide all of the above services and a holistic care center that brings together children and families' spiritual, physical, academic, social, and emotional needs in our programs.
As 2023 draws to an end, we are thankful for the 30 years of service we have provided to the community of Catacamas. Help us finish well with a year-end gift. Our immediate needs include seven laptop computers for our school, a new roof on the Holistic Care Center, and providing ongoing care to children in our Foster Care program.
What a blessing it is to serve the vulnerable children and families of Catacamas, Honduras. Our staff is dedicated to providing the community with hope, health, and stability. Thank you for remembering these precious children as you celebrate Christmas with family and friends.
Merry Christmas ~ Feliz Navidad!
by Kerin Acosta, FLM Psychologist
In celebration of our 30th anniversary, Family Life Missions expresses its sincere gratitude to God for allowing us to serve the children and families of Honduras through the gospel, bringing faith, hope, and the good news of Salvation. We feel privileged with this great commission. In addition, we want to thank the institutions and organizations that have accompanied us throughout this journey and our donors, collaborators, families, and churches that have come together to help children and vulnerable families who today are being restored with God's love.
Gratitude is a positive feeling of esteem and recognition born in the soul; this feeling arises when we receive a service or favor we wish to reciprocate. Everyone can experience it because we have all received something good at some point in our lives.
By Lisa Steele, FLM Executive Director
At Family Life Missions, we have 30/30 vision. No, that is not a typo! The American Optometric Association (AOA) developed 30/30 vision as a benchmark for eye health several years ago. The 30/30 vision standard is based on the premise that all people should have perfect vision in both eyes. The AOA defines perfect vision as 20/20 in each eye with no limits to sharpness or distance. That includes the ability to see details 20 feet in front of them. However, when someone has 30/30 vision, they can see fine details at a distance of 30 feet. It is a condition where someone can see clearly both near and far. It helps improve their overall quality of life.
We have 30/30 vision at FLM after 30 years of serving the Catacamas community. We can look back over the past 30 years and see how we have cared for vulnerable children and families. We can also look ahead to see how we will continue this care. We have changed over those 30 years as God has directed our path. Today, fewer children live in our Residential Home as many have been reintegrated into their biological families. Some children who would have come to live with us are instead in our Foster Care Program and live in a loving, Christian home. Many children do not have to go live with us as they are part of our Family Preservation Program, where we strive to keep families together through workshops, counseling, and education.
Our 30/30 vision continues with a clear path to the future. It also represents our need for 30 donors willing to commit $30 monthly to help us support these children and families in our community. These monthly donations help us support our Foster families, our workshops, and help our students at our Por Los Niños Christian School.
We love looking back at 30 years of care in our community. We also love looking forward with anticipation to what God has planned for us. One thing that has not changed in 30 years and will not change in the future is our reliance on God and following the path He lays before us as we continue to care for the children and families in Catacamas who need our love, support, and care.
And always, we point them to the One who provides it all.
By Lisa Steele, FLM Executive Director with Molly Borneman, FLM Social Media Manager
“The end is near! Repent!”
I heard these words as I walked past a man reading from Revelation last Saturday at my town's Farmer’s Market. People walked by him without a glance. He kept loudly proclaiming this truth, yet no one was listening. It made me wonder why he was doing it. He is there every Saturday morning. Yet, he engages no one in conversation. There is no connection—no relationship forming. The words are true, but the action is missing.
I think about Marleny, Belkis, Carlitos, Selvin, Jandy, Wilson, Carolina, and many others who have received blessings from our Family Life Missions volunteers. Whether they are recipients of our programs or serve as FLM staff, they have seen words put into action.
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”—James 2:14-17
Our volunteers are living out this verse when they serve the Catacamas community. They are also blessed as they bless others with their words and actions.
“Participating with FLM left me inspired, encouraged, challenged, and stronger in faith. Whether interpreting a Bible story for the school devotionals, or on the Building Dreams worksite, interacting with the FLM staff, or entertaining the children on campus, each experience gave me a wonderful view of Christ’s kingdom lived out in diverse and practical ways.”—Elizabeth, Mission Team Member from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
