Center of Love and Life
center of love and life report
It is amazing what a group of gringos with love in their hearts can accomplish in just four days (mas o menos)! The actual building time, under the direction of Michael Turner, may have been short, but the planning and preparation started a year ago.
In June of 2004 we were visited by a group of friends from Northbrook UMC, Roswell, GA. They saw our playground equipment, worn out and termite eaten, badly needing replacement. They told us,"We will be back to build you a playground." And they did exactly that! They raised and collected funds, and brought themselves along with an awesome playground back to Centro de Amor y Vida. Before they came they sent funds for the purchase of pretreated lumber. They brought everything else needed to complete the project with them on the plane, including the swings and slide. No small feat!!
A huge "Thanks" goes out to Mike, Julie, and Hannah Turner, Charles and Lynn Clemments, and Craig, Carol, and Alison Hill who built our playground and to all the others who helped make it happen. May God bless you all! With our most sincere gratitude, Centro de Amor y Vida, Hogar de Ninos con Cancer.
Hannah Turner, Summer Intern
When the folks from Northbrook UMC departed they left another gift: Hannah Turner. Hannah would invest her summer at Centro de Amor y Vida and it would be a summer unlike all before. There, mixed up with little ones and their parents was a different face. She will kill me for saying this, but it was the face of an angel! Hannah Turner, 20, a full time student at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA came to invest her summer ministering to children. She was an assistant for me in any of my chores and a help to all the children. "Hannah Banana" as they affectionately called her, completely captivated their hearts. She spent much of her time looking for ways to simply be with them, whether it was playing games, sharing her sweet voice and guitar, or helping them find some comfort by having a caring person to talk with. She has been gone for a little over a month now and the children still ask for her and the parents all want to know how she is doing back in the states.
A volunteer before, Hannah spent last summer in Canada with a youth volunteer group, Baptist Student Union, working with a church planting ministry doing relational evangelism. This visit was Hannah's third trip to Honduras, having done two short-term mission projects with youth ministry groups in past summers. Hannah arrived with the group from Northbrook UMC of Roswell, Ga. That group included her parents, Michael and Julie Turner, and four others who so graciously built our playground/playhouse. We are so thankful for Hannah staying with us for the summer. I cannot count all the ways she made our center a more joyous place to be. She has returned to Georgia to start her junior year and we wish her well. Will next summer bring Hannah back? We are hoping and will be happy for her presence with us at any time.
