A problem with orphans is endemic to most Latin American countries and has a range of causes, many of which we can do little to change without a large-scale paradigm shift under which orphans are seen as potential leaders, not as drains on society (as they are currently viewed by most governments and influential members of developing countries). Nevertheless, we believe that even if the overall situation likely cannot be changed in our lifetime, Jesus Christ still calls his Church to care for orphans and widows with the best resources available — to offer a cup of water to the thirsty. It is in this spirit of obedience, rather than with a desire to fix a problem, that we approach the work of establishing La Providencia Orphanage.

There are a number of models to help orphans. All of them are necessary and all of them have something to offer. At La Providencia, we emphasize prevention (caring for the orphans before they are abused or otherwise scarred by the world), rather than intervention (caring for the orphans after taking them off the streets or out of other negative situations). We believe that we are more able to develop the children’s God-given gifts and talents, and develop them into leaders if we reach them early and build a network of family relationships into their lives, rather than begin with children that have already been hardened by the streets. We therefore bring the orphans and at-risk community children into the orphanage as early as possible (between age 1 and 5) and immediately begin caring for them.

Importantly, we are absolutely not saying that ministries emphasizing the rescue and rehabilitation of street children are wrong or in any way lacking; we are simply saying that our focus is different.

All orphanage models are located somewhere on the spectrum between an institution and an adoptive family. La Providencia locates itself on the family end of the spectrum, by placing the children in homes with seven siblings and parents who commit to them for their entire educational lives (and likely much longer). We realize that this approach requires more resources and will thus mean that we will take fewer orphans than if we used an institutional setting. We intentionally sacrifice quantity for quality, because we believe that it is in the best interests of the children we are able to take. In particular, the family model substantially increases the chance that the children will become societal leaders without attachment disorders and other ills common to children without stable families.

La Providencia will eventually have 24 homes for the children, in addition to a medical center (completed), an elementary school, a high school, a dining hall/multi-purpose facility (completed), a widows’ home, an administrative building, a soccer field, a lake, and all necessary infrastructure.

The family roles are described in more detail below:

Parents – The house parents are arguably the most crucial part of our model. These couples will be around the age of 30 and will raise these children as their own. They must complete an intense interview process before we will allow them to have their own home of children. The parents will be required to have a high school education and are strongly encouraged to receive a college degree as well. The parents will hold jobs in the community or at the orphanage to provide for their needs. They will have the freedom to function as an individual family. Within reason, they will choose which activities they want to attend, what church they want to attend, and how basic household duties are managed.

Grandmothers – Of the 20 elderly widows that have been chosen to live on site, 12 of them will be assigned to the orphan homes as a “grandmother.” They will fulfill the loving, nurturing role of grandmother to all eight orphans in that home.

Uncles, Aunts, & Cousins – All of the workers on site will have the opportunity to receive a few of the children as their nieces or nephews. This in turn would make their wives aunts and their children cousins to the orphans.

In contrast to most orphanages world-wide, La Providencia will provide its children with a classical, liberal arts education that will teach them three different languages, teach them how to play a particular musical instrument, and prepare them for a college education.

Most orphanage models have an agricultural or trade emphasis in relation to their education model, which typically mirrors the main industry or industries in the respective local community. Such models have traditionally produced positive results by providing job training for children leaving the orphanages at age 18. The emphasis is arguably the best option for the majority of children living in intervention models because it provides the best possible solution for children that have not received the proper nutrition, early education, and medical care.

PWM’s research has shown that a preventive model can offer the children much more from an education perspective. Children, on average, will enter our program by age two, and thus will be able to get all necessary tools (e.g., proper nutrition, stable family, proper medical care) to make an academic model reasonable and suitable.

So many orphanages are staffed by well-intentioned foreigners who ultimately act as the children’s mentors and unintentionally encourage the children to dream of leaving their own country in favor of their mentor’s homeland. PWM seeks to avoid such situations by staffing La Providencia with Honduran nationals, with the hope that the children will stay in Honduras after college and bring renewal to the country through the orphan class. If the next generation of Honduran orphans are leaders in society, a major step will be taken toward changing the culture’s preconceptions about orphans.

Each of the workers on site at La Providencia has been chosen for their skill level as well as their character and desire to serve God. We do this because ultimately we want these workers to be involved in the lives of the children and in many ways provide more “family members.”

This unique aspect of our model led us to require that all workers have at least a high school education. We also encourage them to attain further degrees. To the extent they have not finished high school, all workers return to the grade they last attended and continue until graduation. PWM pays for one-half of each worker’s education. And if they maintain a B average, they are reimbursed for the other 50% upon completion of high school.

Another reason for PWM’s policy of staffing La Providencia with Hondurans is that the workers and their families will be very involved in the lives of the children and we want them to feel more like family and not outsiders. Additionally, by providing work for local Hondurans, we will provide jobs for local community members, which provide better living not only for them, but also for their families, those they support, and the community. The policy further will likely result in continued positive relationships between La Providencia and the local community.

PWM’s vision is that the children, in addition to their family group, will experience the providence of the Lord through the unconditional support and care of an extended family. Other than the grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins, such support will come through Advocate Sponsors (for more information on sponsoring a child, click here). Each child will be sponsored by a team of six individuals or families who pray together and give monthly support for the child. The child will not be informed that he or she is being financially sponsored by Advocate Sponsors, but relationships between the children and their sponsors are encouraged through visits to La Providencia. During such visits, the sponsors will not be introduced to their child as a “sponsor,” but simply as a friend visiting the site. Such protections ensure that the children will never feel the burden of keeping supporters involved or be open to the risk of feeling abandoned if the sponsors drop their support for any reason.

TODO: Have the link go to the page describing the widows’ home.

Though there is nothing wrong with sustainability, PWM believes that, as an organization, stewardship should be its primary focus. As a result, PWM strives to not only create self-sustaining children, but to be good stewards of what the Church gives by dedicating 100% of sponsorship funds to developing the children beyond current cultural expectations. Further, to the extent a donor requests such treatment, PWM dedicates 100% of all earmarked funds to the requested area (e.g., specific buildings, overhead). PWM is able to do this by raising and administering all of the administrative and other program costs separately.

Sustainability is indicative of someone burying their talents in the dirt when they should be multiplying them. PWM believes that the Church should be investing in the kingdom rather than simply maintaining its temporary home. As part of its stewardship approach, PWM hopes to promote an investment mentality rather than one that just spends and sustains.

Unlike most other organizations, PWM also seeks to share information with the orphan care community around the world. Orphan care has, as a culture, been known not to share what it knows. PWM is not sure why this is the case, but by in large, it is. PWM believes that there are healthy ways to share information without compromising the whole. It also believes that the parts are stronger only when more of the whole is equally well-informed.

Knowing that La Providencia and other orphanages are only going to be able to aid a small portion of the growing orphan population, we must attempt other ways, such as adoption, to provide help for the remaining orphan population. As a result, PWM advocates for open (i.e., international) adoption in Honduras and eventually throughout the world. We have been working on opening Honduras to international adoption for several years and there are currently five pilot families in the adoption process. Through these pilot adoptions, we will be able to work with the Honduran government to improve the process so that Honduran children can be received into safe, dependable, and loving families domestically and abroad. Once we have a successful program in place, we hope to lobby for similar systems in all Latin American countries and around the world.

In the current “database” used by the Honduran government to track the Honduran orphan population, workers sporadically input data when a child initially becomes an orphan. After the initial data entry, however, the information is basically lost. Nobody conducts any follow up visits, status checks, or anything to track the well-being of the child. As we continue working closely with the government and orphanage programs, we are looking to introduce software programs that will allow them to more efficiently manage the orphans of Honduras. To view more information on the software programs, click here.