Since the Garcia family moved to the Dominican Republic, their efforts have been to invest in organizations already doing faithful work in local communities. House of Hope is one organization they invest deeply in – providing Trauma Competent Care training, assisting in after-school programming, and creating safe spaces to connect with vulnerable children. As they still forge forward in all of those things, they also feel called to invest in the families of the children they have come to know so well.
“We want to strengthen the growth of the children by getting to know and investing in their families,” explained Hope. The vision for these relationships building is to ultimately begin the Strong Families Program in the D.R. The Strong Families Program allows children to stay where they truly belong – in healthy and flourishing family units. By investing in the parents through life skills classes, job readiness, and Bible studies, parents are equipped to be the safe landings their children need and together, children and their parents grow.
The D.R. staff team started community walks where the families call home, leading prayer walks, meeting the parents, asking how they can pray for them, and developing rapport through conversation. Recently, one of these prayer walks resulted in a life-changing moment for one mother.
Sofia* is a mother of four and one of her daughters attends House of Hope. While the team walked the community, they stopped to say hi to her and she invited them in for coffee. “I started sharing my own testimony,” shared Cheque. “I told her of the ups and downs I’ve had with Jesus, about the spiritual attack I’ve experienced and how, through all of it, God brought me back to Him, to His feet, and into His fold. As I shared, it was as if we could see a softening in Sofia.”
The tired, hardworking mother of four slowly opened up, sharing about spiritual oppression she has long dealt with – darkness, excessive worrying, and an inability to sleep. She shared that long ago she’d walked with the Lord, but had since strayed; she left Him, left the church, and got lost. Staff responded with prayer and as they went to Jesus on Sofia’s behalf, she fell to her knees, asking God to come and meet her. She cried as she asked for forgiveness and asked Him to return to her.
Since that moment, staff have returned, bringing her a Bible and continuing to pray over her and her family. “She has a light about her that wasn’t there before,” shared Hope. “We never really know what may or may not happen when we walk the community, but Sofia is glowing and is tangible proof that God will work in any circumstance, through any person, to bring His kids back to Himself.
Please join Back2Back in prayer as staff go on prayer walks. Pray for open hearts and clear eyes for every family staff interact with, that they would come to know the safety and peace Jesus wants to offer each one of us.