Update on Maely

Pat and I spent the last two weeks in Honduras and just returned home a week ago Sunday.  The first week or our trip was spent in Maely's village and although we were overjoyed to see her again, we were deeply disturbed by her living conditions.  We had never seen her home before and although she had described it to us in great detail, we were not prepared for what we found.  In addition to no electricity and no running water, we discovered her home has no bathroom and is even smaller than we imagined.  18 children and adults share this two room house and there is no such thing as privacy.  In spite of these conditions, Maely was in good spirits and was moved to tears at our arrival....I cried too!  Maely and her family walked down the steep hill from her house to where we had parked the 4WD truck and although she tried real hard to hide her tears, it was clear she missed us almost as much as we missed her!  Over the next few days we had the chance to meet all of her family and spend some time with her beloved "mommy" (grandmother) and grandfather.  They are both such wonderful people, we were blessed to meet them.  Their love for Maely is clear and we shared with them our desire to prepare Maely for a postion of leadership in her village.

While there, we finalized plans with the local coffee farmers to establish an agricultural cooperative and discussed their childrens need for a good education.  The Honduran teachers union was on strike again (almost an annual event) and the children hadn't had a teacher show up for several weeks.  In light of this, The King's Storehouse contracted a local teacher to begin teaching the students and provide them with dependable teaching instruction independant of the teachers union.  We will be shipping school supplies to the village at every opportunity.  We hope this will allow Maely and the rest of her classmates a better opportunity for a good education in this remote location.  During the week we were in Maely's village, we helped the men of the village install a half mile of 2" buried water pipe from a stream up in the mountains to a water storage tank postioned at the edge of their village.  In addition, we were able to show movies in the community center almost every night which was a great thrill for the people since few had ever even watched television before.   It was great fun and we enjoyed it as much as anyone.

What a wonderful, hard working and gracious people these are.  The leader of the village insisted we stay in his house which meant him and his wife ended up sleeping on the kitchen floor.  We were humbled by their kindness and anxious to help them in any we can.  We will be returning to Honduras in June and hope to see Maely again if possible.

Maely and her "poppy"

We will keep you posted.
Bob and Pat Warren

A not so happy ending to a wonderful story

Maely is now back in her village in the remote highlands of Honduras.  Unfortunately her last days here in the US were not as pleasant as we had originally planned and she was ill prepared for the emotional impact of her re-entry to her old world.  We had hoped she could spend some time back up here with us in Washington so we could prepare her to return to her 18th century world.  We had hoped to accompany her all the way back to her village and then spend a week with her there helping her to readjust.   Unfortunately we live in an imperfect world and as a result, Maely was sent back to Honduras accompanied by a perfect stranger and given no preparation for the physical, emotional and spiritual struggles that lay ahead.
We will be returning to her village next month and we will provide an update on her condition when we return.  We will also share the plans that God has made to bless her village with abundant clean water, and better health, education and economic development opportunities because of HIS love for this little girl who was the village outcast.  Please be in prayer for Maely.  If we are able to make contact with her before we return next month, we will update the blog.

Maely's first experience with SNOW

Until October of this year, Maely had spent the first 12 years of her life living in a remote village in the highlands of Honduras.  Her village rests at an altitude of 3200 feet above sea level so temperatures in the winter time can get down into the 60's and 70's.  After spending 20 years in Alaska and 10 years in the Pacific Northwest....I could get used to winter lows in the 60's!  But for Maely, that is sweater and coat weather and fortunately for her it only lasts a couple of months.  Do you remember the first time you saw snow?  Do you remember what it was like sledding down your first snow covered hill? Well, Maely got to experience this "life event" today and here are some pictures of her latest adventure.  We took her to the Mount Baker ski area and let her play in the snow!  Little did I know what I was in for.

Here she is getting "suited up" in the back of our truck.

This area is called Heather meadows up on Mount Baker.  Its a perfect bowl area so the kids don't end up sledding all the way down the mountain and halfway back to Bellingham before their parents can catch them!   As you can see from the sunshine in this picture, it was a perfect day for it.

After 15 minutes exposure to snow and 35 degree temperatures.....Maely is still smiling.  Doesn't her smile look sweet and innocent?  Almost angelic isn't she....HAH!  That's what I thought too.....I should have remembered the water gun ambush and the fact she tried to run me over with my own John Deere lawnmower!  I am just FAR TOO TRUSTING...or have a very short memory!

Shortly after this picture....my trusty side kick and event photographer (Pat)  bailed on me cause her hands were frozen.  Now that brings back memories!  When we lived in Alaska and I would take her and the kids skiing, Pat would complain that her hands got too cold.  So being the loving, understanding husband that I am, I bought her some "hot pocket" hand warmers and stuffed them in her ski gloves.  Then she said her feet were getting too cold....So for the next trip,  I bought her some heated ski boots.  I KID YOU NOT, they were battery powered, electrically heated ski boots! When she starting complaining about her face, knees, elbows, eyebrows, spleen and Y chromosomes getting too cold I realized, she was probably not genetically suited for skiing and let her stay home after that.

This is the third and final trip down the hill as the look on Maely's face pretty much sums up her opinion of snow!  By the way, that snow on the bill of my cap is from a snow ball Maely nailed me with as I was coming to her aid.  That girl has an arm like an outfielder and the accuracy of a major league pitcher!

As I was pulling her back UP the hill (that's right, I had to pull her back up the hill each time as she yelled "rapido burro") I noticed the sled seemed to be getting heavier and heavier.  At first I thought it was just my stamina starting to fade, but when I stopped to catch my breath and looked back, I noticed that she had been dragging her arms like the blades on a plow and had filled up the entire sled with snow!  It was when I started to empty the snow out of the sled that she nailed me with her fast ball.  Fortunately after only three runs down the hill, she decided it was time for me to drag her sled back to the truck and get warm.

I figured I had better post this blog tonight because I may be too sore to do so tomorrow.

Maely's 1st Christmas in the US

Due to family schedules, we celebrated Christmas on the 25th and the 26th.  Maely had enough presents under the tree to last both days and she had a wonderful time shaking, weighing and guessing the contents before she opened each package.  She got so many clothes, toys, puzzles and electronic gadgets that we may have to hire a mule train to get all of her stuff back to her village.  Here are some pictures of her first Christmas in America:

Here she is opening up her biggest present...

which turned out to have another box inside it......which

turned out to have three more subsequently smaller boxes before she found a beautiful purple hooded top. You should have heard her squeal with laughter each time she found another present inside.

Here she is playing with a Nintendo DSI that her host family gave her for Christmas.  For a little girl who had never seen an airplane, tasted ice cream or heard of a computer...until a few months ago, she sure didn't take long to figure out how to use this electronic marvel!



In addition to being extremely bright, Maely is also very creative and definitely has some artistic talents.  Here are some items she made out of play dough:

Words cannot express the joy we have experienced sharing Maely's first Christmas in the US.  Her spontaneous peals of laughter has filled our hearts to overflowing and reminded us once again what it was like to be a child experiencing Christmas for the first time.  What a blessing and a privilege God has given us and we will cherish this time forever.  At the same time we are enjoying her presence here in the US, we are laying the groundwork to establish an agricultural cooperative in her home village that will eventually fund improvements to their health, education and economic welfare.

Maely tried several times to get in touch with her family in Honduras during the Christmas Holidays but was unable to get through.  She finally managed to talk to a cousin this morning who we hope will pass on to everyone else that she is healing quickly and having lots of fun.  Sometimes I worry that her experiences here in the US will make it difficult for her to adjust when she returns home, but God in HIS infinite wisdom has already prepared a solution to this challenge...its just up to us to trust and obey!    

Our youngest daughter, Courtney will be going into the hospital tomorrow morning to have her first baby....and our first grandson.  We can't wait to see the newest addition to our family.  Our oldest daughter is adopting a child from Ethiopia and will be traveling there in January for their mandatory 1st trip court date.  If all goes well, we will have our second grandson by the end of next February.  Lots of pictures to follow!   

Christmas Eve

Its 8:00 PM and we have just returned from the Christmas Eve service at our Church.  Maely wore her new Christmas dress and although she was very self conscious, it was plain to see that she was pleased with the way she looked.   As soon as we got home, she wanted me to print the attached photo so she could give it to her grandmother that raised her. 

At first it was very difficult to get a good picture of her because she would either hide or make faces at the camera.  As I am writing, I realize for the first time why that is...she has such a negative self image that she either avoids getting her picture taken or intentionally distorts her features to hide the "Maely" that she is ashamed of.   Since Maely arrived for the Christmas holidays just over a week ago, we have seen the full range of her emotions and we are beginning to see just how deeply she has been impacted by 12 years of ridicule and rejection she has suffered in her village.  She was born with a club foot, in a remote village in Honduras where that was looked upon as a curse from God.   Because of her birth defect, she has been told all of her life that she is "ugly".  How cruel people can be, but children can be the worst tormentors of all.  As we were looking through photos of some of the people in her village, she pointed out a number of children her age that had been very mean to her as she was growing up because of her deformity.  I had to fight back tears of anger mixed with sadness as I imagined how difficult that must have been for her.  However, her pain and sorrow has moved the creator of the Universe to intervene and rescue her not only from her physical defect but the deeper emotional wounds that she has suffered as well. 

Its hard to imagine a little girl as pretty as this....thinking that she is ugly!  Maely's Miracle continues to unfold as we see the very fingerprint of GOD evident in the physical and emotional healing process that she is undergoing.  Please be lifting her up in your prayers and also feel free to share her story with others.  I believe God will use Maely's story to reach the hearts of many and who knows how many may end up entering the kingdom of heaven because of it.




Here "the girls" are baking cookies.  Pat on the left, Maely in the middle, my mom on the right......and Gracie on the far right.  Gracie was in charge of cleanup!

Maely is learning to ride a bike for the first time so Pat thought she would start her off on a three wheeled version.....which just happened to offer her a chance to ride while she makes Maely peddle!

Soon after Maely arrived at our house, she began inspecting the presents, shaking them, weighing them and trying to guess what they were.  For a little girl who has never experienced Christmas...she sure catches on fast!  Starting on the 20th, we let her open up one present a night.  Interestingly enough, there have been a couple of nights she has chosen not to open a present...still scratching my head on that one!

Tomorrow is Christmas day so I had better get this posted and get to bed.  May the Lord of all creation speak to your heart this Christmas season with a personal message of HIS love and may your heart be filled with the peace that passes all understanding.

Maely's home for Christmas

Maely arrived in Seattle a few days ago and we were so happy to see her again.  Her cast was removed a little over a week ago and she only has to wear a brace for 6-8 hours per day for the next month or so.  She will go back to the doctor in mid January and perhaps find out then how much longer before she is released from the Doctors care.  She is getting around very well and its getting harder and harder to keep up with her!  Here she is meeting some of the locals!

She has adapted quickly to the 30 degree temperature temperature drop between Los Angeles and got to see snow yesterday for the first time in her life.  Here she is enjoying one of her favorite past times...devouring a double scoop strawberry ice cream on a waffle cone!

We will take her up into the mountains so she can get a chance to play in the snow before she returns to LA.  Tonight we were looking at videos of the last time Pat and I were in her village.  She was very excited to see familiar faces but she also pointed out many of the children that used to make fun of her because of her deformity.   Many of the people who have been touched by Maely's life are concerned about how she will be treated when she returns to the village.  The King's Storehouse will be setting up an Agricultural Cooperative in her village to provide farmers in her village with loans to maintain their coffee crops until they can begin producing a marketable harvest.  We intend to make it clear that this aid is being made available to them because God has chosen to bless them on behalf of this little girl whom they had shunned, ridiculed and rejected.  Maely's journey will end back in her village where it all began and we can only trust that God has prepared the peoples hearts to welcome her back.

Maely's cast comes off!

Maely was thrilled to call and tell us her cast had been removed.  The doctor said she will have to wear a brace for several weeks and will have to have another check up in January but if all continues to go well, she will be able to return home soon after her doctors release.  We could hear the happiness and excitement in her voice over the phone as she described what it was like to walk normally for the first time in her life.  Mending Kids International has done such a wonderful job in coordinating Maely's surgery, accommodations and convalescence!  We have grown particularly fond of the social worker (Cristina Farrut) that MKI has assigned to Maely's case.  She truly cares for this little girl and we have been very impressed by love and compassion.  Professional efficiency combined with love and compassion makes MKI a very speical organization to whom we will be forever greatful.  Pat and I hold this organization is very high regard and will be using their services again the next time God places another hurting child before us.

Maely will be flying in next week and I have spent the last two weeks putting up Christmas lights at our house.  I expect to start hearing complaints from the local airport because our house is sometimes in the flight approach path and I'm sure our Christmas lights could be mistaken for the airport!  We will post pictures when we pick her up next week and all throughout the Christmas and New Years holidays.  If you have been following this blog and look back at the first pictures we took of her in Honduras, you may have a hard time recognizing her.  The joy and self confidence that radiates from her face now is hard to describe.  She is beginning a new life now.  One in which she will no longer be different, an object of ridicule, an outcast.  A life in which she can run and skip with others her age and never again hear the cruel remarks about her deformity that exiled her within her own village.  God has worked a miracle in her life but I think that we have just begun to see the full impact of what has occurred here.  What an amazing story God is writing for this little girl.  I will share more later on how Maely's story will impact every person living in her village.  She left an outcast and will return as God's blessing to the entire village.

May God richly bless you this Christmas season and may you not forget that Christmas isn't about presents, decorations, discount sales, dinner parties or food....its about Jesus who came to earth the first time as an innocent baby born to die for our sins.  One day soon, Jesus the righteous judge, the Lion from the tribe of Judah will return, He will set up His kingdom upon this earth and rule the nations with a rod of iron.  Until that day, we must be busy preparing the way for the coming of our King and keep looking up for our redemption draweth nigh.