A Celebration of Women
is honored to Celebrate the Life of this Woman, a teacher ‘Divinely Guided’, a Woman with a ‘heart of a lamb and the strength of a lion’. The motivation of this Woman’s Actions are definitely rooted in LOVE, pure unadulterated LOVE. If our world had more Women like this one, the possiblity of Peace on Earth would increase immensely. In honor of PEACE WEEK, we have chosen to share this week, the Life of this Living Inspiration with the Women of our World.
A Celebration of Women was ‘born’ to Celebrate and Support Women like Joy Reyes…..we love you, Joy!
WOMAN of ACTION
Joy Reyes
In Joy’s own words, she shares:
“I have always felt it my mission and privilege to teach.
I felt it an honor that parents would trust me to mold and grow the minds of their most prized possessions. “
For eight years I taught in Idaho and Oregon,
forming lasting relationships with students and parents when I was given the opportunity to travel abroad and learn some Spanish.
During my time there my family fell in love with the Latin culture and began to wonder how much one truly needs and if we were being moved to use our lives to touch a different community—one with deep Academic, Spiritual and Financial needs.
I moved with my husband and two small children
to the Dominican Republic in 2004
and began to direct a school in a poor barrio where the public schools are overflowing, quality education is for the rich and proper paperwork and uniforms keep many from studying at all.
JOY starting from the Ground UP! These Children need SHOES !
Bring in the Shoes….
Now, does everyone have their BACKPACK, and Uniform ready…..
Yes, these Girls look Ready, Willing and Able to learn…..
Joy has “Happy Students, so far!”
There are countless challenges when serving and walking with the poor.Take a Look !
Kinders are all Ready to Go……Joy’s LOVE is at Work in Action.
“It is a Voice that becomes louder; as the Voices of Opposition Rise.”
They will Comfort all who are Sad, and be used by God…
to replace their
‘Ashes for Beauty and Sorrow for Gladness’.”
“They will be called Trees of Goodness,
trees planted by God to show his Greatness.”
Like most developing countries, very few girls in the barrios of the Dominican Republic
reach their twentieth birthday without facing the horror of abuse and the pressures of marriage and motherhood.
While education is available to girls, very few ever finish high school and even fewer study in the university. It is not uncommon to see girls start their families at 13, terminating their education and leaving them dependent on a man or their bodies to provide for their basic needs.
I am working to create a girls’ school; someday it will be a boarding school that will provide for girls through their most vulnerable years beginning in fifth grade when in past years our school released them into the failing government school system.
I can no longer sit and silently watch the girls be pushed out of their homes,
sold to the highest bidder,
striped from all innocence; and left without an education or hope.
I will begin my fight with a school, a safe haven, where girls can learn, be nurtured and encouraged.
I will use a school, my home and my life to announce…
…that they are Loved,
Forgiven and have Divine Plans for their Lives.
I will cry with them and dream for them, for them, because I believe that with God Guiding, they too will begin to hear that still small Voice, dream their own big dreams and dress in the Armor of Battle ready to “Roar” against all that once held them in Bondage.
I believe that they will be used to comfort those whose hearts have been broken, tell the captives they are free, and the prisoners they are released.
The elements, the culture, the language and opposing worldviews are stumbling blocks—
but the faces and the relationships sustain us.
JOY knows this, and even arranges ‘bi-lingual Bibles”, maintaining the knowledge of God’s Gifts.
There is a still small Voice that Guides and Comforts,
providing Peace and Strength.
It is that Voice that has inspired me to put on my battle gear;
and rage against all that breaks my Heart and wounds my Spirit.
JOY leaves TEAR.ORG for new horizons, as she is guided to expand the work in Central America ( The Dominican ) through a journey or her own. Today, Joy is the founder of a new organization for girls named: NEUVA ESPERANZA – NEW HOPE GIRLS, INC.
“Girls living in poverty are uniquely capable of creating a better future. But when a girl reaches adolescence, she comes to a crossroads.” When given access to quality education, health care and a support system the trajectory of her life can be forever changed. By the age of ten, girls living in poverty have reached an age that the price of a bad choice is too high to make a mistake.
We are determined to walk alongside these girls encouraging them to listen to the still small voice of a very big God who has divine plans for their future. We are committed to loving them in every decision, weeping with them in their sadness and rejoicing with them in their gladness. We long to hold the hands of their parents so that their girls will not be sold to the highest bidder.
This is our heart’s work. God planted this dream deep in our souls many years ago and we believe this is the year. We will begin with twenty girls, but only God knows where we’ll end up. Funding and facility seem like impossible mountains to overcome, but we are encouraged that in our weakness, God shows His power and might.
Join us in prayer as we “roar” against the generations of bondage and sexual perversion. What was meant for dead, we are claiming as life—full of promise and Hope.
WHY GIRLS:
An adolescent girl stands at the threshold of adulthood. In that moment, much is decided. If she stays in school, remains healthy, and gains real skills, she will marry later, have fewer and healthier children, and earn an income that she’ll invest back into her family and community.
Yet if she follows the path laid down by poverty, she’ll leave school and enter marriage. As a girl mother, an unskilled worker, and an uneducated citizen, she’ll miss out on the opportunity to reach her full human potential. And each individual tragedy, multiplied by thousands of girls, will contribute to a much larger downward spiral for her nation.
Investing in girls is the right thing to do on moral, ethical, and human rights grounds. Perhaps no other segment of society globally faces as much exploitation and injustice. We owe girls our support as integral, yet overlooked, members of the human family.
Investing in girls is also the smart thing to do. If the 600 million adolescent girls in the developing world today follow the path of school dropout, early marriage and early childbirth, and vulnerability to sexual violence and HIV/AIDS, then cycles of poverty will only continue.
Lacking a full range of economic opportunities and devalued because of gender bias, many girls are seen as unworthy of investment or protection by their families. Isolated and unsupported, these girls have little voice to demand their rights. As they move into early marriage and childbearing, the cycle continues:
•One girl in seven in developing countries marries before age 15, and nearly half of all girls are expected to marry by age 20.8
•One-quarter to one-half of girls in developing countries become mothers before age 18. And 14 million girls ages 15–19 give birth each year. Adolescent girls are up to five times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy than women in their 20s, and their babies are also at higher risk of dying.
•Early childbearing is closely correlated with poverty. Girls from poor households are three times more likely than better-off girls to give birth during adolescence, and they bear twice as many children.
•Nearly half of sexual assaults worldwide are against girls ages 15 and younger, and girls ages 15–19 in developing countries are at a particularly high risk for physical and sexual violence.
Building Project”God has given you everything you need for life and for godliness…He is enough! It is by His spirit that you will build this girl’s school. Do not despise small beginnings”– Barbara Ludy
We started with a small house on a little piece of land donated by a local teacher. Now we have room for 2 classrooms(with a chance of a third on the patio) and emergency housing for 10 girls. Take a look at where we have come and what we are dreaming of for the future!
We are praying that God gives us this piece of land (seen in the last 11 photos) for our ministry. It used to be a Baptist Camp and has been abandoned for the last couple of years so most of the tile and appliances have been salvaged through, but the structure still stands and it is perfect for our growing vision . The terrain is equipped with a cafeteria, swimming pool, basketball court, living headquarters, fruit trees, and plenty of land to build on! Please join us in praying that God will bless us with this slice of heaven.
“You can’t force these things. They only come about by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. So, big mountain, who do you think you are?”Zech 4…The mountains would be as a molehill and we will finish this as we shout, “grace, grace” to it.
newhopegirls, inc. – INTERNSHIPS
FIND JOY HERE:
Post On Our Wall & View Our Albums: New Hope Girls Facebook
Write To Us: [email protected]
Call Us: 809-226-3532 or 809-222-4637
U.S. Mailing DONATION Address: 23875 Market Road, Parma, ID 83660
Send us a care package: 100 Airport Ave, Venice, Florida 34285—(Don’t forget to include $1.50 per pound for us to cover the delivery flight from Florida to the DR)
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WOMAN of ACTION – Joy Reyes
June 3, 2012 by admin
