A New Chapter- With Open Arms

- September 21, 2015

We are so excited about the next chapter of our lives here in Brazil. A group of us who have been working together for some years now have set up a new charity called “With Open Arms”. This charity will be exclusively focussed on serving children in need and their families. Our first big goal is to open a girls’ home. Currently in our district of 144,000 people there is no provision of residential care for girls, but there is such a great need! Tragically one of the girls we worked with on the streets was murdered after demanding that her customer pay. She was 14 and her life was worth £3. This new chapter comes with many new challenges but we are excited to be working with a great team.

So after 4 years, our time here in YWAM Recife is coming to an end. These past years have been filled with amazing times for us to see children grow and developed in ways they never thought possible. We have had the honour to see kids come off of the streets and live in Hope house and back into their families. We have seen teenagers in Project Jose turn into men, taking responsibility for their lives, working responsibly; take vocational courses and even going to university. This time has been full of heart ache and challenge as we have seen some children making terrible choices, and we have known 2 of these young lives come to a tragic end. Working here has taken us through some extreme highs and lows! We have learnt so much about the culture, language and ways of doing things here in Recife and we are immensely grateful to YWAM for all they have invested in us and all the opportunities they have given.