It's that time of year again!

Dear Family & Friends,

As many of you know, I have been doing mission work for 5 years now and continuing to feel a pull on my heart to go back for another mission. The past three years I traveled to Managua, Nicaragua to serve at Villa Esperanza with young, at risk girls.

A quick update on where I am at and what I have been up to in this last year! Just one day before last year’s Nicaragua trip I finished my externship at Canyon Medical Center. This was the practicum part of my medical assisting program at Concorde Career College. Upon graduating, I passed my AAMA(CMA) national exam. I applied to nearly twenty different health clinics and finally got a job at NW Urology located within the St. Vincent’s Hospital. Currently I am a temporary employee with the opportunity to be hired on permanently. I put in a request for vacation time and it got approved, so I am on my way to Nicaragua in July!

Up until a few years ago in Managua, Nicaragua, there was a 100 acre landfill that was home to 1,500 people and new garbage every day. This landfill was called "La Chureca," Spanish for "The Dump." Parents and children scavenged the heaps of garbage to collect what they could sell, and in return live off what most Americans would consider pocket change. Their homes are made of garbage scraps, which often leave ceilings with holes and vulnerable to the hard rain received during the winters. Typically young boys are removed from childhood to work, and girls as young as nine are encouraged to prostitute themselves to garbage truck drivers for money or a better garbage selection. It is poverty and injustice beyond anything that can be communicated by words and pictures.

Nine years ago, Forward Edge International, a nonprofit organization in Vancouver, Washington, decided to do something about the injustice. They bought a 2 acre plot of land about 10 minutes outside La Chureca and began building homes for the young, at risk girls within the dump. This July marks eight years since the sixteen original girls arrived at Villa Esperanza (Spanish for "Village of Hope"). Currently there are about 30 girls living at the Villa. Villa Esperanza provides these girls with the basic essentials every child deserves. Villa Esperanza provides each of these girls with hope-- hope to break the generational poverty that seems inescapable in La Chureca.

Eight years ago, a team like ours arrived at Villa Esperanza only two weeks after the original 16 girls had been removed from the dump. The girls were timid, shy, physically weak, sick, and extremely weary around outsiders. Over the last eight years, FEI teams have witnessed transformation in these young girls beyond what we could have ever dreamed. They are all healthy, confident, and happy. Beyond that though, they are learning new realities. These girls are learning that not all men are dangerous, it is not okay for husbands to beat their wives, and there are means to survival beyond stealing and sexual exploitation.

There is an incredible video on Youtube about Villa Esperanza and how it started. It is from 2011 so some of the statistics will vary a little. Below is a link for the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVKGFH38I7A

While God has opened up a door for me to develop a greater heart of compassion for His people around the world, the exciting part is that you will be able to share in this compassion in several ways. First, you can help pray for my team. We will need prayer for safe travel, good health, and that our efforts will be blessed by God and will continue to multiply long after we leave. We will also need prayers that our financial needs will be met. I need to raise $2,000 to attend this trip, and that is quite a challenge!

Another way you can be involved is to help provide that financial support. If you prefer to write a check or give cash, we can arrange for that too. I will need to raise all my funds by the end of June, with one deadline on May 9th of $1,000. Whether you feel led to contribute financially, through prayer, or both, all of your support is greatly appreciated.

I look forward to doing God's work in Nicaragua and letting you know all about how God has worked through this team when I return at the end of July. Thank you for taking your time to read my letter, pray for my team, and/or donate to my mission trip!

Thank you for all your support,

Julie Matthews