by Ralph and Claudia Christen, SIM workers partnering with Rincón de Alegría
28 August 2006

On the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, lies a neighborhood called Renca, which is known for its crime and drug dealing. Here in this world of violence, you will find Rincón de Alegría (Corner of Happiness), a ministry that is reaching out to children at risk, whose families have only known brokenness and dysfunction.

Rejected, Abused, and Angry

These words describe most of the children we serve. "Gloria" was unwanted from the moment of conception. The product of incestuous abuse, she has only known rejection in her short life. When she came to the kindergarten last March, she was an aggressive and angry little girl, whose eyes revealed the deep heartbreak she had experienced. We were torn, struggling whether to intervene to take her from her home.

Six weeks later, Gloria accepted Jesus' love for her, and began to trust Him with her life. Almost overnight, she was transformed. Instead of swearing and crying, she started to laugh and play with the other children. Two months later, her parents told the school psychologist that they were no longer planning to give her up for adoption because her character had changed so much. Her life was affecting theirs too!

Incredible Change

Because of this ministry, many of the children have made first steps to follow Christ right in the midst of the misery of their lives. Mothers are saying that they see an incredible change in their children. They bring home the hope and love for Christ that they have experienced at school, and their parents are being affected too.

Rincón de Alegría is operated by a Christian Chilean NGO that began in 2000 as a breakfast program for street children. Now they have constructed a building and opened a kindergarten, which begins its day with breakfast. Within a year, they plan to expand to a full elementary school, with classes up to fourth grade.

Pray

• that the children and their families' lives will be changed by Christ
• for the protection of the children and staff in a dangerous neighborhood
• for enough professional volunteers to staff the school
• for the government approval to be granted to expand to a full elementary school for the 2007 school year
• for funding to expand the building for a school

Go

Do you love children and have experience working with children at risk? The ministry in Renca needs you!

Visit the Rincón de Alegría website (in Spanish)