July 2024 Newsletter
Joshua Vanrenterghem
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know
Jeremiah 33:3
Dear Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,
I just returned from my visit to Costa Rica for the purpose of learning how a children’s home functions from an existing home for children rescued from sex and organ trafficking. Since the beginning of the year I have been praying and waiting for this trip. I arrived in Costa Rica 2 days before the team, Cory my pastor from Peru, Danielle his wife, and Andy, a missionary in Peru. This gave me the opportunity to follow and learn directly from Gabriel, the local pastor who runs the home. After the rest of the team arrived, we spent a lot of time speaking with different people about all the different functions of the home, as well as spending time with the children. It was a very enlightening and fruitful time. I learned so much valuable information, and I have also been sobered to the realities and difficulties of this calling. As a team, the Lord gave us this verse in Jeremiah as we sought His direction for this new work. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
In order to help give perspective on the heart of the issue and whole purpose of this ministry, without giving many details, I am going to share about a few of the children in the home in Costa Rica. There are about 60 children in this home. The children all have a mix of age, gender, and severity of trauma. Almost all of the children have had to have some kind of medical care, therapy, or rehab because of the abuse they went through. For those of you who are sensitive, I do want to warn you that what I am about to say here is very disturbing and difficult to read, but I want you to know the extent of the evil going on in these places. Many of the children in this orphanage have experienced lasting physical injuries due to the amount and nature of the abuse received. Many of the girls and boys used to be sexually abused up to 5 times daily before being rescued. Some were sold by their desperate parents, others were kidnapped, and still others were raised into this reality by their own parents. These are some of the horrors of sex trafficking, but, especially recently, organ trafficking has been also rising. Criminals harvest organs from babies and small children to sell to superstitious people who believe eating them gives them youthfulness.
Unfortunately, this is by no means a reality secluded to Costa Rica. This is happening all over South America. This is especially true in Trujillo, Peru, where the team and I are going to be beginning the process to start a home for rescued children. Last year, while I was still studying at Calvary Bible Institute in Trujillo, my friend told me a story from a local. She lived in a neighborhood called Huanchacito and during a conversation, my friend asked her, “Have you had any issues or seen any signs of trafficking in your area?” To this she responded, “Yes, I actually don’t let my children out past dark because a white van drives around the neighborhood picking up children every night.” While on a missions trip in the jungle, about a 19-hour drive from Trujillo, the same friend asked a chief of a local village the same question. He said that they are active in the jungle, but he has personally threatened them not to go near his village and since then he has not had problems. But he made it clear other villages have the problem of children being kidnapped from these traffickers.
The biggest thing the Lord showed me while in Costa Rica was the not just the physical experience of suffering that children are going through, but also the grim eternal reality of these children who live without any hope of the gospel. As slaves of sexual exploitation, these children have had no ability to hear the gospel of eternal salvation through Jesus. These children do not only experience hell on earth, but are destined for an eternity apart from Christ if they grow up into adulthood without putting their faith in Jesus. Ever since I truly gave my life to Christ and experienced the joy of His salvation, I committed my life to go to those people who would otherwise never be able to know Jesus. It was on this trip when it clicked for me. I understood that people do not simply have to be physically far away or secluded to be unreached. These children, because of the high danger involved with criminals, the cost of raising them, and the difficulty of raising them, are truly one of, if not the most, difficult unreached people on the planet.
My role in this new home will be to work under Cory leading the administrative functions. There are an enormous amount of resources, people, effort, and money required to raise these children after being rescued. Therefore the vision will be that I will organize the professional technical team (psychiatrist, social worker, nurse, and caretakers) and the financial responsibilities.
Before the trip to Costa Rica, I went on a short trip to Mexico to visit the Calvary School of Missions and join the students on two outreaches. It was a blessing to talk with them and be with them on this life changing experience for a couple days.
Afterwards, I visited my church in Texas, Calvary Chapel North Texas, for a week and a half to spend time with my grandparents, reconnect with the church, and help at their VBS. During that time, I volunteered and led the games for their summer VBS, just like past years. It was a blast, and 7 kids gave their lives to the Lord. Finally, after spending time in Costa Rica, I took a flight straight from there to Oregon to be a part of a friend’s wedding. Now I am back in California finish the Missions Training School, which ends in two weeks.
I would love for you to continue praying for me as I begin taking big steps towards this calling. First I will be going to the South America Missions Conference in Trujillo, Peru, from September 16-23 where I will be meeting with Cory and Far Reaching Ministries to discuss and plan for the new children’s home there. Additionally, the main goal now is to move to Peru as a full-time missionary by the first of next year. In the mean time I will be preparing, finishing up studies, and raising funds. I also need to go through an application process with Saving Grace World Missions. Finally, in order to move to the mission field full-time with SGWM, I need to have at least 80% of my monthly budget provided through scheduled monthly giving. There are also a few expensive, one-time payments such as flights. If the Lord is calling you to be a part of this work God is doing through me, you may partner through the Financial Partner button below.
Praise Reports
- All the children who gave their lives to the Lord at the VBS in Texas
- The blessing of learning from all God is doing through Gabriel in Costa Rica and getting vision for Peru
- All the children being rescued and raised with the gospel in Costa Rica
- The clear direction for my life in this work of rescuing children
Prayer Requests
- God to be glorified in the calling of rescuing children, and that many children would be rescued in Peru through this new work
- Provision for the conference trip to Peru next month
- Guidance and strength for the new goal of moving as a full-time missionary by the first of next year
- For me to finish out my studies and preparations well in the States
