Tag Archive for: engadi

Spring Family Festival

Yesterday, with the help of students from Asbury, Engadi hosted its largest family festival in Paraíso to date. The festival drew people of all ages from all over Paraíso to see the fun and games. The festivities included music, bounce houses, games (such as soccer, jump rope, and parachute games), crafts, face painting, and nail painting for the women and girls. Several hundred residents were in attendance, and popsicles were provided as a refreshing treat to all who stayed until the end as well as a brief presentation of the Gospel message.
The team from Asbury will be partnering with us through the end of the week. We can’t wait to update you on the outcome of their project with recycled tires that we alluded to at the end of last week! We are thankful for their partnering efforts to bring #hope and #brotherhood to the community of Paraíso.
#engadi
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Video: Recent Updates and Ministry Progress, Spring 2016

Engadi Ministries wants to update you on the recent changes and strides we have made over the past six months. Check out this brief, two minute video on some of the changes you can expect to see on your next trip down to partner with Engadi Ministries in Guatemala. We praise God for what He is doing in Guatemala through Engadi to bring #hope and #brotherhood to the community of Paraíso.
Video Credit: Phillip Blume of Blume Photography and Film.
#engadi

Derek Group Prepares for Asbury Team

With our largest team of the year only days away, the Engadi staff is hurriedly preparing the final details for their arrival this weekend. Meanwhile, the #brotherhood of boys in Engadi’s Derek Program are also hard at work cleaning their community and preparing for the special project that Asbury’s youth team will be working on in Paraíso. They are taking the first steps of hauling out all the trash in one of their community’s common areas and are beginning the groundwork for when the Asbury team arrives this weekend. Check out their strides forward since the beginning of the month!
Before:
Playground Before  Playground Before  Playground Before
During:
  
  
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The Derek Boys did a great job clearing this part of their community a a way to bring restoration and leave a legacy in Paraíso!

The Derek Boys did a great job clearing this part of their community a a way to bring restoration and leave a legacy in Paraíso! We can’t wait to share with you the finished project with the help of the Asbury team!


We love the #hope that these boys carry for their community, and are looking forward to having a few helping hands to aid them next week in bringing restoration and legacy to Paraíso!
#engadi #hope #brotherhood

Juanes’ Receives His Birth Record

Meet Juanes. He is a regular participant in Engadi’s Derek Program for at-risk boys living in Paraíso, a neighborhood in the northern slums of Guatemala City. Juanes has one of the highest attendance records within the Derek Program, and can regularly be found helping younger boys within the area complete their community service projects, or helping them in their discipleship groups.
Juanes’ mother makes tortillas within the community, earning little more than a few dollars a day to support their family. His father is absent from his life. In spite of being fourteen years old, Juanes has never been able to attend school due to unusual events surrounding his emergency birth in 2001 that prevented him from receiving a birth certificate. To the Guatemalan government, it is as if Juanes didn’t exist, at least until a few months ago.
Last fall, Manuel, David, and James, of Engadi Ministries, began working with Juanes and his family to locate the small public hospital where he was born, petition for a new birth certificate, and register Juanes with the national government. In October, after searching through years worth of handwritten birth records, Juanes’ file was found in a small hospital across Guatemala City, but that was just the beginning of the process.
Yesterday, after numerous trips to the capital city, visiting at least four separate public offices, and countless hours waiting in lines, Juanes received his birth certificate, and was registered with the Guatemalan government, allowing him to enroll in school, and one day apply for jobs and get married.

Juanes' mother, Gregoria Cutzal, Juanes, and Engadi's Director of Discipleship, David Medina outside Juanes home.

Juanes’ mother, Gregoria Cutzal, Juanes, and Engadi’s Director of Discipleship, David Medina outside Juanes home.


Juanes can’t wait to begin studying and learn to read and write. He has already been working one-on-one with Engadi’s Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator, Manuel Fajardo, and has learned to recognize and write letters including his full name, which was made official this winter: Juan Jose Cutzal.
What an example of #hope he is! Engadi will continue working with Juanes and his family to help him reach his full potential in Christ.
#engadi
Juanes proudly displaying his government registration which will allow him to enroll in school, apply for jobs, and one day get married.

Juanes proudly displaying his government registration which will allow him to enroll in school, apply for jobs, and one day get married.

Tools for Success

This week, Engadi Ministries recognized students within the schools system of Paraíso who completed Engadi’s Scholarship Program for the 2016 school year. Over the years, Engadi has discovered that many children in Paraíso stop attending school altogether due to a lack of basic school supplies that their families cannot afford. In an effort to provide a practical solution to this problem, Engadi has teamed up with students, teachers, and families to help them obtain the necessary materials for success allowing children to continue pursuing the hopes and dreams they have.
Donated supplies were sorted, packaged, and provided to students and parents who had completed several requirements. Families first attended Biblically-based family values classes taught by Engadi’s Director of Discipleship, David Medina, followed by completing a number of hours volunteering within their community creating a brotherhood of parents within the community. In doing so, Engadi partnered with seventy students to help them earn the supplies needed to continue their elementary school education.
Engadi Ministries also partnered with directors, faculty, and teachers within the four elementary schools to allow them to earn supply packages for their classrooms, since teachers are often forced to purchase the majority of necessary supplies by their own means. Sixty-six teachers who voluntarily attended Biblically-based teamwork classes, also taught by David Medina were provided with a package of supplies to help meet their needs within the classroom.
Finally, to close out the day, Nathan and Claudia Hardeman along with Manuel Fajardo, Darlyn Iquic and Ellie Carr presented each of the boys within Engadi’s Derek Program with a package of school supplies at the newly renovated Engadi Transformation Center. Just another way Engadi is seeking to bring hope and brotherhood to Paraíso through the legacy of today’s children.
Thank you to all who donated supplies and made this year’s scholarship program a success in Paraíso.
#engadi
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2016 Engadi Team T-Shirt

2016 T-Shirt Design
The much awaited 2016 Engadi Tee is here! Shirts are available
in2016 T-Shirt Design long-sleeved, short-sleeved, sweatshirt, and tank-top styles, with a variety of colors available. These shirts are a great conversation starter, and a way that YOU can be involved in sharing how Engadi Ministries is working to bring hope and brotherhood to the slums of Guatemala City by raising up Mighty Men of God who can be leaders within their communities. As a bonus, a portion of all T-shirt proceeds will be donated directly to Engadi Ministries Intl. from Mesa Clothing.
You can show your support for Engadi Ministries and purchase your T-shirt by clicking here, or copy and paste the link below in your web browser.
https://teespring.com/engadi
Shirts will only be available for a limited time. Don’t miss the opportunity to purchase your tee today!!
#engadi

Engadi Staff Attends Caregiver Training

Caregiver Training
Last week, Engadi’s Director of Discipleship, David Medina, and houseparents, James and Ellie Carr attended a caregiver training seminar as we move closer to the date when Engadi Ministries will open the doors of the Benaiah House, it’s first boys home. The three day course, called (Un)Adopted, was provided by Lifeline Children’s Services, and hosted at a local children’s home here in Guatemala. The classes covered topics related to assessing and responding to the needs of children from troubled backgrounds within a home environment.
The courses covered practical tips that we will be able to implement into our daily lives within the Benaiah Home to foster the hope and brotherhood within the young men living there, while providing them with a secure environment in which to live and meeting their physical needs as well. We look forward to implementing these tasks as we begin taking in boys over the next few weeks.
#engadi

Derek Group Outing to the Zoo

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This weekend, Engadi Ministries had the opportunity to continue working one-on-one and strengthening brotherhood within the boys within the Derek Program. This month, boys partook in a larger quarterly outing from their neighborhood of Paraíso to Guatemala’s national zoo. Boys who had an attendance of at least 75% of their discipleship groups since September, as well as at least 75% of participation in local community service projects were treated to an outing to the zoo where several had never been before. It was a great time for these boys to break away from the monotony of their small community, and spend time fellowshipping with each other.
Through these outings, Engadi staff members are able to focus intensively with each of the boys and continue mentoring them, focusing on building the hopes and dreams of each young man. Just another way Engadi is working to bring #hope and #brotherhood to Paraíso through the next generation of men.
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First Classes in the Engadi Transformation Center

Last week, Engadi Ministries held our first classes within the recently acquired and renovated Engadi Transformation Center in Paraíso. As a way to earn school supplies for their children, families are able to attend Biblically-based values classes, which are now held at the Engadi Transformation Center, a safe and neutral location within their community.

ETC Classes

Residents of Paraíso attending Family Values Classes within the Engadi Transformation Center


The classes held last week were taught by Engadi’s Director of Discipleship, David Medina, and covered a Biblical the topics of “Love vs. Hate”, a message which is extremely relevant in Paraíso’s gang-ridden streets. Classes aim to unite, educate, and share hope through the Gospel of Christ within the community.  Young men within the Derek Program have also begun using the building for weekly Bible studies and discipleship groups.  We are excited to be a part of how God is able to use the Center to ultimately draw the community of Paraíso closer to Him.
#engadi

Thank You, Avenue Church!

201601 Avenue Furnishings
Engadi Ministries thanks the men of Avenue Church who spent the past week partnering to reach out to children and families living in Paraíso. The construction they completed this week was jobs that would have taken our ministry staff many more weeks, if not months, to complete and it will have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of those who live in Paraíso. About half of the team spent the week renovating the Engadi Transformation Center, a beacon of hope within the community that will touch hundreds of lives as Engadi uses it to share Christ’s love with the neighborhood through Bible studies, community classes and events. The other half of the team spent the majority of their week constructing beds, dressers, and desks for the boys who will be living there, creating a bond of brotherhood within the shared rooms of the home. All of the teams’ work looks great, and we are so thankful to have their support, expertise, and dedication for the past week. Thank you, Avenue Church!
#engadi
201601 Avenue