November's Story of the Week

As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us take the time to be thankful for all the blessings God has given us.  For many of us, those blessings often include a gratefulness for our families and how their love has helped us become who we are today.  For many, the thought of a family’s support is a foreign concept. Can you imagine what your life would look like if you had no one to support your dreams?

Through the Jeremiah House, we can be that support system for young men who need to see God’s love and the blessings He has for each one of us! Each young man has a story to tell, and we would like to take the next few weeks to share a few of their stories.

This week's story of Dennis: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

When Dennis was two years old, his family moved from southern Honduras where he and his siblings were born to the capital city Tegucigalpa to search for work.  Dennis recalls the rain falling and wind blowing in from all directions into their home, and at this point he didn’t even know what a “real” bed looked like.  By the time he was four years old, his father left the family never to be seen or heard from again.  Around this time, he had to start going to the market and begging for any food or money that strangers would give him.  Sometimes he ate, many times he didn’t.  Without an education, his mother struggled finding a job to support her family. One day while she was out searching for work, children’s services arrived at their house to find four of the children (ages 2, 3, 4, and 5) home alone in a very dangerous area of the city. 

The government found a foster home of a family from Spain where they lived and even learned a little English.  He still remembers his first English word was “chair”.  When the family had to return to Spain, he was devastated.  He didn’t want go to a government orphanage or even worse go back to his original home.  At seven years old, he started telling her  that he needed a good school and a better home than he had in his first 4 years.  She promised that she would help find him a good place to live, and one day she told him, “I found a beautiful place where you are going to live until you are 18 years old.”  Because he trusted her, he was very excited about moving out into rural Honduras at the GSCH (Good Shepherd Children’s Home) run by BMDMI.

At GSCH Dennis started second grade and made good grades.  He also learned a lot of things like how to work on a farm, basic electrical work, carpentry, and even English.  He soaked in any information he could on how to survive because he wanted to be a better father than his had been. When he was 18 he feared leaving the only place he had really called home.  He had nowhere to go, no friends outside the home, and no family support, but he did know he wanted an education.

Dennis’ story is what led to a missionary beginning to consider the need of a transition program for the young adults needing a support system after leaving GSCH.  Because of this support, he was able to finish high school, and then move to the capital to begin University with other young men leaving the GSCH.  The young men started looking for work, attending school, and learning the life skills needed to live outside the children’s home.  Through this the Jeremiah House was started.

With the support of the transition program, Dennis is about 2 years away from graduating University in computer engineering.  Dennis works hard not only in school, but he has utilized the English he learned to become a translator and work at a call center that requires English to earn extra money.  Dennis is pleased to know that he will be able to take care of himself and his family through a good job.

Dennis says he really likes the Jeremiah house because it is like we are his family,  his friends are always nearby, and he isn’t worried about where he will sleep at night or concerned about his safety.  Though it’s not easy he appreciates the fact that he is being taught schools to not only improve himself but to become independent.  Dennis is determined to break the cycle of poverty in his family, starting with him.

What are your blessings during this week of Thanksgiving? Let us remember that November is also the month we recognize Orphan Sunday to bring awareness to those in the foster care system around the world and Giving Tuesday as a way of giving back in our time of recognizing our blessings.  We ask that you take time this month to pray for the young men of the Jeremiah House as we continue to pour into their lives.

If you missed any of our stories this month you can read about them here:

• Lazro: Opportunity Will Come.
• Erick: What are you Grateful for?