Every time Rosario enters a class she is received with an explosion of hugs and kisses from her little ones.
“Since I was young I dreamed to be surrounded by children, because I am the youngest in my family and I used to tell God that I wanted to work with children.”
“God’s mission is being accomplished, and He put us here so we could accomplish His mission and take care of the children. I wanted to have many children, I dreamed all of that and God listens to us, so when the pastor told me to come and help here, I loved the idea.”
Rosario is already three years in this ministry. She started as a tutor, and since last year she is the director of the student center. To work in the center is very special for her; it is a blessing.
When she started, she was in charge of 80 children, divided in two groups: 40 in the morning and 40 in the afternoon. Even though it was hard at the beginning, she felt a big support from the pastors and especially from the children.
“The children were loving, and I became fond of them very quickly. Little by little I got involved in this ministry. This is God’s dream; God’s Kingdom is for the children; so it’s in our hands to take care of them. I love my work I enjoy it every day. Every child has a special smile and they spread it to everybody.”
Rosario is convinced that through the child development center the children’s lives are being changed and through them their families have become a part of the church.
“The parents registered their children looking for support. Here the children have been learning about God and they take that knowledge to their homes, the parents come here and tell us: ‘now we pray before eating.'”
Rosario and her staff are always speaking with the children; they know when they are happy or a little sad. They are always encouraging them, and they visit the families to see where they live and to find out about their needs.
As an initiative, the director started two pray groups with the children’s moms. They meet twice a week. This way she is evangelizing the mothers.
“We are here to persist always. motivations are them and helping them understand that their support to their children is very important.
And who else is actually a great support for every child is the child’s sponsor. The sponsors are a hope for the child. The children are very thankful for their sponsors, and they pray for them. They are able to satisfy their needs thanks to the help of a sponsor.”
Even though the sponsors don’t have the responsibility it came from their hearts to help the children without knowing them.”
Rosario hopes that one day all of the children would receive Christ in their hearts. That is the most important thing for her, and she would consider that a success in her work.
But she affirms that what Compassion’s program did and is doing to help the children, starting with their alimentation, their nutrition and in all the areas, is very important.
“They won’t ever forget this, and I won’t either, because with pride I share this wherever I go. I say that I work in a place where we really support the children.
I really love working here. Ssometimes we have too much pressure, but that passes, and we learn from that. I am living many new experiences here.”
Rosario’s dream is coming true. Now she is surrounded by almost 500 children from her student center, but in her heart she also has a dream for these children she loves so much.
“My dream for them is that the children from Compassion get to be presidents, to have important places in the country, so with the teachings we are giving them, in God’s way they could apply it; that is what our country needs. A Christian to direct our country . . . that is my dream.”