By Julie Mowery, Back2Back Cancun, Mexico
This is Jeny in 2011. Back2Back Cancun had just started working with Jeny and her family, to help support her mother and keep the family together. At the time, we thought of it as “orphan prevention,” but it’s really family preservation. Family preservation helps families stay together.
Oti, Jeny’s mom, was widowed and needed help to provide and care for her eight children. When we first started working with Oti, she was feeling desperate, not wanting to have to take her children to a children’s home, but struggling to provide for her family.
I love this picture of Jeny because it captures her personality so well. She always has a smile and she is full of love. In 2011, she was 10 years old and had never attended school. Back2Back staff helped her enroll in school and hired a tutor to help her with her homework each day. Academic support was critical to her success, as her mother cannot read or write. We wanted to make sure Jeny was getting the help she needed.
This is Jeny now, in 2014, three years later. She loves to read. She’s excelling in school, and she still has a smile that lights up her face. Recently, Sarah, who is part of Back2Back Cancun’s staff, gave Jeny her first Bible.
Jeny was so excited to start reading it. Sarah asked Jeny if she had a favorite book of the Bible. Jeny wasn’t sure.
Jeny wants to be a singer when she grows up, so Sarah shared, “The Psalms are songs they used to sing in Bible times.”
Jeny opened to a psalm and asked, “Do you know what the tune is to this psalm?”
Sarah answered, “No.”
Jeny didn’t miss a beat. She started singing the psalm, making up an upbeat melody. Hearing Jeny sing praises must have been so precious to Jesus! Please continue to pray for Jeny. I know God has great things in store for her and I can’t wait to see the rest of her story.