Hey Everyone!

Two NEW and AWESOME videos have been added to the Photos/Videos page!  You can also see them on COTL’s Official Non-Profit YouTube Page! One is a really sweet video of a former resident at COTL (but forever our brother) Pedrito singing a traditional song for Maynor (behind the camera) and Ramon (on the hammock), with Ruben. Do you recognize the tune?  The second is a video Maynor made of life around the project, including Jesus, Noe, Michael, and volunteers Isa and Mike.

We hope these glimpses into the lives of the boys at COTL will give you all a better understanding of what happy, thoughtful, intelligent boys we call our brothers.

If these videos speak to you, do not hesitate to contact me for individual or group Sponsorship opportunities.

Love to you all!

Genna

With a new surge in protests in the nation’s largest cities comes news of several deaths in relation.  Reportedly, Honduran authorities shot dead an 18-year-old man in San Pedro Sula.  Click HERE to read the full article, and see the excerpt below.

Now, more than ever, Children of the Light needs your support in fundraising, advocacy or prayers, to ensure the safety and protection of our brothers during this time of political unrest.  If you are so inclined, consider making a donation through Network For Good, or contacting me about fundraising ideas and opportunities for your school, religious or local community.

With Love,

Genna

Several reported dead in Honduras turmoil

25 September 2009

The Honduran authorities must immediately halt their “repressive” response to a week of violent political unrest that left five people reportedly killed, Amnesty International has said.

Police are alleged to have shot dead an 18-year-old man in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday. Four more deaths have been reported in the capital Tegucigalpa amid widespread demonstrations against the de facto authorities.

“The de facto authorities must put an immediate halt to these repressive tactics and commit to respecting fundamental human rights,” said Susan Lee, Amnesty International’s Americas Director.

There has been a sharp rise in police beatings, mass arrests of demonstrators and intimidation of human rights defenders since the return to Honduras on Monday of deposed President Manuel Zelaya, who was expelled from the country in a coup in June.

There are reports that protestors have been shot by security forces. A 65-year-old man died of gunshot wounds during a demonstration in Tegucigalpa. The circumstances of three more reported deaths in the capital remain unclear.  Continued…

An update from Bill, Mary & the Children of the Light Family for the month of May 2009!

(Click to Enlarge)

A New and Important Update From Bill and Mary Spanning the First Four Months of 2009!

An Update From Cindy & Her Family!

May, 2009

Buenes Dias,

Como estan?  We trust you’re all doing well.   We are settling into a more normal life that now includes furniture and belongings.  We feel so richly blessed to be allowed to enjoy these luxuries and remind ourselves often not to simply take them for granted.

Please excuse us for being out of touch for the past two or so weeks.  Our computer decided to take a vacation and we had to take it in for overhaulin’.   Sorry for any emails that were redundant or have gone unanswered.  It was quite a mess and is taking a while to get straightened out, to put it mildly.

We had a very nice visit last month from Michael’s parents.  They came for two weeks and got to see firsthand what life in Honduras is really like.  Alex and Natasha really enjoyed their time with Grandma and Grandpa and really miss them now.  One of the fun things Alex got to do for the first time here was play golf again.  Wow, was he excited!   Natasha got to play with Grandma every morning, while I was teaching English at the school.  She loved the extra attention.  The day Michael and Natasha drove to San Pedro Sula to pick them up at the airport, there was a teachers’ strike.  (I forgot to get in on the fun!)  They had blocked off a bridge that they needed to cross.  These strikes can go on for most of the day, so Michael set off trying to find another way across the river.  Some guys helped them find a way to forge through the river and then they had to drive through some fields to get back onto the main road again.  With lots of help from the locals and tearing off part of the front bumper, they were back on their way to the airport. 

Last weekend was very special for us.  We were able to spend the weekend back on the island of Utila !  A friend of ours there was nice enough to let us stay in her house while she was away.  We got to revisit some of our favorite spots and snorkel again on the beautiful reef.  It was a much needed time to relax and have some down time together as a family.  There are always so many kids around, that there are times we don’t give our own two children the attention they need.  This was an “undivided attention” kind of a trip for both of them and was just what the doctor ordered.  God knew and provided and we thank Him immensely.  

We wish all you mothers a very blessed Mother’s Day!

With all our love,

Michael, Cindy, Alexander and Natasha 

May 7, 2009

Around 5:30pm, we get a phone call from the Boy’s home; they said Marquitos broke his arm! The Lord knew that would happened, Michael Erb was at the Project giving a tour to his friend, he brought Marquitos to our house and from there we went to the Hospital. 

We arrived at the private hospital at 6:00pm. All of our boys get out patient services at no charge. They take care of the kids but there are some exceptions in what they can do for them, one of the exceptions is no surgery of any kind, no hospitalization, etc.

We went to the Emergency room; as soon as the Doctor saw him he said this boy needs surgery. My heart went crazy…what do we do? They gave him a shot for pain and needed to wait for the technician that will take X-rays, he showed up around 8:30pm. Our boy is calm. The X-rays showed his arm is badly broken.

Now we had to wait for the Orthopedic, he was mean person. It was all business for him and nothing else.  

The Doctor said we needed to take him to the public Hospital; you do not want to go there believe me. I called Bill and asked: can I use the credit card and pay for his attention here? He goes of course, you don’t want to take him to the public hospital. I started asking about how much it will be. They said the first procedure to try to put his bone back is about ten thousand Lempiras, about $530 but you need to leave a deposit of $800.00. Shocking for us but the credit card can take that and more. If the first procedure does not work we will have to operate; how much is that, about  $3,200. 

I asked to call the Administrator, a nice woman; the Orthopedic looks at me like they won’t do it for free. I talked to her, she said they can cover the first procedure, it’s the surgery that we can’t. Right away my faith built up more than ever and got the courage to be firm and said to the Doctor, we trust Him, no one else.

We had the faith, Marquitos will be fine with the first procedure, but the Doctors did not. The orthopedic asked if we were sure we wanted to take the risk, I said HE is in control. 

I went back to the room were Marquitos was, I tried to explain to Michael what I just went through and broke down in tears, I could not talk. After a few minutes I was able to talk and told Michael what happened and asked him if he would pray with Marquitos. 

We (Michael Erb & Mary) prayed over Marquitos, as I was saying Lord take control of this Doctor’s hands…someone open the door behind us, I believe it was the Orthopedic, we continue praying, they close the door.

They took Marquitos to the operating room, he needed anesthesia, and the Doctor did not even look at us and went in. Twenty minutes later he comes back as a nice person and said it worked 70% and that is good for me he said. I looked at him with a big smile and said Praise the Lord I knew He would do it, thank you Doctor, God bless you. Michael drove Marquitos and I to our house at midnight. 

If you will have faith as a little mustard seed, you will tell that mountain move and the mountain will move”. Thank you JESUS… 

Please continue to pray for all of us, thank you for your love, commitment and support. 

Love to you all, 

The family of Niños de la Luz 

Mary Kwiatkowski

An Update From Cindy & Her Family!

April 7, 2009

Good morning!

As I write to you this morning, I am sitting on our newly arrived old sofa! We praise the Lord for the safe arrival of our worldly belongings. The container was delivered to our house on April 2nd, Alex’s Birthday. He made the statement, “I bet nobody ever got this many presents for their Birthday!” He’s probably right. Many, many thanks to all of you that helped with the 10 month long project of getting these things here to Honduras. We really appreciate all the time and energy you spent on us.

Sunday, as we sat in church with the boys, I was overwhelmed by many emotions. I looked around with such a sense of joy and love for these precious boys. At the same time there was a feeling of great responsibility to be godly role models. How is it possible that we, Michael and I, could possibly ever be this? The answer is only with God’s gentle Hand on us, teaching and guiding us through every day. We need His wisdom more than ever as we try to nurture and encourage these young boys and men. We are working on our Spanish as much as possible. Our hope is to someday be able to speak more clearly from our hearts about God’s loving kindness and His mercy.

This week is Holy Week and here in Honduras everything comes to a halt.. Almost no stores or businesses are open. We’re already experiencing an increase traffic, as people travel to visit their families. There is no school either, which we’re all enjoying! (Normally we would have to leave the house by 6:45am.) We’ll celebrate Easter dinner all together at the boys’ home. Sardines are what is traditional here. Our plans for the week include trips to the beach and the rivers with everybody. It’s always a blast!

We finished up the first World Championship soccer tournament of Children of the Light. Alex’s team won and they will be going to the movies with Michael. They were very excited and proud! I included a picture of the teams praying before the championship game and one of the winning team..

We wish you all a very special Easter. May God use this time of celebration to draw you into a closer relationship with Him.

Easter Blessings,

Michael, Cindy, Alexander and Natasha 

An Update From Cindy & Her Family!

March 1, 2009

Greetings from Honduras!

We praise God for His many blessings as we continue to see God’s hand here in Ceiba!

The school year is off to a good start for Alex, the boys and for me as well. Friday evening we had an open house for the school. It was nice to get to meet the parents of the students in our school. Books for the English classes are on backorder and we won’t be able to get them this year, so I am using the teacher’s guide and making my own worksheets. We have 4 volunteers from different countries that work at the project and school and they are a big help. We have some exciting news on the container front. At the end of this week our belongings should be loaded from the storage unit into the container. Praise God for His provision of funds and thank you all for your contributions and prayers. We are not sure how long it may take for the container to arrive, but the process has at least begun.

The container from Bradenton full of school supplies finally arrived for the school. It was so exciting to see the classrooms newly outfitted with desks and chairs and other supplies. We have been truly blessed! When I signed off on the paperwork for the delivery, I noticed it was originally dated Nov. 2007! Wow!

Something I never expected but that is quite touching and worth mentioning is the affect Natasha has on some of the older and more hard to reach boys. She will unabashedly climb up on their lap or play with their hair or hold their hand. Surprisingly they respond with a rare smile or even sometimes a laugh. God is using this little girl in a special way to reach into the hearts of some of our more toughened guys.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with the boys at the beach along with a group of Norwegians, who have come to help at the project. It was gorgeous, breezy and the ocean was a beautiful Caribbean blue. Sadly this is the last week of my mom’s visit. She will be traveling back to Charlotte on Friday. We will all miss her, but especially Alex and Natasha. They have really enjoyed her reading to them and playing with them.

I’d like to close with a verse that means more and more to me as time goes on. It’s found in Jeremiah 29:11. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’ This is our prayer for you. Thank you all for the many ways you have blessed us. May God’s peace and blessing be on you and your families.

Sincerely,

Michael, Cindy, Alex and Natasha

Click the Images to View the New COTL Newsletter!  Happy New Year Everyone!

An Update From Cindy & Her Family!

This was a newsletter sent by Cindy Erb and her family, who live in La Ceiba and work with COTL.  This is also posted under the ‘Newsletters’ section of the website.  Pray for Cindy and her family that the New Year will bring far fewer challenges than 2008 did!

NOVEMBER  NEWSLETTER  2008

Dear friends and family,

It has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. Where should I start? God has seen us through a difficult patch and we thank Him. Oct. 20th we went into La Ceiba to pay our rent. The roof had been leaking a fair amount and we mentioned it to the rental company.

The landlord and another man came out that week to take a look and the man fell through our roof and ended up landing on the ceiling in our bedroom! There were some other major holes in the roof as well, thus the leaking. They put down some tarps and left saying they would decide how to fix it… Well, that night was the beginning of a tropical storm blowing through and we got soaked to put it mildly. There was a river running down our stairs.. We packed our stuff as quickly as possible and moved to Bill and Mary’s house. We left the dogs behind to look after the house. One morning when we stopped by the house to feed the dogs, we noticed Akela, our male Doberman, staggering around the yard. Upon closer inspection we saw the house had been broken into and a bag of bread laced with something bad had been thrown to the dogs. Tinkerbell, our female Doberman, didn’t seem to have eaten any of the poison, thank God. There were big splashes of blood on the driveway, which the vet later confirmed were not from the dogs. I guess whoever stopped by got torn up fairly well by the dogs and was probably quite angry upon entering the house to see it empty and full of water. We rushed Akela to the vet. He was given 2 injections of who knows what and 2 bags of IV fluids and he has fully recovered! We spent about a week looking for a different house. Finally we found a tiny one in Bill and Mary’s neighborhood and have moved in there. The first time we turned on the water to this house the pipe under the kitchen sink burst apart and flooded the kitchen. Yes, I burst into tears! Michael had taken Alex to school and I was home alone. I ran next store to get help and the construction workers there came to my aid. They repaired that pipe and 2 others that day, one of which was under the foundation. We now have water, at least during the times when it is available.

Although we weren’t very happy that week, coming out to the boys’ home and getting a dozen hugs and looking into their big brown eyes was a constant reminder of how good we have it and what our true purpose is here. As Thanksgiving approaches, I think of just how blessed we are. I remember writing to you all a year ago to tell you of our Honduran plans. What a year it has been and look what God has done! To Him be all the glory, praise and honor! Thank you all for your faithfulness, prayers and constant support. You are a major part of this ministry, probably more than you realize… Thank you! 

In God’s hands, 

Cindy, Michael, Alex and Natasha