2015 FALL REQUEST
& SUMMER UPDATE Heart's Cry Children's Ministry
August 20 
 
In the Bible, Psalm 68:5 says: "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling."  James 1:27 says: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..."  As followers of Christ, demonstrating God's heart for orphans takes many forms: for some it means bringing a child into your home; for others it means working with orphans, still for others it is praying regularly, and for others it is providing financial support.  All are necessary.  At Heart's Cry Children's Ministry we are continually blessed to see God at work in all these areas of orphan care in Panama.  God is faithful and continues to bless this ministry.  However, while the many blessings and opportunities have increased, our income has not kept pace.  We are currently in need of additional financial support: to assist local families in obtaining their certification to adopt or foster children for no charge, to create a reserve fund for emergency supplies/food for orphanages, and to continue construction at Casa Providencia.  Please pray for where God may be calling you to participate.
 
Thank you so much for your financial support, prayers, and service over the years.  Your faithfulness has continued to move the ministry forward and has made a difference in the lives of many children in Panama.  May God richly bless you for your compassion and generosity!
 
The past couple months have seen a whirlwind of activity with lots of encouraging visitors and many accomplishments.  Just to highlight a few:
  • With ever increasing construction experience with Matt, Eduardo Arias, our full-time HCCM employee, has taken over much of the day-to-day renovation management at Casa Providencia, freeing Matt to focus on other priorities.
  • Mid-May brought the arrival of our Intern, Hannah Wallace, from the University of North Carolina.  She was with us for two months and focused on the investigation of potential grants, updating web content, work at Casa Providencia, and the organization of records.  Hannah quickly became an important part of the team and is dearly missed since she returned home in mid-July.  Please pray that God will bless her for her sacrifice of service to Him, and that there will be much fruit from her work.
  • The layout for the Family Services office has been submitted and is waiting final approval.  Pray that the office permitting process will be completed quickly, so that we can move toward up-fitting.
  • The upper roof is 100% complete at Casa Providencia!!  The Lord literally held off the rains during rainy season that allowed for this to be completed, as well as, provided skilled carpenters for very difficult wood repairs.  It looks & works great!  Pray for donations to come in quickly so that we will be able to complete the lower roof and move toward the ramp installation.
  • Most of the accounting systems have now been transitioned over to Judy freeing Misty from this time-consuming burden.
  • HCCM was blessed to have Dave Cook, a highly experienced videographer, donate his time to visit in mid-June and shoot hours of video telling the story of the orphan crisis in Panama and how God is using HCCM, as part of the solution.  This footage is in the process of being edited into a series of awareness pieces to be used to develop additional HCCM prayer and financial partnerships.   Please pray for divine creativity, as he completes this task, and that God will use these videos in amazing ways.
Videographer hard at work 
Casa Providencia under construction roof work
 
 
 
 
                          
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  • Two days after Dave started, a team of three ladies from Southbridge Fellowship Church (Amanda, Nikki, and Julianne) arrived to serve and encourage Misty and Judy.  Although they completed many useful and wonderful tasks, their greatest blessing was the prayer filled times of fellowship and community.  Pray that this visit will inspire a long-term commitment of praying for and encouraging one another.
  • A ministry-focused group of five dancers from Atlanta, Bluebird: Uncaged, arrived at the same time (http://www.bluebirduncaged.com).   During their visit here, they danced and shared the Gospel at two orphanages, prayed at Casa Providencia, and allowed us to share about HCCM at two of their performances.  Pray that God will continue to use this time to draw orphans to Himself, to inspire more Panamanians to adopt or foster, and encourage some Atlanta churches and individuals to partner with Heart's Cry.
  • In late July, HCCM was contacted by one of the local orphanages about a shortage of infant formula and diapers.  Thanks in part to your donations, HCCM Orphan Cares program was able to immediately respond.  We were also contacted by a local orphanage that temporarily needed additional staff in their crowded baby house.  We have begun coordinating a group of volunteers under this program that will began assisting this week on a scheduled basis.  Please pray for discernment in selecting and training the volunteers, and that God would bless the children and volunteers.
  • HCCM hosted a second team from Southbridge Fellowship that helped update the website, served at one of the local orphanages and did construction work at Casa Providencia.  A few weeks after, several local volunteers also spent time helping and prayed for the ministry of Casa Providencia
  • A group of 50 college athletes volunteered at Casa Providencia assisting with the removal of the old windows and hauling off much of the trash from the roof project.  So thankful for our friend Dan Cotton from Casa Paraiso who coordinated this team.
  • The Hedspeth family spent most of July in the states, working on therapy and treatment plans for our son.  Please pray for God's provision as we implement these therapies back in Panama.  And, if the Lord lays it on anyone's heart to intern with HCCM and help with Speech or Sensory Integration Therapy with our family, please contact us.
                         Bluebird Uncaged Dancers at Malumbo                                    One of the 2 diaper/formula donations
  

Finally, for all of you that buy from the Amazon web site, please consider using Amazon Smile (http://smile.amazon.com)  and choosing Heart's Cry Children's Ministry as your designated charity. 
 
Thank you again for your support.  Your partnership allows the work to continue. 


 
With sincere gratitude,
Matt and Misty Hedspeth
 
 
 
www.heartscrychildren.com