2019 is quickly coming to a close, but here at Back2Back, we are all about looking back, in preparation of looking forward, and celebrating all God has done for orphaned and vulnerable children through YOU this year. We are grateful for your partnership, and all you have done to make amazing, life-changing things happen globally.
Recently, staff from each of the eight sites shared their list of top ten blessings from 2019. The list was long – eight different sites, the top ten blessings for each, Trauma Competent Care, and staff care – over 100 blessings, and those were just the brass ring! Blessings filled with incredible milestones of growth, healing, training, reunification, and forward motion. While we can’t share every blessing in one blog, we ask you to take a moment to celebrate many things that went right in 2019.
Seven girls in the India Hope Program graduated from 10th class and went on to junior college; Haiti kicked off their first ever Hope Program, allowing two teens to take the next steps in their future goals; three students graduated from high school in Nigeria, and six students graduated from university in Monterrey – this is the power of your support of the Hope Program globally – teens breaking cycles of poverty and setting their sights on all they can accomplish.
Our Strong Families Program is growing – India now serves 18 families in the Strong Families Program; men and women who’ve partnered in relationship and parenting made covenants with each other, as we celebrated wedding ceremonies in Cancun, and teens are being empowered and invested in through drug abuse training and prevention. Together, families are learning they’re stronger under one roof, and what has come before them does not have to define what is next.
Children’s homes are growing as we welcomed 10 new children to the India Hope Campus; partnerships are strengthening through official signed partnerships with Salvation Army Children’s Home in Mazatlán, and thanks to your generosity, children at all our partnering-homes have nutritious foods to eat and holistic care 24 hours a day through family-style care in five different areas – spiritual, physical, educational, emotional, and social.
Trauma Competent Care training is an ongoing priority at all of the sites, and Back2Back Dominican Republic and Cincinnati are no exception. Trainings are being held for existing ministries in the DR and with partnering programs in Cincinnati, helping provide more trauma competent care for orphaned and vulnerable children.
These are just a few highlights of the blessings staff has reflected on in 2019, but we hope you see the power of your investment, whether local or abroad, through your generosity. Together, we look forward to 2020 with hope and anticipation for all the ways we will work together, under God’s leadership, until every child is known and loved.