Eight Is More Than Enough

  Psalms 121:1-2 (AMP) I will lift up my eyes to the hills (of Jerusalem) - From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

First Single Mom’s House

During the last week of December we officially got our single mom’s house up and running. We started with the single mom and 1 of her children living with us and by the next week we had the other 6 children living with us. We knew that we would be able to get the daughter that was living with a sister in Guanacaste very fast, but we had no idea that the 5 children that were with child services would be returned so fast. When another sister got released from jail, it took her 2 months to get 1 child back. So we all figured that it would take at least 2 months, but this did not happen. We did ask them to wait until we moved into our new place, but they said the paperwork was done and the children had to go. We are very thankful to our old landlord because he allowed us all to stay in the house. So for one week we were all crammed in our old place.

After a week you can imagine that we were ready to move into our new place. On January 17, 2021 we moved into our current location which is now our first single mom’s house. This house has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms so it is definitely better for 10 people.

The new house has definitely helped out with the space issue, but we are still adjusting to living with 8 other people and all of the additional expenses that we now have. We are also learning where we have to adjust rules and where we need to let her be the mom and not step in. One example of this is the children were always telling us that they were hungry and wanted something to eat. Of course, if a child says they are hungry it is natural for us to give them something to eat. However, the single mom did not want them asking us for more to eat, so we now say "go talk to your mom".

Another adjustment for us is the amount of food that we are having to buy. For the first couple of weeks we were going to the store at least every other day. This family has a big appetite, but we are finally starting to figure how much food we need to buy for the week. Of course, we still have to make runs for milk and bread, but for everything else we are getting better at making only one big shopping run once a week. Of course, with the increase of people in our house our food budget has increased 3-4 times of what we spent before.

Another expense that we now have is the monthly salary for the single mom. She does not expect us to pay her, but in order for her to get parole we had to give her a job. We explained to her that we gave our word and because we said we were going to pay her we have to pay her. One of the requirements for our program is when they do receive a salary they have to put part of their salary into a savings account. Then once we know how much it costs to have them living with us they will have to put some of their earrings toward their living expenses. Our goal is to eventually have them paying all of their living expenses so they can then go and live on their own. Once this takes place we then will be able to help out another single mom or moms depending on how many children they have.

We currently have another single mom with 4 children that is wanting our help. We really feel like we are supposed to help this mom, but know that we can not handle another 5 people living with us at the moment. So we are praying about how it is best to help her. Right now we are feeling like we will help her with food and/ or pay part of her rent when she finds a place to live. She is currently living in a half way house and has started working part time, but she can not recover her children from child services until she has her own place to live. Please pray that she will be able to find affordable housing so she can get her children back.

Ways you can help

One of the most important things we need is prayer, so we would appreciate your prayers as we adjust to living all together and for wisdom as we are still learning how to build this single mom’s house on a strong foundation. Also once people feel comfortable traveling again we will be welcoming teams. Some of the things that we need teams to do are: repair projects, Bible studies, playing with the kids etc. We are also working on a sponsorship program. This will allow you to sponsor things like birthday parties, Christmas gifts, school supplies, salaries for the moms, rent etc. If you would like more information about coming to volunteer or our sponsorship program please send us an email.

We are so very grateful for your continued prayers and support. We could not do what we do without you.

Ephesians 4:16(NLT) He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Matthew 19:26(AMP) With God ALL things are possible.

Lots of Love and Blessings,
John & Cindy Thalheimer
Missionaries to Costa Rica

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