Amor Real / Pat's Place Youth Retreat

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share an update from our youth retreat that took place two weeks ago. Our team of 7 Americans (Pastor Rob & Jennifer Walker, Brendan & Maddie Barnett, Tim Koenning, Maile Popp, and myself) and 13 Peruvians departed from Lima for Cajamarca early on Sunday, October 13th at 4 AM. Despite the early start and some tired faces, we reached our retreat center by 9 AM, ready to embark on an exciting four-day adventure. We had 2 sessions a day where we were able to have worship, teachings, and prayer with our students.

We were fortunate to have the best weather imaginable, with cool 48-degree mornings and pleasant 65-degree afternoons. The youth from Pat’s Place were thrilled to have a few days away from their usual routines. One of the highlights of the trip was watching them conquer their fear of heights. While only a few dared to soar through the air on the zip lines, every one of them took on the challenge of the ropes course with determination and enthusiasm.

Thank You to everyone that helped make this amazing trip possible for our students. Without all of you, Pat’s Place would not exist.

We are about to embark on a huge Pat’s Place make over in March of 2025. Every year we must go through the house and perform routine maintenance, and replace things in the house, but next year we are looking to do a lot more. This will be a major under taking for us, and we need your help. Our fundraising goal over the next couple moths is $20,000 dollars to help cover everything we are doing. Below is the short list of items, but it not everything.

1. Replace Every Bed and Mattress for our families.

2. Build out Closets in 8 bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

3. Completely rebuild the pantry on for the 3rd floor kitchen where our mothers do all of the cooking.

4. Due to the type of home we have, we have been asked to place braces on the windows for security purposes.

5. Reinforce the stairwell steps from the first floor to the fourth floor along with the outside railings.

We would greatly appreciate your support for our day-to-day needs. If you are interested in supporting our efforts, please know that we cannot do this without your help. All money donated to Amor Real goes directly to Pat's Place. Here are some wonderful ways you can help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

5. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Amor Real October Update

Hello Everyone, We've had a very busy month, and the next two weeks will be just as hectic. Before we dive into what's coming up, let's recap the past few weeks. Last month, Amor Real received a generous donation from Jim Hankins at Textile Creations: a pallet containing over 1,200 new women's dress shirts in various sizes, colors, and styles. Many of these shirts will be taken to Peru next week by our team to be given as gifts to our families. Eventually all of the shirts will make it down to Peru to bless families or be sold to help raise money for Pat’s Place. We are grateful for this great donation that has blessed us already.

As some of you know, Alex was invited to speak at the Revive Barcelona Conference in Barcelona, Spain. It was a quick three-night trip. During the event, Alex joined a team of Pastors who spoke all day Saturday at the Magic Center, a mall in downtown Barcelona. With over 400 attendees, each Pastor was given a topic and 45 minutes to speak. The team was very well received and felt tremendously blessed to pray over everyone at the conference. Here is a note Alex received from a young man (Andres) at the conference that Alex had the opportunity to pray with. Pastor Alex, You saw me in my storm. You guided me from the test. You carried me in my sadness and changed my life.

As we approach the final months of 2024 and look ahead to 2025, we have some exciting plans in the works. Amor Real would greatly appreciate your help and support as we prepare for Christmas at Pat’s Place. This year's Christmas celebration will cost $1,500, which includes presents for everyone and a nice dinner.

Looking forward to 2025, we are planning a significant renovation for Pat’s Place. Running a house for 30 people, especially with many children, requires a lot of effort. Our goal for 2025 is to completely upgrade the 2nd and 3rd floors of the home with new beds, mattresses, closets, shelving, a pantry, stairwell railing, window railing for the children's security, and new tiles outside the first floor as the current ones are coming apart. We also plan to repaint the house. This project will cost approximately $20,000.

Your support would mean the world to us as we embark on these endeavors. Thank you for considering contributing to our cause.

As we prepare for the rest of October, our team of Pastors and Leaders from The Prayer Room church leave this Saturday to take the teenagers of Pat’s Place on a 4 day trip to Cajamarca, Peru. This trip is needed as we protect and guide the next generation. The only way we can make sure that our youth do not fall into the same abuse that their parents have is to help guide them with the knowledge of Christ. Our theme for this week is Made for More. The team will be guiding our youth through Relationship in Jesus, Overcoming Temptations, Faithfulness, Life as a Child of God, and The Resurrection of Life through Jesus.

Below are pictures of our students and leaders who will be joining the trip next week. We are fortunate to have our leadership team from The Prayer Room Church accompanying us. This includes Pastor Robert and Jennifer Walker, Pastor Alex Compton (Youth Pastor), and Youth Leaders Brendan and Maddie Barnett. Additionally, Laura Ali (Director of Pat’s Place), our Senior Board Member Tim Koenning (Director of Missions), and our long-time house building coordinator Maile Popp will be with the team to assist with translation. Please be in prayer for the entire team, staff, travel, and our families at home. Our families back in the states will need your prayers as the team is gone for an entire week.

We would greatly appreciate your support for our day-to-day needs. If you are interested in supporting our efforts, please know that we cannot do this without your help. All money donated to Amor Real goes directly to Pat's Place. Here are some wonderful ways you can help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $30 - Supports Christmas for 1 Person at Pat's Place

3. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

4. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

5. $400 - Supports 1 Student for our Biannual Amor Real Youth Camp. We have 12 going to camp this year.

6. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

7. $1500 - Supports Christmas for Pat's Place

8. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Pat's Place Fun

Hi Everyone,

We have had a few months full of excitement with various festivities such as celebrating the Independence of our country, enjoying holidays where families relaxed in the park without homework, and getting vaccines to strengthen our health. The children of Pat’s Place had a great time participating in the school parade, where we secured second place at the secondary level. The mothers celebrated their children's school achievements, including science projects and group work. This month, the children will begin the school Olympics, adding to the excitement. Families are also learning and enjoying the devotionals. We are immensely grateful for the infinite love and care that God has for the families of Pat’s Place and for the generous support from those who provide for Pat’s Place every month, enabling us to continue moving forward.

**Exciting News! 2024 Amor Real Youth Camp**

We are thrilled to announce the 2024 Amor Real Youth Camp! This year, we are taking our teenagers to the beautiful Sulluschocha Adventure Lodge in Cajamarca, Peru. The cost for each participant is $400, and we are aiming to raise $8,000 to support a team of 20 teenagers.

We are honored to have several pastors from North America joining us to guide and teach our students throughout this incredible journey. In addition to spiritual growth, our teenagers will enjoy a variety of activities including horseback riding, zip-lining, swimming, canoeing, and much more.

This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our youth. We invite you to consider sponsoring a teenager for this transformative trip.

Thank you for your support!

We would love your support for our day to day needs as well. If you are interested in supporting what we do, below are some great ways to help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $400 - Supports 1 Student for our Biannual Amor Real Youth Camp. We have 20 going to camp this year.

5. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

6. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Amor Real Summer \ Winter Fun

Hello Everyone,

As you all know, July is winter in Peru, making it a fantastic time to visit, especially for those of us enduring the 100+ degree heat in the South. Last month seemed to fly by, so I wanted to give everyone an update. This will be a longer update than normal.

In June, we reached out with a need for a couple of our family members who required glasses. Amazingly, within an hour of sending that message, all the glasses were paid for. The very happy recipients of those glasses are Elizabeth (top left), Gael (middle left), and Jose Manuel (bottom left). They are thrilled to be able to see clearly for reading and writing.

Watching the video of Gael before he got his glasses was heart wrenching; he had to hold the paper right up to his face and could only read with one eye. Now, he can read normally with both eyes. He was in tears the day the doctor put the glasses on him because he had only known what it was like to struggle to see and read before. Now, he sees everything very clearly.

In the other pictures, you can see little Melanie (middle) growing up so fast. I was blessed to be there as she left for dance in her traditional Peruvian outfit. We also have Gabby (top right) and Ruth (bottom right) getting ready to eat pancakes. Anyone who has been on a trip with me knows that we always have a morning where we cook pancakes for the families. When it came time to pray over breakfast, Ruth was ready to go. It is a blessing to listen to them pray over their meals. They are very thankful for everything that has been provided to them. Their prayers are not short either, unlike most kids who want to say something quick and then get to eating.

Amor Real on Mission:

We were blessed to have three teams at Pat’s Place this summer. Below are some pictures from our July team with The Vine Community Church. I was fortunate to have both of my daughters, Elianna (center bottom, age 12) and Gracie (top right, age 14), with me on this trip. Elianna actually spent six weeks in Peru helping Laura at Pat’s Place, which was a significant step in her life.

During this trip, we built three houses, worked with Hope House in Jicamarca, collaborated with Isaac Newton school in Paraiso, and spent a lot of time with our Pat’s Place families. The Vine organized an entire spa day for our mothers, who felt so loved by the women of The Vine as they spent hours with them. We were also blessed by our friend Yury, who came over with her staff to provide some spa services as well.

Lastly, we dedicated our missions floor to Aiden Curcio. Holly and I have been blessed to know the Curcio family for the past 15 years. Since 2018, there has been a Curcio on a trip with Amor Real. Last year, we were fortunate to have Aiden with us. When considering how to spend the last year of your life, I feel blessed that he chose to spend it with us. It was a great honor for Holly and me to dedicate the fourth floor to Aiden. He truly understood the meaning of living a life on missions. I have posted the dedication below if you would like to watch the live stream.

**Exciting News! 2024 Amor Real Youth Camp**

We are thrilled to announce the 2024 Amor Real Youth Camp! This year, we are taking our teenagers to the beautiful Sulluschocha Adventure Lodge in Cajamarca, Peru. The cost for each participant is $400, and we are aiming to raise $8,000 to support a team of 20 teenagers.

We are honored to have several pastors from North America joining us to guide and teach our students throughout this incredible journey. In addition to spiritual growth, our teenagers will enjoy a variety of activities including horseback riding, zip-lining, swimming, canoeing, and much more.

This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our youth. We invite you to consider sponsoring a teenager for this transformative trip.

Thank you for your support!

We would love your support for our day to day needs as well. If you are interested in supporting what we do, below are some great ways to help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $400 - Supports 1 Student for our Biannual Amor Real Youth Camp. We have 20 going to camp this year.

5. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

6. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Amor Real Mothers Day

We had a great weekend celebrating Mothers Day in Peru. Thank you for making there day feel so special. Please read a special note from our Director Laura Ali.

Our families had a fabulous time celebrating a special day that is “Mother's Day”.

Reflecting on this day leads me to know more about each Mother of Pat’s Place; about their feelings and emotions on this Mother's Day where they ask themselves: am I a good mother? If they have done the right thing to keep their children away from their parents? Do they deserve to be forgiven? They may have many negative thoughts that invade their minds and lead them to frustration; their emotions are like the waves of the sea that rise and fall.

Our goal is to help them know that they are loved, they are accepted, they are valuable, and adored with the love of Jesus. This is very important because each mother carries wounds from a very young age that need a healing that only Jesus can provide. While they need this daily, Mothers Day is one day they need to know more than any other.

Thank you and thank you to all the people who help keep Pat’s Place standing.

We enjoyed a very special day out.

"Happy Mother's Day"

We would love your support for our day to day needs as well. If you are interested in supporting what we do, below are some great ways to help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

5. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Amor Real / Pat's Place Updates

Hello from Amor Real. The past month and a half have been a blur between celebrations, school, small vacations on the weekends to get in the pool, playing volley ball or soccer everyday. Of course, summer time is upon us here in the united states while winter is coming to Peru. Although they have not had much of a winter in almost 2 years, I know that they are looking forward to a break in the heat. With summer coming, that means it is missions season for us. While we take teams all year long, the summer is our busiest season. We currently have 3 times from 3 different states headed to Peru in June and July. Some of the big items happening over the summer months are going to be building out the 5th floor of Pat’s Place (future apartments for our families while they are in transition), multiple homes / soup kitchens in Paraiso, Women’s Conferences, and much more. Laura is preparing for next weekend which is Mothers Day. With a home of 30+ people, most of which are women, you can imagine that Mothers day is a big day for us. We are going to make sure the day is unforgettable for them as well. We are planning another small update with a letter from Laura during that time.

Below are just a few images of our time in March celebrating Cielo’s quienceanera. Something that we love to do at Amor Real, is make sure that our families do not miss out on life. We are blessed to be able to provide celebrations like this for our mothers and their children. Thank You to all of our supporters for making this happen. The amount of love that our families see from your generosity is why our program is so successful. We would not be here without you. A big thank you to the Canouse family for being able to be part of this day. Cielo was blessed to have her 3 Dads, Jack Canouse, Tim Koenning, and Alex Compton and her second mother Carolyn Canouse in town for her big day. Uncle Charlie was in town as well which made all of the kids smile when he walked in the door. The Make A Miracle team even brought a few guests to the party. Our families love visitors, so the more the merrier.

Update on 5th floor construction. We have been blessed to have $2500 dollars committed towards the 5th floor to cover mattresses, toilets, and misc. other supplies. I also had another $1000 come in this week as well for the 5th floor. That gets us to $5,000 dollars of $8,000 dollar budget.

Any amount helps get us to the finish line. Please remember that all donations are tax deductible. Please click the Donate Link Below.

1. $75 Dollars in Electrical Wiring for the 3 different rooms

2. $500 Dollars in Sheetrock

3. $500 Tile for the Bathroom

4. Labor for the project

We would love your support for our day to day needs as well. If you are interested in supporting what we do, below are some great ways to help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

5. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Pat's Place 2024 Back to School

Hi Everyone,

Our kids officially started school this month. We want to say a great big thank you to The Prayer Room Church for raising the $1900 dollars this year for 17 of our kids to have brand new uniforms. This has been a tremendous blessing to our kids as everyone understands, children go through clothes very quickly. We are also grateful to Estefania, Pamela, and our friends in the U.S. for donating school supplies. Lastly, thank you to Carrie Meersman and her neighborhood for providing a ton of vitamins and school supplies that I will be bringing to Peru this Sunday. We are truly blessed to have such amazing supporters that help take care of our children. Please take a quick look at the pictures below from the first day of school.

Alex and Tim are heading to Peru this week to celebrate a big event at Pat’s Place. One of our amazing girls (Cielo) has turned 15 years old which means it is time for a huge fiesta. We will definitely have pictures and videos on social media after the Party next week, so please stay tuned for those.

Update on 5th floor construction. We have been blessed to have $2500 dollars committed towards the 5th floor to cover mattresses, toilets, and misc. other supplies. I also had another $1000 come in this week as well for the 5th floor. That gets us to $5,000 dollars of $8,000 dollar budget.

Any amount helps get us to the finish line. Please remember that all donations are tax deductible. Please click the Donate Link Below.

1. $75 Dollars in Electrical Wiring for the 3 different rooms

2. $500 Dollars in Sheetrock

3. $500 Tile for the Bathroom

4. Labor for the project

We would love your support for our day to day needs as well. If you are interested in supporting what we do, below are some great ways to help.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

5. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.

Amor Real / Pat's Place Update

Hi Amor Real Supporters, Donors, and Readers of our monthly update. In trying to break things up a little, I have posted little paragraphs between each picture so that you can see the happy faces while reading. Tim and Alex will be in Peru for one of our favorite parties of all time. Cielo has turned 15 and of course that means its time for a big birthday party. We look forward to providing an update with tons of pictures while we are in Peru in 3 weeks.

We are also preparing for some updates to Pat’s Place. It is time to update our 5th floor as it has not changed in many years. We are going to provide another phase to our program prior to the families moving out, we are building out 3 small apartments on the 5th floor along with 2 more bathrooms and showers. Since this is fully covered and we do not want to add a bunch of weight to the floor, we are able to use Sheetrock up here for the apartments. Each apartment will have Power, water, bathrooms, closets, and beds for our families to have a place to move into as the final stage before leaving Pat’s Place. We need your help for this phase of the program as it is a big project. I am going to post some of the cost below in. If you would like to help, please click on the Donate Button at the bottom of the page.

There are a lot more items than the list below. The current project will cost about $8,000 dollars. Any amount helps get us to the finish line. Please remember that all donations are tax deductible.

1. $50 Dollars for bedding for each bed

2. $75 Dollars in Electrical Wiring for the 3 different rooms

3. $150 Dollars per Mattress - Need 10 Mattresses in Total.

4. $250 Dollars per Toilet - need 2 Toilets

5. $500 Dollars in Sheetrock

What an amazing summer our families have had at Pat’s Place. We have been able to relax, have fun, sleep in and even go to the beach. There were also a couple parties along the way for our kiddos as they were promoted from one grade to the next. We are very proud of them all. Most of our kids and mothers come into Pat’s Place barely being able to read, write, and even understand the basic concepts of their own language. Holly and I are very proud of the work that Laura and Pamela do all year long to make Pat’s Place an amazing home that families want to enter. Not only are we able to provide the basic needs of a home, but they learn the importance of what LOVE is, what a FAMILY is, what PEACE is, what an EDUCATION means for their future.

Look at the wonderful smiles on the children’s faces. Thank you to all of our sponsors, donors, and families that give to Amor Real. Without your support we would not be able to support the 33 current residence at Pat’s Place. Thank you for the love that you pour out on our families with your selfless act. As you can see, our kids love to play outside. Volleyball is the official sport of Pat’s Place. They play it everyday, all day long. Even when the school year starts, they paly before school, after school, and in between. When you are visiting the house, you can hear the sound of Laughter outside as they play.

As our kids prepare to go back to school in March, they had to get their mandatory vaccinations. I saved everyone the heartache of the tears of all the other photos. As we all know kids do not like to get shots. However, after they got them, Laura made sure there was plenty of lollipops and cookies to make it worth the 1 minute of pain.

Through your partnership, families find “P” (“paz”=peace), “A” (“amor”=love) and “T” (“transformacion”=transformation) at P.A.T.’s Place.

We invite you to partner with us in the following ways…

1. $10 - Feeds 5 kids for a day.

2. $50 - Feeds all 30 women and kids for a day.

3. $100 - Supports a person for a month or all 30 women and kids for food for 2 days. (Sponsorship covers housing, food, medical needs, counseling/therapy, and everyday supplies that families need).

4. $500 - Supports 5 people which could be 2 families or 1 family of 5 for a month.

5. $3200 - Supports the entire house for a month which covers food, medical supplies, housing, schooling, counseling, and therapy.