In God is my salvation en my glory,
the rock of my strength and my refuge, is in God.
Psalm 62:7
Dear friends,
These last two months have flown by, and at the moment I am halfway into my first visit to different churches in the UK.
What a blessing it is to meet so many "old" friends and make new ones. I have been so blessed by the hospitality of many friends and truly enjoy the fellowship both in church as well as over cups of tea. Your love and commitment are so encouraging, I always say we have a large team outside of Bolivia that works with us. Then to actually meet up and share some of our stories (and hear some of yours) is great!
Here you see me thinking about what life in a castle would look like but I've concluded that's not for me.
Life in Bolivia is turning more and more complicated as prices keep rising and the provision of things like petrol and diesel continues to be erratic.
In spite of that we had a very busy month of April with two very big events in honour of the day of the child. First of all, more than one hundred primary schoolchildren from 11 schools in El Alto, wrote about the reality of violence they suffered at home and how they want to be treated with respect. This was translated into a manifest that was handed over to the authorities and the ombudsman in an event where approx. 400 people participated. In the end, all children desire is for their home, school and society to be safe and where they can live happily.
The week after this we had the 7th yearly march with children from 10 schools, who paraded in our area, giving voice to the need to continue to work on improving safety for children and looking out for vulnerable ones. Over 1000 participated, assembling in a large field where speeches were held but the children also enjoyed a demonstration by the police, showing what their dogs can do. Here too, authorities both from child protection services as well as local authorities joined us. If nothing else, we are beginning to really see awareness in teachers and parents that providing a safe environment for children, free from violence, is an important issue to work on.
Photos: A municipal auditorium for the manifest (top-left); Felina presents conclusions of the children's essays (top-right); March "Hear my voice to prevent violence" (bottom-left); Training parents about their role to prevent violence and problems in the home (bottom-right)
This is nearly the last of some much-needed maintenance jobs we have been able to do. The boys will be chuffed once their beloved football patio is ready for use. Sometimes boys will help the workers, often to enable them to earn a few pennies. The reason for that isn't always nice though. This week there was a huge incident in Adulam with Carlos who proceeded to damage a door to underline his displeasure. It all began with a very unwise student who commissioned him to make a bracelet and then paid him in cash. Well, for obvious reasons the teenagers in rehabilitation are not allowed to have money, we have a box where it’s kept for them and they can ask for it when they want to buy something. For Carlos it was hard to trust us with this.
While I write this, the social worker is trying to work out how we can best help a mum, who has children coming to Jesed, who are going through extremely difficult times. Even during the march, the reality of many children was evident. The ones going to evening school have to work during the day, and their clothing showed that they definitely had less money to spend then the children from the "normal" schools. What was great though, was that this particular school actually won a prize with the manifests they wrote and got a big, well deserved, applause from the other children.
Next month I will be back in Bolivia, working on the renewal of our NGO registration, a job I don’t really look forward to, I appreciate prayer for the whole process. We have to present a lot of paperwork for this, we are also still waiting for the conclusion of another bureaucratic process, this too is a matter for prayer. Thank you so much for reading this and for “being there” with us.
Bye, may the Lord bless you, Fineke and teams.
These last two months have flown by, and at the moment I am halfway into my first visit to different churches in the UK. What a blessing it is to meet so many "old" friends and make new ones. I have been so blessed by the hospitality of many friends and truly enjoy the fellowship both in church as well as over cups of tea. Your love and commitment are so encouraging, I always say we have a large team outside of Bolivia that works with us. Then to actually meet up and share some of our stories (and hear some of yours) is great!
Here you see me thinking about what life in a castle would look like but I've concluded that's not for me.
Life in Bolivia is turning more and more complicated as prices keep rising and the provision of things like petrol and diesel continues to be erratic. In spite of that we had a very busy month of April with two very big events in honour of the day of the child. First of all, more than one hundred primary schoolchildren from 11 schools in El Alto, wrote about the reality of violence they suffered at home and how they want to be treated with respect. This was translated into a manifest that was handed over to the authorities and the ombudsman in an event where approx. 400 people participated. In the end, all children desire is for their home, school and society to be safe and where they can live happily.
The week after this we had the 7th yearly march with children from 10 schools, who paraded in our area, giving voice to the need to continue to work on improving safety for children and looking out for vulnerable ones. Over 1000 participated, assembling in a large field where speeches were held but the children also enjoyed a demonstration by the police, showing what their dogs can do. Here too, authorities both from child protection services as well as local authorities joined us. If nothing else, we are beginning to really see awareness in teachers and parents that providing a safe environment for children, free from violence, is an important issue to work on.
Photos: A municipal auditorium for the manifest (top-left); Felina presents conclusions of the children's essays (top-right); March "Hear my voice to prevent violence" (bottom-left); Training parents about their role to prevent violence and problems in the home (bottom-right).
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This is nearly the last of some much-needed maintenance jobs we have been able to do. The boys will be chuffed once their beloved football patio is ready for use. Sometimes boys will help the workers, often to enable them to earn a few pennies. The reason for that isn't always nice though. This week there was a huge incident in Adulam with Carlos who proceeded to damage a door to underline his displeasure. It all began with a very unwise student who commissioned him to make a bracelet and then paid him in cash. Well, for obvious reasons the teenagers in rehabilitation are not allowed to have money, we have a box where it’s kept for them and they can ask for it when they want to buy something. For Carlos it was hard to trust us with this.
While I write this, the social worker is trying to work out how we can best help a mum, who has children coming to Jesed, who are going through extremely difficult times. Even during the march, the reality of many children was evident. The ones going to evening school have to work during the day, and their clothing showed that they definitely had less money to spend then the children from the "normal" schools. What was great though, was that this particular school actually won a prize with the manifests they wrote and got a big, well deserved, applause from the other children.
Next month I will be back in Bolivia, working on the renewal of our NGO registration, a job I don’t really look forward to, I appreciate prayer for the whole process. We have to present a lot of paperwork for this, we are also still waiting for the conclusion of another bureaucratic process, this too is a matter for prayer. Thank you so much for reading this and for “being there” with us.
Bye, may the Lord bless you, Fineke and teams.
To support the ministry:
Bank transfer through the Dutch account in Euro: Accountholder Roelfina L. Janssen
Bank: ING Acct IBAN:INGBNL2A Acct number NL05 INGB0003194140 By credit card using WhyDonate button
The book about my life and ministry: My heart is in Bolivia by Peter de Bruijne is available on Amazon Books.
Support in the USA can be receive using ZELLE, Wells Fargo bank, email
finekej@gmail.com
In Canada we are linked with Hands For Humanity, an accredited Christian charity. Donations can be made through their website, designating the gift for Mision Adulam - Fineke Janssen, or send an earmarked check to: Hands For Humanity – 218 Silvercreek Parkway N – Suite 202 – Unit 17A – Guelph ON – N1H 8E8
