I love that our culture has, in recent years, adopted this habit of giving as a response to Thanksgiving, a day when we take time to reflect on all we are thankful for. I don’t know if it began as a counter to the ugly side of Black Friday, which causes us to think of all the things we want on the day after we just gave thanks for all the things we have, but it’s refreshing. If you are someone who desires to be purposeful about donating on Giving Tuesday, we’d be honored if you would consider supporting Abby’s Garden.
We hope you all had a great day of Thanks, whether it was spent with family or friends, near or far. I shared with my family how I am thankful that Abby’s Garden is doing really well. My trip in October was so encouraging; it gives me much joy to see how the kids are so well-loved and cared for. Divina (our director) and the other women do such a great job and have excellent “systems” in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly, which is absolutely necessary now that we have 17 children currently attending Abby’s Garden, with five more set to join us in the next few months. We are still praying about whether we should extend the flooring and the roof of the backyard patio, in order to increase usable space at the location we are currently in, or if we should continue waiting for God to provide a bigger space for us to move into.
In addition to our four full-time employees, we recently hired one who works part-time. She is 20 years old and her name is Yolenny, and it’s extra special for me to see her be part of Abby’s Garden because she lived in our neighborhood and was a tween/teenager during the years we lived in La Vega. She attended the prayer group that was held at Divina’s house, who was then our next-door neighbor.
Ministry to the parents of the children
As has become our custom, we held a meeting with the parents while I was there. To get started, Divina had them all play a little dancing game, and it made me laugh and reminded me how much I love the childlike way of Dominicans to join in and have fun doing activities that American adults would perhaps be disdainful of.
Divina went on to share the Gospel and some parenting encouragement. She also extended the invitation to a women’s tea held at the church a couple weeks ago, and a few of the women came! They were also invited to attend the church’s Christmas program, so please be praying for that.
Recently our mission organization, Be One Together, received some specific funds which they were able to allocate to Abby’s Garden. This enabled us to purchase some Christian parenting books in Spanish. Divina has begun a book group with five of the moms who wanted to participate, so please be praying for this as well.
Precious Abby’s Garden children
Each of the Abby’s Garden children are so precious, and it was a delight for me to reconnect with some of the older kids who definitely remember me. One little boy was so excited when I arrived, he ran around and showed off a little, then sat on my lap or stuck to my side for the rest of the time, which of course warmed my heart. It was also wonderful to get to know some of the new toddlers and babies whom have joined since I was there last March.
I wish you all could meet these children and know them personally as I do, but since that isn’t possible, instead I will start a series in which I share a bit about each child. I will try to do that starting next week, with just a short little bio about each kid, one at a time for the next few months.
It costs us about $150 per month to care for each child (including two meals a day), so one possible way to give is to cover the cost of one child when becoming a monthly donor. And of course, if this is not possible for you, an amount of $50 or $100 would cover 1/3 or 2/3 of our monthly cost to care for that child. Always remember, any consistent amount that we can count on helps. Monthly supporters are so important because they help us ensure present bills are covered and allow us to plan for the future. But one-time gifts (like on Giving Tuesday!) or other less regular donations are always welcome, as they help fill in the gaps.
As we give thanks this season, our supporters are definitely counted among the blessings we are grateful for. Many thanks to everyone for reading, caring, and giving!
With love,
Tonya