Between 2002 and 2004, I visited an orphanage in San Salvador, El Salvador four times. La Casa de mi Padre (My Father's House) was founded in May 2002 and currently rents two homes on adjoining property in Colonia San Francisco, San Salvador. Each home, one for girls and one for boys, has a houseparent couple who models a loving, Christian family. The two homes can now serve up to 37 children.

The picture at the right is of me playing guitar on one of my trips. That's what I mostly did there - played music and sang with the kids.

The little boy behind me is Alejandro. He was a sweet child who loved to run and play with the other kids - and he was always interested in my guitar. But on my last trip there in 2004, the workers at the orphanage had grown very worried about Alejandro. He had become withdrawn and was misbehaving at school. He had grown very thin. When I saw him, it seemed pretty obvious that he was severely depressed. All he wanted to do was sleep.

The one thing that seemed to get him out of his shell a bit was my guitar. So, toward the end of my last visit, I got the crazy idea that Alejandro needed a guitar of his own. Something that was uniquely his, that he did not have to share with all the other orphans, unless he wanted to. So I went on a trip around town to find Alejandro his guitar. 

When he came home from school that day, he went to his top bunk in the room he shared with all of the boys in the orphanage, just like he did every day. But that day, when he got to his bed, he found a bright, shiny, brand new guitar. "Es para ti," I said. "Es tuyo." It's for you. It's yours.

He was very excited. He even smiled. I cried. A lot.

Fast forward five years to March 2009. I had lunch with my friends Aubrey and Esther Knight, who help run My Father's House International. Aubrey (Dr. Knight) had just returned from visiting La Casa de mi Padre. As we sat there catching up, he informed me that Alejandro was not only still playing guitar, but he was leading worship for the house devotions at the orphanage. I burst into tears. See the picture above left; that's Alejandro and his guitar today.

In 2005 La Casa purchased a 28-acre farm in Santo Tomas. This is located just 10 miles outside of San Salvador, one mile off the highway to the airport. This farm will provide a permanent location that is conducive to optimally serving the children. The land will allow La Casa to provide healing and hope for up to 80 children with the following assets: eight children’s homes, on-site school, counseling building, food storage building, missionary and staff housing, guest lodge, pavilion, and playgrounds.

The work going on at La Casa is life-changing for the orphans who end up there. While I have not been back since 2004, I have stayed in close touch with several of my friends at My Father's House International, a wonderful organization devoted to serving orphans.

If you have ever thought about God's mandate throughout the Bible to care for orphans and wondered "What can I do?" have I got an opportunity for you! No one is feeling the effects of the current economic crisis more than non-profit organizations that rely on people's generosity to make ends meet. Would you consider making a donation to La Casa?

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