Amor Real Ministries News

February 2018

Pat's Ladies 

This month our Pat's Ladies Highlight is Liria, a 44-year-old mother of five who came to Pat's Place four years ago. The father of her children had threatened to kill her and the children by burning down their home with all inside when he was drunk. Thankfully, she escaped, but no house of refuge wanted to take her because she had so many children. When they finally came to Pat's Place, her and the children, ages five to eighteen, were still so full of fear. The children urinated in their beds and had difficult behavioral and learning problems. Over the last four years, their lives have improved tremendously. They now know Jesus in their lives, the children are getting good grades in school, and they have found a true refuge, family and love that they had never known before.

If you are interested in supporting this or other families at Pat's Place, Click Here.

If you would like to donate a water filtration system which provides 5 years of clean drinking water for a family, Click Here.

Upcoming Events

If you've ever thought about doing a mission trip, our next trip is perfect for YOU! Amor Real will host its next trip to Peru this April 21-28. You will have the opportunity to build a house in a local community, share your heart with the families of Pat's Place, and reach out to the people of Peru with God's love and mercy. The cost is $1,500, and you must sign up with a $750 deposit by March 1.

We also have exciting summer trips planned this July. The first trip will be July 5-14, and the second trip will be July 13-22. Both cost $1800 and require signup with a $200 deposit by April 1. Also, there is an option during both trips to travel to Machu Picchu July 14-17 for an additional $700. You must provide an extra $500 deposit by April 1.

Coming up this May 3, Amor Real will host a Bowlathon at Stars & Strikes Family Entertainment Center in Sandy Springs, GA. If you are interested in participating, we are recruiting teams of five people to donate their time and $250 per team (or $50 per person) for Pat's Place, our home for abused women and their children in San Juan de Lurigancho, in Lima, Peru. For more information, please reply to this email or contact Alex at 678-861-9283.

January 2018 Trip Update

Our most recent mission trip took place January 17-24. A team of four built a home in the community of Paradise, as seen above, which was donated by Howard Capital Management. They took all the families of Pat's Place to the Lima Zoo. They also traveled to Nazca for a look at the famous Nazca Lines.

"Dessert with Laura"

The first fundraiser for Amor Real Ministries took place on Friday, October 21, 2016, at The Vine Community Church, on behalf of Pat’s Place, our home for abused women and their children. The event, promoted as “Dessert with Laura,” was a sweet time of fellowship with the director of Pat’s Place, Laura Ali. While she has worked closely with the home since its inception in 2006, she has been the director for the last eight years. She had her very first opportunity to visit the United States last month for two weeks, and we had the pleasure of hearing her heart on this special evening.

Alex Compton opened the evening with a brief overview of Amor Real Ministries and what we do, including the many mission trips we have planned for 2017. Then Tim Koenning gave a testimony of his various travels in Peru and his commitment to serving with ARM in any way he can. After a short break including bidding on Silent Auction items, we continued with hearing directly from Laura via Tim as our translator.

Many were moved to tears time and again as Laura began sharing the stories of the women that have come through or are currently residing at Pat’s Place. She explained that she gets phone calls from different pastors or other homes who have women that need a place to go, some who have nowhere else willing to take them. Some come with open hearts willing to find healing and a new life, while others have been hardened by abuse and take longer to open up. Laura develops a program with each of them individually, as well as a staff social worker, psychologist and lawyer if necessary. No program is the same for everyone, and the length of time they live at the house is always different.

Together with the ladies, Laura now uses “PAT” as an acronym that stands for “Paz (peace), Amor (love), and Transformacion (transformation) en Jesus (in Jesus).” The women seek a refuge that can provide all three of those things, along with hope for a new life. Some have started college, while others are learning a new trade as part of their program. It was very obvious how passionate Laura is for the work she does with these women; they are a very important part of her life and family as well. She has “adopted daughters” over the years, and her own daughters consider them family as well.

The evening ran long, but the passion of Laura’s heart was clearly communicated in every spoken—and every unspoken—word. What a blessing to have such an opportunity with this woman of God! Thank you to all those who came out to join us that night. We are so grateful for your love and support of this important work of the Lord in San Juan de Lurigancho.