A New Dawn

ONE YEAR IN

A New Dawn, Crossing Cultures, Free the Girls, Human Trafficking, Kids at Risk, Lighthouse Resource Center, Natural Disasters -

Who else is stepping into March wearily? It is one year into the pandemic and we are all tired.   In El Salvador, children can be seen everywhere all the time because schools have yet to open for in-person classes. There are still people on the side of the highway waving white flags, but thankfully far less than there used to be. Lots of people are looking for work, or for extra work to make up for income lost over the strictest phase of the lockdown. Others are still searching for ways to pay for damages to their homes and property suffered from the tropical storms that slammed El Salvador last year.   Our clients are facing some new challenges too, and many people have joined our daily lunch line […]

Keep Dreaming!

A New Dawn, Free the Girls, Fundraising, Lighthouse Resource Center, Thinking About God, Urban Ministry -

This year has brought hardship, but it hasn’t kept our clients from dreaming. There are still goals, and aspirations…there is still hope! It truly is the Salvadoran way, and we are privileged to be “dream facilitators” here at Mission To El Salvador! As we begin this process of reopening, we are working to help our clients reflect on what was lost, and take a moment to regroup and begin to dream and plan for the future once again. We invite you to join us in “listening in” on some of our clients’ own stories of surviving so far this year with dreams intact. When COVID struck, New Dawn had to close down and shift to a virtual model. The boys didn’t want to leave and their families weren’t quite prepared […]

Sacred Celebrations

A New Dawn, Lighthouse Resource Center, Thinking About God -

There are frivolous celebrations, and there are traditional ones. Other celebrations are because of routine, or obligation. Some are cultural or mandated by our families. And then there are celebrations that can’t be described as anything other than sacred. Sacred celebrations are the ones that hold an air of the miraculous, that send a shiver down the spine, and pushes tears to our eyes. These are the celebrations we thought we might never see, the ones that defy fear, and chaos, and the brokenness that’s unfolding in the backdrop. In our small corner of the world, we have had the true joy of experiencing two such sacred celebrations in recent days. Moments of healing and discovery…the honoring of new things, new beginnings, and new lives. The first was two weeks […]

Obstacles and Opportunities

A New Dawn, Natural Disasters -

Today Christopher, coordinador of the New Dawn Residential Program, shares some of the ups and downs of developing a virtual program over the last months.  We are about to start our fifth month working virtually with the resdients of New Dawn and their families. There is no question that when our team began this process there were many doubts and umcertainties, but from the start we have seen God’s hand working in each one of the boys’ lives. The situation we have been through has put our program and staff to the test, and we have faced challenges that we’ve never seen before. We went from being a residential program to working 100% virtually. We are anxiously awaiting the day when we can return to our buildling and meet again […]

New Life

A New Dawn, Kids at Risk, Transitions -

In our last blog, we heard from one of the Lighthouse Resource Center case managers. This week, Claudia, one of the therapists working with the New Dawn Residential Program shares what is has been like to accompany the boys virtually through their addiction recovery process.  The residents of the New Dawn Residential Program have many meaningful rituals and one of those is an anthem that they recite each morning. This anthem closes with a cry of “NEW LIFE” shouted out with much enthusiasm and strength to start the day.  Well now, that phrase came to mind in those moments when they had to return to their homes because of COVID-19 and comply with the home quarantine like everyone else in the country. I remember the day that we met with […]

Faithful

A New Dawn, Justice, Life in El Salvador, Lighthouse Resource Center, Missions, Thinking About God -

Faithful. I can’t really think of another word to describe how I felt after reviewing and evaluating how things went around here in 2019. We just published our 2019 Annual Report so feel free to take a look. In the meantime, here are a few highlights: Last year we inaugurated the Lighthouse Resource Center. Since opening our doors, 350 clients have walked through those open doors, and 11.14% of them have entered into our “level system” where they have the opportunity to invest more of themselves and receive more of an investment from us. We’ve learned the issues facing these clients are complex, but we are reaching them. For our first year, we are pretty excited to see that members of our community are making decisions for change, finding healing, […]

Working Together For Freedom

A New Dawn, Free the Girls, Human Trafficking -

Don’t you remember being a kid and holding your breath when the teacher assigned group projects? I remember crossing my fingers and hoping to be paired with a competent friend. Working with the right people is the best way to not only overcome a tough challenge, but also to enjoy the process. This past week we were reminded that we truly have teamed up with the right people. Some of the staff from our partner organization, Free The Girls, spent 5 days in El Salvador. It was an amazing and beautiful time of laughing, growing, and learning together. Courtney, Selah, and Abby came to learn, to understand, and to champion the women in our program. They gave them a voice to share their concerns, and they worked with the women […]

One Year Closer – Un Año Más Cerca

A New Dawn, Kids at Risk, The Lighthouse Project, Urban Ministry -

On the blog today, a few words from our Executive Director, Jon Snyder… One of my favorite things is when our clients volunteer in our programs. The reality is that they do a way better job than I ever could at reaching someone right where they are…because they’ve been there. Yes, they have been in a place of addiction and struggle, but today they aren’t. No, today they are part of a team serving and loving everyone who comes in our doors. Adan is young man who is currently one of our volunteers. We met him 2 ½ years ago when we were just beginning the process of opening New Dawn as a drop-in center. When we first met him he was heavily addicted to marijuana, cocaine, and crack. He […]

Join Hands For Freedom – Unirnos Por Libertad

A New Dawn, Fundraising, Kids at Risk -

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are almost here! I’m sure you have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but have you heard of #GivingTuesday? It’s a worldwide movement of generosity celebrated across social media and it is coming up next Tuesday, November 28! We want to kick off the holiday season by inviting everyone to JOIN HANDS FOR FREEDOM for kids with addictions! A child on the streets has a high risk of being trafficked or recruited into a gang. Our New Dawn program is the only live-in treatment option for kids with addictions in El Salvador. Would you consider joining us on or before Giving Tuesday by making a donation of just $25 for New Dawn? How about getting 3 or your friends to do the same! […]

Superheros – Super Héroes

A New Dawn, Holidays, Kids at Risk -

This past Sunday, October 1 was Children’s Day in El Salvador. It’s a special day for kids to have a lot of fun eating treats, dressing up, and enjoying parties just for them! There were 6 kids in El Salvador this year who didn’t make Children’s Day just about them. Those kids were the boys at New Dawn. These are boys who have spent the past months battling addiction. These are boys who have worked through trauma, who have done the hard work of reflection and change. These are boys who were on the streets not that long ago, boys who were on a collision course with disaster. On Sunday, we saw something different. We saw boys baking cookies and making cards. We saw them dress as superheroes and head […]

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