End of the Year
I hope that you enjoyed wonderful Christmas celebrations with those you love. May we each experience the full measure of God’s more than sufficient grace in 2022.
My deepest gratitude is owed to the precious few of you who faithfully, and generously, partner with Laughing Child for the glory of God and the healing of children. You bless and inspire me everyday.
What a journey in His mission we have shared! We transformed a jungle into Camp Laughing Child through years of sacrificial prayer, blood, sweat, and many tears. Our faithful God kept us through every difficult stage of development. Finally, by His grace, countless miracles happened in the lives of hurting families in that healing place. I believe that our history is a story of faith-wrenching “daily bread” dependence on God’s grace. It is certainly not a tale of ministry happening according to plan.
You may remember that we initially intended to only host special needs children. Our first camps were being planned for children living with cancer and HIV. Within the first few planning meetings with their care-givers we learned that the parents/guardians were not willing to send their kids to camp by themselves. However, they were willing to accompany them to camp. Furthermore, we would be required to host the siblings of their special needs children as well. To my dismay, it would be necessary for Camp Laughing Child to double in size before the first camp could happen. I remember feeling gut-punched—oh me of little faith. Little did I understand… expanding the Camp to include whole families would prove to be God’s awesome plan “A” from the very start!
Through our 5 years of hosting family-camp adventures, we discovered more and more of God’s heart for these families, and of their deep needs for Him. Focused ministries, to the parents/guardians and to the brothers and sisters of these special needs children, became central to our mission. It is from this unexpected refinement and expansion of our vision that our current ministry is based.
As you know, a combination of extreme regional violence and the sweeping Covid-19 pandemic have ended our camp-based adventures. However, please hear that our ministry of providing healing adventures for these families has not ended! As a matter of fact, I cannot remember a time that I have felt more excited about the future of our ministry in Mexico City. We have seriously ramped-up the development of two multi-session workshops thanks to the brilliant and tireless work of our awesome Field Director Dr. Olivia. She has brought another incredible asset to our team for the development and implementation of our workshop experiences for parents/guardians and siblings of special needs children. Please welcome Dr. Judith. She is a gifted psychologist who led a women’s retreat at Camp Laughing Child many years ago. We are honored that she has agreed to lead the development of these crucial workshops and community support organizations with Dr. Olivia. They are a dream team for which I am beyond grateful. Please pray for them as they serve with such love and dedication.
Thank you for agreeing with Father for His loving will to unfold through Laughing Child in 2022. The development and implementation of these crucial workshops will have life-changing relevance for some of the most overlooked and under-served families in the world. I believe with all my heart that these powerful (Gospel-rich) programs can be given away to churches and care institutions around the world to raise awareness of, and compassionate ministries for, poor families facing terminal illnesses. Bless you for caring and sharing as you do.
You are doing something beautiful through Laughing Child!
Warmly,
shane
