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Little Arly’s arrival at the Micah House wasn’t exactly my idea. In fact, when this twelve year old showed up in January, I had never even met him. His older brothers, Jarvin and Darwin, both long-time residents of the Micah Project, were the brains and the brawn behind Arly’s acceptance into the project. Both had been plotting their brother’s rescue for some time; Arly didn’t know what persistent brothers he has! The brothers, eighteen and twenty-one years old respectively, reestablished contact with Arly several years ago, when they found him in an orphanage in San Pedro Sula, five hours north of Tegucigalpa by bus. Since then, they have visited him a couple times each year, establishing a family contact that could very well have disappeared forever. Last year, Jarvin, one of our high school graduates who is completing his first year of college, began filling out the legal paperwork to get Arly’s custody transferred to the Micah Project. Jarvin spoke with the orphanage director several times and even went before the family court judge to get all the necessary approvals. Finally this January, just before I was to go up to the States for a few days, Arly’s final paperwork came through. He had officially become a Micah boy! Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me that Jarvin and Darwin were so intent on getting their brother into the Micah Project. The fact that they had so little family to speak of in their childhood makes their desire for family that much stronger now. Both young men made the streets their home after their father disappeared and their mother went in and out of jail. The Micah Project was the first real family that Jarvin had when he moved in on our first day of operation in January 2000. Once he discovered how powerful it can be to be a part of a family—even a patchwork one—Jarvin made it his mission to get his brother Darwin off the streets in 2002. Jarvin accompanied Darwin with great determination in his first months at the Micah House as he fought his addiction against yellow glue. And this same instinctive desire to protect and provide for one's family is why both brothers banded together to “adopt” Arly into the Micah family. While Jarvin and Darwin’s dedication throughout this process was amazing, Arly’s attitude has been pretty inspiring as well. Let’s look at this process through the eyes of this twelve year old: two older teens show up every once in a while where he lives claiming to be his brothers. Finally, they come saying that it’s time for him to leave all of his friends, the staff at the orphanage, and even the city in which he grew up to move with them to an entirely new place! He gets on a bus with them, makes the trip to Tegucigalpa, and arrives at the Micah House (much smaller than his orphanage!). He is immediately surrounded by his twelve new brothers, all of whom are older than he is. Though such circumstances would make all of us want to run and hide, Arly started moving in and fitting in all at the same time. By the time I got back from the States just a few days after Arly’s arrival, he already seemed like a Micah Project veteran. This round-faced, quick-to-smile child has already made fast friends (partners in crime?) with Erick and Maycol. He’s one of those people who, upon meeting for the first time, makes you feel like you’ve known them for ages. He still forgets that Jarvin and Darwin are his brothers (he calls Darwin by his last name “Matute”) but, even so, he is already a fixed part of the brotherhood that is the Micah House.
Above: Jarvin picks up Arly (left) at his orphanage in San Pedro Sula. Little did he know, Arly moved into a project that is undergoing many transitions as well. I wish that I could handle transitions as easily and flexibly as Arly handled the uprooting and transplanting of his life! January and February have been months of exciting change at the Micah Project. And while all transitions are scary at first, I believe that these changes at the Micah Project reflect God’s continued blessing and care. The first big transition involved Jeony, the Honduran missionary who has been our ministry coordinator out at the city dump and Villa Linda Miller for the last three years. In February, Jeony was installed as the pastor of the new church at Villa Linda Miller! Since founding Villa Linda Miller after hurricane Mitch in 1999, we have been praying for a pastor to help shepherd these 165 families. Throughout the past year, it has become clear that Jeony is the man for the mission. He established two cell groups in the community for weekly Bible study and worship. He also began a marriage support group for couples that were struggling to stay together. Finally, in December, Jeony moved into our ministry house in Villa Linda Miller with his wife Jesse and their three children. Talk about an incarnational ministry! In mid-February, a group of men from the First Presbyterian Church of Meridian, Mississippi came down to build Jeony and Jesse a permanent home in Villa Linda Miller. While the group was here, over one hundred people gathered in our community center for his installation service as the new pastor. In the most touching moment of the service, Jeony and his family knelt before the crowd while several of us placed our hands on them. At that point, Jeony’s pastor said a prayer of blessing over the church and the ministry that this family was poised to undertake.
In the first couple weeks of Sunday services, it was easy to see Jeony’s passion for this ministry. The church has rented a bus, which stops by the dump every Sunday to pick up families for the service. Because of that, many of the children in our program at the city dump are now able to attend church! On the second Sunday of services, three people went forward and became Christians. We feel that this is just the beginning of a great work that God is going to do through the church at Villa Linda Miller. While the Micah Project will miss Jeony’s daily presence as our ministry coordinator, we are very excited about this new avenue of ministry. We will continue to support Jeony and his family both financially and spiritually while the church gets off the ground. We appreciate your prayers for this new ministry! Another exciting transition has occurred in our Leadership House ministry. In February, we hired a young Honduran couple, Marlon and Nohemi Castellanos, to take over the coordination and operation of the Leadership House, our home for our older participants. Both have been active as leaders in their church for several years, coordinating cell groups and a ministry to newly married couples. Marlon also worked with a program that taught primary education to ex-gang members in a couple of the slums in Tegucigalpa. Additionally, he has been involved in our young men’s lives on an informal level for a couple of years, both as a friend and a role model. Marlon is currently studying in a local seminary. We cannot even express how excited we are that this couple has joined us in ministry. We have long prayed for a couple that can model for our young men what it means to have a God-centered Christian marriage. This young couple has already shown a passion for discipling them and has found an effective balance between parenting the guys and empowering them to make the first important decisions of adulthood. Miguel, Oscar, Danilo, and Edwin are all starting college in the next few months. Marlon and Nohemi will provide them with a sense of security and guidance that they will very much need in this scary new stage in their lives! The arrival of the Castellanos brought yet one other transition to the Micah Project. Becca Haver, our missionary from West Virginia, has been the interim coordinator of the Leadership House for a year and a half. On top of that position, she maintained a full load of responsibilities in her very powerful outreach to the young men of the Micah House. She is a courageous young woman who brings a sense of balance and direction to our project and to our teens who are always moving in twenty different directions at the same time! Because of her steady sense of vision for this project and her passion for discipling these guys, Becca has been asked by the board of directors to take on the role of Assistant Director of the Micah Project. This new title really reflects what she has been doing all along: taking a lead in making sure that this ministry does the best job possible in creating disciples of Jesus Christ. As I mentioned at the beginning of this update, I felt more like a bystander than a participant in the effort to get little Arly into the Micah House. In reality, there is some truth to that in all of these recent transitions! While God calls us to be faithful ministers of his word, it is clear that He, in His sovereign love, brings the right people and resources into our lives in His perfect timing. I give Him praise and glory that he has brought us Becca, Marlon, Nohemi, Jeony, Roger and Jessica to take up this daily challenge of disciple-making! In the same way, I praise God for you all for supporting this effort with your prayers and resources. I praise Him for the approximately 150 of you that will come and work alongside us this year on short term missions trips. I praise Him for those of you that have supported Marvin, Tino and Olvin in St. Louis over that past few months as they continue to adjust to their life and studies at Missouri Baptist University. And, last but definitely not least, I praise God for all of you who may have never met a Micah boy but have felt the call to support them anyway. I hope that all of you understand what a blessing and encouragement you are to us and to these young men! Thank you, friends, for the many ways that you help us to strengthen and grow our little patchwork family! Your brother in Christ, Michael Miller
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