With a curious smirk, sporting a vest and tie, you smile and think, “What a cute boy.” What isn’t captured is how powerful this moment really is. You see, Obie*, the little guy pictured, had just joined his new Home of Hope family when this photo was taken. It was his first day in a new home. His first day eating three full meals. His first night sleeping in a bed all his own. It was the first of so many new things he never had before.
This summer, our Home of Hope families are keeping busy! Here are a few things going on:
I sat in a dimmed auditorium listening to powerful words from a host of speakers at the Justice Conference 2015. Those two days were full of passionate leaders who are tackling extreme poverty, promoting peace in Israel and rescuing trafficked victims. Each has there own area with their own challenges. But each came back to the same place, reminding us that:
The tension was unnaturally thick in the concrete building last week. Nearly 40 people were there facing several LSM staff in what was quickly turning into a different meeting than LSM anticipated. They’d met last Tuesday to discuss with the community the security issues around the 40-acre LSM Ranch. Some local boys had been wriggling through the barbed wire and cactus fence to go swimming in a steep and deep pond on the LSM property. Concerned for their safety, LSM staff had told the boys to stop, and then approached the mayor when they kept sneaking over. But now, sitting across from some upset men, women and the local judge, LSM staff sensed it was about a lot more than boys swimming where they shouldn’t.