So because we do pretty much the same things with each team, I've decided it would be fairly pointless to just go through what we've all been doing again; so I'm going to pick something (hopefully each week!) to talk about. The first of these HAS to be Casa Nazaret - 'Nazareth House', and Sister Mercedes!
I mentioned Nazareth House a couple of weeks back in this post when we went there with the 1st team and mentioned a little of how amazing this place is, but I could barely scratch the surface! So here goes: Nazareth House is the home of Sister Mercedes. The lady I'm working with out here, who lives here full time as a missionary, wrote a post on her a while back here, which is well worth checking out! But in "short"; Sister Mercedes is a nun, who says she ALWAYS wanted to be a Carmelite Sister, living in the monastery and serving God there. And then she was moving to a new place or something so ended up visiting a place in Puerto Plata (she used to live in the capital, Santo Domingo), and helped out a little at a children's home. She didn't mind doing it, but she also didn't particularly like doing it - she just did it in the safety and knowledge that she was going back to the monastery afterwards. But God had other ideas! And various people kept saying to her, "Why don't you open a home of your own?" "A home for abandoned children?" and so on and so on. And God kept tugging at her heart and mind. But she didn't want to. She wanted to be in the monastery, serving God there. And she told it once like this, 'But God kept telling me. And I cried and cried and cried. Because I didn't want to. But God did.' And so she did it. She started with 5 children, and over the years she's had around 25 children in total at various points, but some have passed away or been moved to other places, and there's currently 15 children living with her there. And the amazing thing is; this isn't a staff-run institution. This is a HOME, in a very literal sense of the word. This is Sister Mercedes' house, where she lives with her children. She's their mum, and she loves them and they love her. Yesterday I had the chance to sit with one of the little girls on my lap, cuddling and playing for a while. She's 7, though really quite small for a 7-year-old. She can't talk, and she doesn't seem to be able to respond at all some of the time - but other times she'll clap to the songs we're singing, or make kind of "talking noises". And when she smiles! Oh, when she smiles... you can see she's happy; you can see that's her response! I'm always just so amazed at how each of those children is loved and cherished. Each child is shown that their life is worth living. These children are mostly abandoned; and not through lack of love necessarily, but through lack of the families being able to care for them. Some abandoned at the hospital, some at Sister Mercedes' front door. Some she found wandering the streets, eating from the garbage. And Sister Mercedes took them, and made them her children - loved, cared for and part of a family. How on earth she does that for FIFTEEN children... it can only be through God's strength. And that's the other thing. This house has no consistent income - there's no benefit system to help her or these children. She relies completely on God. Money from donations and teams is what gets her through; what pays the rent, buys the food, pays the huge costs of all the medicine the kids need... And God has always provided for her, and she has faith strong enough to say he always will. She is an incredible woman. Absolutely incredible. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” ~ Hebrews 11.1 Lord, thank you so much for the faith of Sister Mercedes. For her life, completely given to you. Please continue to provide for her needs, and the needs of her children. And help me, Lord, to have this faith too. Faith to be sure of what I hope for, and to be certain of what I do not yet see. For you are above all things, and in you all hope is found. Amen.
2 Comments
Denise
24/10/2015 19:15:05
Talk to Castle Street about Siter Mercedes and her family. I think it would be good if we could support her, perhaps through the Wednesday coffee mornings. Denise
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Rebekah Blyth (Moderator)
24/10/2015 19:15:27
Yeah, that would be REALLY great! :-D
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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