Life in Casa Samuel

My time here at Casa Bernabe is almost over. I have just two and a half weeks left. In some ways this time has flown by, but at the same time I feel like I have been here for forever and I can't wait to be back home with my family.

So much has happened with me so here are some pictures to sum up my life over the past six months. ^_^

                 

Our many crazy activities.

      

Fun at the pool. 

Hanging out.

Both of my families together at the zoo.

Thank you for all your prayers! 

Casa Samuel

Sorry it has been so long since I posted!

I got to Casa Bernabe on May 31^st, but I decided to wait a while before writing a blog entry for a couple different reasons. First, I wanted to get used to everything here, but now I am always so busy and tired. Second, for a while it was REALLY hard for me to be here. I didn't want to write about how hard everything was without having any good news, but things are going better now so I figured it is a good time to write. 

Originally, I had asked to be in one of the girls’ houses here, but I was contacted a while back and asked if I would be willing to be in a boys’ house. I almost said no because I didn't want to be in a boys’ house. But as I was responding to the email, I felt like God said, “Wait. Let’s talk about this before you give an answer.” So I stopped and prayed. God showed me that I was being selfish. I wanted to be in a girls’ house just because I wanted to and I would feel more comfortable there, but God reminded me that I was not coming to work in the orphanage for me. I am here for the kids and I am here to help Casa Bernabe. So after talking with God for a while, I responded and told them that I would be willing to be wherever they needed the most help… so now I am in Casa Samuel. It is the house for boys between the ages of 5 and 8 (we have one 3 year old because his brother is in our house and they didn't want to split them up).

After being here for just a few hours, I knew that this house needed help so for that reason, I am glad to be here. There are 14 boys living in Casa Samuel now. If you know boys at this age, you understand how they can be sometimes… I think the best word to best describe them is crazy. But imagine 14 of those boys all together… all the time. Here it isn’t just crazy, it is completely insane! Some of the phrases I hear most often in this house from the boys are “He hit me!”, “He pushed me!”, “That’s mine!”, and LOTS of screaming followed by at least one of the following responses from the adults: “Careful!”, “Don’t hit!”, “Don’t push!”, “Give it to me!”, “Go to your room!” “Time out!”, and “Be quiet!” which is almost always followed with more screaming. Most of the time it is the child screaming, but occasionally it is one of us adults. ;)

Boys of Casa Samuel

I have to keep reminding myself that these boys have come from very difficult situations and they have gone through a lot, but while I know it is hard for them, they still need to learn to listen and learn how to correctly interact with others. I was talking to one of the other American girls here and we were discussing how difficult it can be to balance certain things here. We need to be firm with the kids, but we also need to show them that we love them. This is really hard for me because the boys are constantly testing me. They want to know how far they can go before I will punish and then they take the punishment to mean that I don’t love them. In those moments, I have to ask God to give me love for them and to help me demonstrate that love to them because in those moments I personally don’t feel much love for them and to be completely honest, I don’t want to love them. I know that God put me here and that he is going to use me to touch these boys' lives, but it is hard to see it at times.

My temporary family! ♥

On a positive note, I love the house parents and my roommate (the other helper in the house). They have all been so helpful and they treat me like family. I would not have been able to even make it this long without them. There are also many other people here at the orphanage who I am getting to know. They have been so helpful to me and constantly encourage me to keep going. 

There are a few things I could use prayer for: 

• That God will do a lot in me and through me while I am here! 
• I could really use prayer that I will have wisdom with how to handle situations with the boys. They don't listen to me and they don't respect me. I don't know how to earn their respect and I don't know how to make them listen. It is just REALLY hard!
• My Spanish is getting better, but I still need a lot of practice. My house parents speak a lot of English so I find myself always using English with them instead of trying to speak Spanish. I have to use Spanish with the boys, but they don't like to talk to me much. 
• I am having trouble finding time to spend with God. I have early mornings and long, tiring days so I end up sleeping for a lot of my breaks. I need to manage my time more wisely and prioritize devotion time because that is so important! 

Thank you so much for your prayers and I will try to do better at updating more regularly! 

Krishauna Fulp

Time Flies

In about two weeks I will be heading off to Casa Bernabe!

I have been meaning to do another blog post for a few weeks now, but things have been kinda crazy so this is just a quick update. Here is some of what has been going on recently:

• My sister, Teisha, left to go back to the U.S. to work for the summer and then she will be heading to New York to go to Bible school for two years.
• I had some dental work done poorly which ended up turning into almost two weeks of pain and now I am four wisdom teeth short. On the bright side, we now have one dentist we can recommend and one that we know to stay away from. ;)
• I have been doing lots of school work, but I am now in the final week of the class!
• We are starting to have teams coming from the U.S. so that is keeping us all busy.
• We just got word that our group home should be opening any time now… that means we are finishing up some last minute things before kids start showing up!
• And on top of all that, I have been trying to get things ready for my move to Casa Bernabe.

The next couple weeks involve me doing some shopping, packing, getting together with friends, celebrating Brittney’s birthday, and spending time with the family. I am planning on doing a better update after I am at Casa Bernabe for a little bit. I will make sure to post lots of pictures and give a more exciting update! 

Upcoming Plans

I have lived here in Guatemala for a little over two years now so you would think that my Spanish would be decent, but that isn’t the case. Between doing online college classes at home, living so close to Antigua which is a huge tourist area, and having sisters who have picked up on Spanish very quickly, I haven’t been forced to learn and use Spanish as much as you would think. I have taken lessons and I know a lot of information, but applying that to real situations is extremely hard for me. I am extremely timid and even afraid to speak Spanish so I let my sisters do the talking whenever possible.

For a while now, I have been looking into options that would force me to use what I know and push me to learn more. I talked to some different friends of ours about trying to find a host family for me to live with, but it wasn't working out and I kind of gave up on that idea. I have hit a point in my schooling where I need to observe in special education classrooms, but my Spanish needs to be better in order to do so. This prompted me to start looking into more possibilities. That was when my mom remembered about Casa Bernabe.

Casa Bernabe is an orphanage that my parents had visited before we moved. I found the website for the orphanage and wrote some emails to see if it would even be a possibility for me to get involved. We scheduled a visit to see the campus and to learn more about how I could help.

The orphanage has close to 100 kids that are living there now, but it is set up in seven different homes. There is a baby house, a toddler house, two girls’ houses with a variety of ages, and three boys’ houses split up by age. Each of these houses has a set of house parents and a helper that live in the home with the kids (the number of kids in each house varies).

     

I absolutely love it there! After working it all out with my school and the orphanage, it has been decided that I am going to move in on May 31^st and be there for about six months which would have be back home right before Thanksgiving. Over this time, I will be taking a break from my classes so that I will be able to focus on Spanish and just getting to do ministry and be involved in the lives of the children there at the orphanage.

I am going to be living in one of the girls’ homes as a helper. This means that I will be like a big sister (so not a whole lot different than at home). I will be helping with all kinds of things from helping the girls get ready in the mornings to helping clean the house to helping with homework in the afternoon as well as other odds and ends throughout the day.

School and soccer field

There is also a school at the orphanage so I am planning to help out there a few days a week. They don’t have a special education teacher, but there is a teacher who works one on one with some of the kids who have learning disabilities. They said that I can help that teacher out, help in some of the regular classes, or I could teach English class because their English teacher is leaving. I will have every other weekend off, but other than that, my time off would be during school hours so I am praying about what all I should be involved in during that time.

I am just so excited for this opportunity to be involved in children’s ministry while also getting the chance to work on my Spanish. I know that this is going to be a great opportunity for me to grow and learn. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in and through me throughout my time there.

Praise: I asked for a deal on the financial part of it and they have accepted the offer because my family and I are already missionaries here so that is a huge praise!

Prayer: 

…that I will have a smooth transition into the home

…that Spanish will come naturally and that I will be bold and confident when using it

…that God will show me how much He wants me to be involved in the school (I want to be involved, but school time would be my time off so I don’t want to be too overwhelmed)

…that I will be a positive influence on the girls in the home 

Krishauna Fulp 

Unpredictable

By Francesca Battistelli

Got my thoughts, I got my words

Got this head full of answers

Got you wrapped up

Got you under control

See my future like the past behind me

I think I know where You’re leading

Don’t need no questions

Don’t need no rocking the boat

But I just forget all the mystery

I just forget who you are

When I know that I know

What You have down the road

When I’m sure that

I’ve figured You out

Help me see that I’m small

That I can’t know it all

‘Cause You’re so unpredictable

‘Cause You’re so unpredictable

You said the foolish

Would shame the wise

To put my faith

In what’s beyond my eyes

And to believe You

I have to come as a child

So help me to rest in the mystery

Of what I can’t understand

When I know that I know

What You have down the road

When I’m sure that

I’ve figure You out

Help me see that I’m small

That I can’t know it all

‘Cause You’re so unpredictable

Can’t wrap my mind around You

Can’t put You in a box

Can’t keep You safely contained, no

You’re gonna move the way

You wanna move today

Just let me follow along

When I know that I know

What You have down the road

When I’m sure that

I’ve figured You out

Help me see that I’m small

That I can’t know it all

When I know that I know

What You have down the road

When I’m sure that

I’ve figured You out

Help me see that I’m small

That I can’t know it all

‘Cause You’re so unpredictable

‘Cause You’re so unpredictable

You’re unpredictable