Dear friends and family, I started a blog! Now a blog is very much out of my element but I will strive to have it reflect what I am doing for the next two or so years to better share with you what I'm up to. I have been lucky over the past four years to go to a school where I have been challenged to grow in my intellect, spirituality and concern for the world. After much discernment and a commitment to social justice I have developed in my time at Notre Dame. I have committed the spending the next 27 months living and working at The Farm of the Child children’s home in Honduras. If you found yourself on this page, then I welcome you share in my next journey and I would love to ask for your support in this new venture!
The Farm of the Child is a small, Catholic orphanage which seeks to respond to the poverty and underdevelopment of Honduras by providing loving, family-style homes for children left orphaned, abused, or abandoned. Volunteers such as myself join with Franciscan Sisters and members of the Honduran community to serve as teachers, social workers, community organizers, and in a variety of other positions. After continued prayer and discernment, I feel God is calling me to live out my gratitude for all I have been given through a long-term volunteer commitment to the Farm and its children. I am incredibly excited for this opportunity, but I know that I cannot fulfill the Farm’s mission alone, and I ask that you might consider supporting my work in one or more of the following ways:
First, I invite you to find out more about the Farm and its mission by visiting our website at www.farmofthechild.org. The “Mission Statement” (under the “Our Mission” link) and “Video Footage” (under the “scrapbook” link) are two good places to start!
Secondly, I ask that you might hold the work of the Farm, my fellow volunteers and myself in your prayers over the next two and a half years. The commitment we undertake is challenging, but grace abounds, and the prayers of those we love from home allow our mission to become something larger than just ourselves.
Lastly, but significantly - as part of my volunteer commitment, I have agreed to raise just over $11,000 to pay for my expenses during my 27 month term of service to the Farm of the Child. By fundraising to cover my costs while living at the Farm, I will be able to provide services that the children desperately need without putting further strain on the already struggling local economy. If you are in a position to make a financial contribution, either one-time or periodic, the attached donation form explains how to do so. Even a dollar or two for each month of my volunteer commitment is significant – every bit helps! The Farm is a U.S. 501 (c) 3 non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible. I have enclosed a budget explaining how the funds I raise will be used.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to share the Farm’s mission with you, and eager to share with you the good work being done there. I get more excited each day before I head out, there is so much to do still! Expect a lot of stories, musings, and especially lots of pictures of all the wonderful kids. I hear that it is beautiful there too, so I will be compelled to take a lot of pictures. I welcome your thoughts and questions as I begin my journey! Please be in touch!
Paz,
David Rivera
No comments:
Post a Comment