Joni’s House Guatemala Brings Hope and Love to Disabled Children
The day Memita was born, doctors told her mother, Debbie, to prepare for her baby girl’s funeral. After a smooth pregnancy, Memita’s birth brought a moment of panic… she was lifeless and breathless—stillborn. Miraculously, doctors revived Memita; but the effects of her traumatic birth left their mark.
Debbie remembers a doctor advising her to take her daughter home to “enjoy her for six months.” Memita wasn’t expected to survive her first year. But God had different plans in store. While she lives with cerebral palsy and microcephaly, for fifteen years, Memita has enjoyed a life full of love.
When Debbie’s husband passed away, she faced a new level of difficulty, doing all she could to care for Memita and her older sister. With limited resources, Debbie has poured out her love, energy, and prayers to help her girls thrive. But finding resources to support Memita and provide for her future felt impossible.
“I always asked God for a school for Memita,” Debbie says.
Because disability is often misunderstood—and even mocked—in local schools, Debbie felt unsafe sending Memita to school. And with disability resources scarce-to-nonexistent, Debbie has fended for her daughters, Marjorie and Memita, alone—battling a despairing cycle of disability and poverty. Their story is shared by many disabled people in Guatemala, which consistently ranks at the bottom in world statistics as far as literacy and nutrition, with a large percentage of people living in poverty.
Joni’s House® offers what children with disabilities in Guatemala rarely receive: education, medical care, physical therapy, and healthy nutrition.
“We address every need… physical, social, economic, and, of course, spiritual.”
Joni’s House Guatemala Crossroads School… an Answer to Prayer!
For years Debbie taught Memita at home and prayed for a school where her daughter could grow and thrive—for teachers who would be kind and patient, and a place where Memita could experience dignity, community, and hope. Then Debbie learned about our Joni’s House Crossroads School, which she calls “a prayer fulfilled!”
Through Joni’s House programs, Memita receives physical therapy, nutrition support, medical help, and Christ-centered education. Most of all, she is treated with love.
“They taught her to dress herself,” Debbie says. “They teach her very well… They have helped her with food. And they help with the doctors, too.”
Little by little, Memita has gained confidence and skills that have amazed her mom.
“I didn’t know that Memita could do many of the things she does,” Debbie says. “I thought she wouldn’t be able to write, or read, or… but now I see that she can!”
Each day Begins with God’s Word!
In every aspect of our Joni’s House school, Jesus Christ remains the center. “I like that they do devotions there, that they can talk about God at all times,” Debbie says. And for Memita, her classmates became more than peers.
“My classmates are family,” Memita says. “You can really feel God’s presence, and it is beautiful.”
Today, Memita loves to share the joy of Christ, especially through leading worship! And when she marked her 15th birthday, which doctors never imagined she would reach, her community from church and Joni’s House held a festive celebration to commemorate her miracle milestone.
And now, Debbie has a message for you…
“I want to say thank you! Thank you for making us moms believe that there is hope for our children. Thank you, Joni’s House, for giving love to our children. Thank you for giving them hope, joy, and an education. You give them love, and you teach them about God. Thank you very much for everything you do for us, and may God multiply all that you do.”
Give Hope to a Mother in Need
Your gift today will multiply God’s good work in the lives of people with disabilities, their families, and their communities!
