Blessed is the Kingdom » El Salvador

Snapshots of NPH

Fr. Christian Mathis — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:22:10 +0000

NPH 2010 from Christian Mathis on Vimeo.

It has been a busy couple of weeks of visiting NPH El Salvador, celebrating anniversaries and catching up on work. Here is a video with a few highlights of our recent trip to El Salvador. Enjoy!

Sabbath Sunday: Edgar and Rene

Fr. Christian Mathis — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:00:08 +0000

Posts are few and far between this week due to our annual parish trip to NPH El Salvador. Keeping with that theme, here is a post with two of the kids. Enjoy!

Once again you are invited to join me in promoting the Sabbath by taking a break from your normal blogging. Please share an older post from your blog that is near and dear to your heart. Make sure to leave your name and the URL of your post below and share a comment if you so desire. I look forward to reading your recycled posts!

Sabbath Sunday: NPH

Fr. Christian Mathis — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:00:57 +0000

Here we are again at a Sabbath Sunday and I am sharing a post from our trip to three NPH orphanages back in September entitled NPH Update.

NPH Expectations

Ashley Siferd — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:00:07 +0000

When I first arrived to NPH El Salvador in the summer of 2008, I had expected many things. I was told that I would be greeted by a sea of smiling faces and be swept away to play. Knowing that I was going to a Spanish-speaking country, I was prepared to understand very little because at that time, my Spanish vocabulary included numbers, colors and basic greetings. I expected the “normal” things.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the kids’ actual presence and being there with them. You can’t help but be happy and smile and laugh when you are around them! They are beautiful and wonderful each in their own unique way. Some of their stories make you sad, but the majority of their stories make you laugh.

I went there thinking that I would teach them something. What that exact ‘something’ was, I’ll never know. I was wrong though. I wasn’t the teacher. I became the student. Learning from the kids is one of the coolest and most humbling things I have experienced.

Here are the two most important things that I learned. The first was about unconditional love. Some of these kids had unfortunate beginnings and experiences. Instead of being Negative Nancys or closed off to the world, these kids are some of the happiest and most loving in the world. Upon their arrival to NPH, these kids turn their negatives into positives. They love unconditionally, and they treat each other as their own blood family. Once at NPH, a child becomes a part of something bigger…they become a part of the largest family I have ever met. Their love has no expectations, no requirements. It is simple yet strong. It is unconditional!

The second thing that I learned was how to be grateful for the simple things. The children have a home, clothing, food, education, and a place to worship. They are thankful for the new set of clothes they get each Christmas and for the books and pencils they use in school. After visiting them and seeing how they live simply, I came away with a sense of gratitude for the things that I have. Each day I thank God for what He has blessed me with: a family, friends, and the opportunity to go to college…the list goes on.

We all can learn from these kids. Our expectations will be broken. We can especially learn about unconditional love and gratitude.

“When you take the time to actually listen, with humility, to what people have to say, it’s amazing what you can learn. Especially if the people who are doing the talking also happen to be children.” –Greg Mortenson

Introduction to NPH El Salvador

Fr. Christian Mathis — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:01:42 +0000

For those of you who have not been able to make a trip down to NPH, here is a video of the typical day in the life.

Faces of NPH

Fr. Christian Mathis — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:00:59 +0000

Last night at our Three Kings Party we announced that the efforts of St. Thomas and St. Mary parish in this year’s Advent Conspiracy raised 13,000 dollars for the medical clinic at NPH El Salvador. This video shows some of the faces of the kids there. Thanks to my friend John Deinhart for creating this video. I hope to use this week of blogging to focus a bit more on the ministry of NPH, especially in El Salvador. Enjoy!

Saturday Evening Blog Post

Fr. Christian Mathis — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:24:15 +0000

Elizabeth Esther is hosting the Saturday Evening Blog Post where she invites fellow bloggers to post a recent favorite for her readers. I chose to share NPH Update. I chose this particular post because the pictures of Guatemala and El Salvador are beautiful and Flat Thomas at La Casa del Waffle and the Pollo Campero pictures continue to make me laugh out loud. I hope you will swing by her blog to take a look at my post as well as the other posts you may find interesting.