Unexpected Blessings~ Johanna Doblado

This week’s ROOM contributor is Johanna Doblado, director of ROOM’s Scarlet Project and Orphanage Care programs in Honduras. Johanna has been mentioned most recently here as the wonder woman that she is. She also shared her heart for the cause worth fighting for on an earlier blog. She continues to inspire, encourage, and push us all to excellence in the Lord. We are grateful for her!

It has been 764 days since I joined the Reach Out Orphanage Ministries family as the Scarlet Project Director.

764 days ago I first learned that Foster Families existed in Honduras.

764 days since I learned how I could be a part of this movement.

I heard ROOM’s passion for this ministry on my first day at work, and soon after, ROOM`s passion for the babies and kids of Honduras became my passion as well.

 Every single day after that has been a learning experience for me. 764 days later and I am still learning. I am still being shaped by our Almighty Father.

I look back on this time and it feels as if a lifetime has gone by– a lifetime of struggles and tears and laughter and joy–it has already been a lifetime of blessings. Blessings that come from our Lord when we least expect them, but when we need them the most.

I look forward to the lessons and experiences that are ahead of me, but I cannot move forward without looking at what has shaped me thus far. Some of the lessons learned have been easy: how to become a foster family, how to change a billion diapers in one day, how to feed a baby, how to love a child wholeheartedly. Some of these lessons are hard: how to change a blowout diaper, how to comfort a child that has IVs in his/her arms, how to love a baby with your whole heart but also with open arms, how to face the abuse of a child and mirror the strength that child needs you to mirror.

Throughout these 764 days, the Lord has been working on many things in my own life through ROOM’s beautiful ministry, and I have been able to see and experience more than ever the fullness of unexpected blessings. The types of blessings that come when we least expect them to because they are wrapped in the hardest moments of our lives. The blessings that take our breath away because they show us our Heavenly Father’s love in a fullness that the weight of it takes all of us out of the way. Blessings that prove to us, time and time again, that the Lord of all earth knows every single child by name, knows their hurt, their pain and has put everything in place for them to come into our loving family and change our lives forever.

In our line of work it is easy to lose the one thing we need the most….hope. Hope is what keeps us going; hope is what fuels our work even when that work sometimes feels like it is endless–and, in reality, it is unending–but our hope comes in the shape of kids. Our hope has a name: Alex, Angel; Estrella, Jesus, Fernando, Deysi, Mili….and on and on it goes.

Every single person who has ever read our blog, or prayed over one of our beautiful kids, or given to our ministry in any way has been touched and changed right alongside us. You may have been touched by this same hope (the evidence of our God not forgetting us through the reminder of these kids) that keeps us going.

My desire for this amazing ministry comes in the form of kids….all the kids that I have yet to meet and whose names I still do not know. The kids whose faces I have not seen. This, and this alone, keeps me going in a world where children are abandoned every single day. Each and every one of these kids are my blessings, some expected and most unexpected; they shape me more and more each day.

Many times during these 764 days, the enemy has tried to take away the power of these blessings and tried to take away the truth laid out to us by the Lord, which is that we are His and He is in control. ROOM has taught me to rely on the Lord and trust His control… but more than the ministry itself, the kids I have been blessed to serve have taught me that He is in control.

These children have been the vessels for over 90% of the unexpected blessings I have seen in the last two years. We stand before you today as ministry that stands for being above reproach. We are a ministry striving to follow the Lord’s guidance in all we do.

Many times we do not know what the Lord has in store for us next, but we strive to be ready for whatever may come.

Honduras is a country in great need of warriors to come alongside us; to pray with us and for us. We need warriors who will stand with us FOR these kids who have no other voice advocating for them. We cannot promise what is to come, but we can assure you that your heart will overflow with blessings. We want others to experience these unexpected blessings that come from serving these little ones.

If you are interested in joining our team, please consider making a donation to our most recent campaign: Become Part of the Story.

We need more people to come alongside of children like those mentioned above in our Story Blog. We need you to become part of Reach Out Orphanage Ministries’ story! Will you partner with ROOM for just $10.00 a month? Our goal is to bridge a $71,700 budget gap by the end of March. This is possible if just 600 people agree to partner for just $10.00 a month!

Visit out our Razoo page where you can select to become a monthly partner, or make a one-time gift.  Or send a check to Reach Out Orphanage Ministries, P.O. Box 5882, Concord, N.C. 28027.

ROOM is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  All donations are tax-deductible.  Learn more at http://www.makeroom.org/