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Street children have lost the opportunity to live in a Godly family. Unless they experience a profound and permanent change, they will pass on the suffering of living on the streets to their children… and to their children’s children.
FORMANDO VIDAS under Youth With A Mission (YWAM) provides that change and has done so since 1982!!!
HOW?
As a non-profit Christian organization, staffed by volunteers, we begin with boys and girls, ages 0-12, who already are… or are likely to become… street kids. The rehabilitation process takes the child through various stages with the end result a young adult that can act in a socially acceptable manner.
The stages of the process are:
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1) FRIENSHIP & TRUST: We develop “Friendships and Trust” over several months with the children right in the inner city ghettos where we find them, offering friendship, basic meals, first aid, Christian teaching and games. Then…
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2) THE OTHER WAY: The children are welcomed in our drop-in center “The Other Way” five hours a day, four days a week. In this city centre house the child is able to bath, have his or her clothes washed, eat breakfast, play, participate in crafts, receive Bible teaching and learn his letters, have lunch, receive basic health care, etc. If they are in danger…
We can provide 24 hour protection at our “Strong Tower” crisis shelter, which it is a part of “The Other Way”. They can live in our shelter short term while we look for concrete solutions for their situation.
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3) THE OASIS: A child is brought in to live with us at our “Oasis” half-way transition home to prepare him or her to live in a Christian family. Depending on the background of the child this stage can last from three months to two years. However, we also begin working to regenerate their family of origin.
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4) LIGHT AND LIFE SCHOOL: If they can’t function in a typical community school either because of learning disabilities, emotional difficulties, bad behaviour, differentiated intelligence or age…, we provide individualized instruction for the children at our “Light and Life” specialized school until they’re ready for a normal school education.
One part of “Light & Life” is “Continual Education” where the student who has “graduated” and it is studying in a normal community school can receive educational backing, tutoring, mentoring and spiritual discipleship.
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5) THE RESTORED HERITAGE: In our “Restored Heritage” phase, we re-parent the child and adolescent in a long term substitute family, where he or she can be raised under Christian principles in a country home, just outside of Bogotá.
A step of this phase is a house in the city where children stay occasionally and receive support in the process of adapting to living with their regenerated biological family.
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6) A LIFELONG FAMILY: When the child or adolescent is ready, we facilitate a lifelong family for them, whether it be their regenerated family of origin, an adoptive family, a long-term foster family… or …us! We commit ourselves to an extensive work with the biological family; united with them to confront their problems during all the stages of working with the child.
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7) EAGLE’S PHASE: We don’t drop the children on their 18th birthday. In our “Eagles” stage, we gradually ease the high school graduates out of our nest, giving them the options of a discipleship school, job-training, military duty when obligatory, and/or a university education, socialized to contribute to society at peace with themselves and with God and not capable to ever send their own children to the streets.
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FORMANDO VIDAS believes in and has seen the power of God to change the lives of street and pre-street children and their families.
Our other activities include: - CHILDREN AT RISK (CAR) TRAINING SCHOOL: Associated with Youth With A Mission, we offer a training school for adult Christians who have a call of God upon their lives to work with children at risk, their families, and their future generations. We do this through intensive courses, work experience, seminars and conferences with the theme of children at risk and effective solutions for total restoration.
- COMMUNITY AND MINISTRY DEVELOPMENT: In addition to direct work with street children, we have a strong call to “raise awareness and sensitize” pastors, congregations and society in general, convinced that the community as a whole need to know and put into action God’s perspective on injustice, mercy, and poverty. As part of this task, we cooperate with VIVA Network, thus collaborating with other Christian ministries that work with children at risk.
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