Geppeto's Workshop in Mexico...Building Dreams

Apart from my ministry here at AMOR I am invovled in a Sunday School ministry at a Child Abuse Center in San Diego. Here are a few testimonies... Due to the fact that these kids are under child protective services there names have been changed and no pictures are posted (except the ones of Tito and his helpers). Any pictures shown are from children that I have ministered to outside the center. I walked into the gym where we hold our services. There was a feeling of anticipation. Then in neat rows the children filed in. As they took their seats their faces said it all. Their little eyes showed the pain that they have endured in the few years that they ahve been alive. Teens in the back row with hoods over their heads not wanting to show their depressed faces. Little ones holding each other's hands for comfort afraid that if they let go someone will take them away again. This is the center for abused, neglected and abandoned children of San Diego. This Center houses them temporarily until the next kin, foster families or their immediate families can take them in. The ages range from 4 days old to 17 years old. My puppets and I with a group of faithful volunteers come to bring light to what always is a dark situation. We start by welcoming them and congratulating them for coming (they come by their own choosing they are neither prompted or encouraged to go to Sunday School). Then we worship together with song, prayer & testimonies. Just two weeks ago a teen girl bravely stepped forward to share about what God was doing in her life. She didn't hesitate to begin to share how God used her. I don't know her story...I don't know why she was at the center...All I know is that she bodly told of God's great works! She shared that the washing machine that they use in their cottage was out of order. So they all needed to go to another cottage to wash their clothes. Unfortunately, that washing machine was occupied so again they went to another cottage. There this teen girl met a little girl who has autism. The staff taking care of the little one was trying to connect with her but was not successful. It was only a moment but the teen said that the little girl locked eyes with her and she noticed that they connected. The teen opened her arms and invited the little girl for a hug. The staff said, "Oh, I don't think you'll get a hug from her. She is very distant". The miracle was that the child ran to the teen and fell into her arms. Everyone was shocked. The teen played with the little girl awhile and invited the little girl outside to play. The staff told her that has not been outside since she arrived. She told her that the little girl was afraid of the security guards on patrol in the center. She relates them with the policemen that took her mother away. The teen was not discouraged. She gently stretched out her hand to the little girl and encouraged her to follow. The little one took her hand and slowly stepped outside. While outside the teen noticed that the little girl stepped out of her prison into freedom. The teen mentioned that it was a "Higher Power" that brought her there to be with this little girl. She said, "It wasn't by chance that our washing machine broke and there was no other machine to use except the one where this little girl was". Yes, I believe so too. It wasn't by chance, but by God's divine appointment!