It is with tremendous sadness that I share with you the passing of Beverley Allison

Dear Friends,

 

It is with tremendous sadness that I share with you the passing of Beverley Allison, executive director of Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society (OLRFMS). Beverley died in her sleep in her home in Gordonsville, Va., some time late Monday evening/early Tuesday morning.  

Prior to her work with OLRFMS, Beverley worked in the news industry, including for ABC News Bureau in Washington D.C. She began her foreign mission work in the mid-70s, helping to create a new branch of the South American Mission Society (SAMS), where she stayed from 1976 to 1985, working mostly in the southern region of the continent, namely Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. This would eventually lead to her work with me as Bishop of Honduras, establishing the Committee to Assist the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras in the mid-1980s and later OLRFMS, where she has served as executive director since its founding.

We have established a special fund in her honor, the Beverley Allison Memorial Fund, to support the ongoing work and needs of OLRFMS and Our Little Roses Ministry in Honduras.

More information will follow at a later date on how we will honor Beverley and her service and ministry to OLRFMS. In the meantime, I ask you to keep the staff and ministry of OLRFMS in your prayers as we continue our work to support Our Little Roses Ministry in providing a safe, secure and nurturing home for abandoned, abused and at-risk girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Blessings,

+ Leo Frade

Chair-OLRFMS

Charlotte Padrinos hosted their 3rd annual gala dinner to benefit Our Little Roses Home for Girls

On Saturday, September 29, 2012, the Charlotte Padrinos hosted their third annual invitation only gala dinner to benefit Our Little Roses Home for Girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  The dinner took place at 7 pm at the home of Kristen and Al Guarnieri.

The Charlotte Padrinos ("Godparents"), a group of Charlotte families and their children have been traveling to Honduras since 2004 to support Our Little Roses Home for Girls.  The Charlotte Padrinos are spreading the word throughout the Charlotte community about this mission of hope through events such as the September 29th gala dinner, neighborhood donut sales, wine tastings and other fundraising events. 

Over $18,500 was raised at the dinner and will go directly to Our Little Roses to be used to assist in breaking of the cycle of poverty and oppression of girls in Honduras.  These girls have been rescued after suffering abuse.  They are nurtured, loved and educated at Our Little Roses Home so, when they become adults, they can be part of a better future for themselves and Honduras.  In addition to financial support for the Home, the “godparents” support the girls throughout the year through personal visits, notes of encouragement, English language tutorials and in other ways. 

“We're so proud to be involved in such a worthwhile organization like Our Little Roses Home for Girls.” said Kristen Guarnieri.  “It's tremendously fulfilling to know that we're able to make a difference in these girls' lives and help break the cycle of poverty and abuse.    Our goal is to spread this message of hope to others in the Charlotte community, and make them aware of the many ways in which they can join this cause and help change the world, one girl at a time.”      

Kristen

Christmas is coming!

Please take a look at our new Christmas Flier and consider donating to the girls this holiday season, thank you. :)

Sharing God's Love

 Mandy Minger, member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, PA writes -

  

"On the day we arrived, we were visiting the girls in the home and Heidy was combing my niece, Mady's, hair. A few of the little girls were giggling and watching and I was tickling them when Rocío walked over. She sat on my lap and then settled in on my shoulder and quickly fell asleep. I couldn't believe it and asked one of the tias where her bedroom was so that I could put her down for a nap. When I stood up, she sleepily pointed back to the chair outside her room indicating that she wanted me to sit there in the breeze and she dozed off again. I felt pure joy as I held Rocío. It was like holding an angel and I knew that I was in the right place at the right time doing God's work. I'm smiling as I recall how happy I felt watching her sleep on my shoulder. I love that she trusted me enough to hang her arms around my neck and sleep peacefully." 

Education The Key For Success

 

In today's modern and competitive society, OLRM continues making education a priority providing all the girls with an education of excellence according to their abilities to make them shine and be successful in life.  This past month of June, Heydi completed her pre-school education, Diana and Ismelda completed their elementary school graduating from Sixth Grade, Belkis Jasmin received her Diploma as a Certified Nurse's Aide, which was her dream, and Olga graduated from College with a degree in Business Administration.

CONGRATULATION GIRLS!! 

It was not a Dream!

Ronald McDonald visited OLRM!

Full of excitement, the girls from Our Little Roses received a visit from Ronald MacDonald as part of a campaign by McDonald Fast Food Restaurants to "Plant a Tree". The purpose of Ronald visiting both the Home and the School was to create awareness to not only plant a tree, but also to protect the environment for humanity to enjoy providing a planet with clean water, ample food and good health.

Our Little Roses is on Facebook!

Please connect with us on Facebook! We'll be sharing many photos and news posts, and we would love for you to help us spread the word!

Our Little Roses Facebook Page

New Vision, New Life!!

 

This is the story of Naomi, a 6 year old girl who at this tender age was in need of a third eye surgery to correct a problem that she was born with that caused her eyes to be severely crossed.  

Naomi is the third of 4 sisters rescued by the Juvenile Court and she was the most affected due to the malnourishment in which she was growing up.  Naomi's problem was not only her vision, but also her chronic sinusitis that made it impossible to have the eye surgery. Under treatment for chronic sinusitis she was not able to eat ice cream or have cold drinks and keeping her away from that was almost impossible.  

On May 5th her sinusitis gave her a break and one of the Tias left immediately with Naomi to Tegucigalpa, the Capital City of Honduras, located 4 hours from San Pedro Sula where the home is located and an eye surgeon who was a specialist in this condition was able to perform the surgery in one of the most prestigious clinics in Honduras.  

Our Little Roses thanks the generosity of one of our Board Members who provided the financial support for her to have the eye surgery. There is no doubt that this successful surgery has made a tremendous difference in Naomi's vision and quality of life.  After she returned to San Pedro Sula, Naomi told Tía Caty, who is one of the staff:  "Now I see only one of you, before I saw two of you at a time".

Holy Week in Honduras

  

Holy Week is one of the hottest times of the year in Honduras. It is vacation time for most of Latin America but for the girls of Our Little Roses it is a time of sharing the secular with the religious. During Holy Week all the governmental institutions are closed for the entire week. Most private businesses and banks close Thursday and Friday. 

Our girls had a whole week of vacation where many activities were planned including a trip to the Retreat Center, Our Lady of the Roses and Weeks-Schilling Conference Center. They were able to escape the heat of the city to enjoy a relaxed time in a cooler, harmonious environment where they were able to enjoy the mountain air and the freedom of walking to the village and enjoying the river that runs behind the property. The Center promotes their personal growth and helps to develop and strengthen their spiritual lives. Pueblo Nuevo, where the Center is located is a small rural touristic town located 45 minutes from San Pedro Sula. 

Like many other rural villages they have traditions and dramas enacting indigenous beliefs. One of the most renowned and popular traditions during Holy Week is the visit by characters called "judios" (Spanish for "Jews"). These are masked individuals who carry wooden swords, speak in a strange guttural manner and generally cause mayhem by staging riotous mock sword fights. The "judios" run through town until finally someone gives them some "lempiras" to go away or to leave them alone. 

 

The youngest girls who had never seen these characters before ran to the Retreat Center screaming but quickly the tias were able to calm their fears by explaining that this age old tradition was only a prank played out every year during Holy Week. Afterwards, the "judios" took off their masks so the girls could see that they were normal people. Soon afterwards they enjoyed being able to pose with them for pictures.

Rose Garden email newsletter!

Friday, April 6, 2012

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Run For Our Little Roses

A benefit run for Our Little Roses - A home for at risk girls in Honduras

 

 Dear Friends,

Thank you to all who participated in last year's Annual OC Coast Run for Our Little Roses Marathon and Half Marathon. It was a special event that benefited Our Little Roses, a home  for at risk girls in San Pedro Sula , Honduras .

The fourth annual run takes place in Newport Beach , California on the same  course as last year’s run along the beautiful pacific coast. Last year we raised more than $10,000 from the run alone! We hope you can join us this June to help us ensure another great year.

The run will take place June 9th, but the April 2 , 2012 deadline for registration is quickly approaching.

To register for the 2012 Run for Our Little Roses please click on  http://runforourlittleroses.com/donate/

Do you want an easy way to help Our Little Roses?

Whenever you book your flight on either American Airlines or Delta Airlines, in addition to submitting your frequent flyer number to get your personal miles, you can add Our Little Roses Business Account Number to get extra business miles. The great news is that this is a bonus. It does not impact your frequent flyer points. It is just additional points for Our Little Roses.

For both airlines you can add the business account number 2 ways. Here is how you do it -

1) If you have an online account with either airline you can add the number to your profile. 

For American it is called:

American Airline Business ExtrAA: 781284

For Delta it is called:

 SkyBonus® US0020787

2) Every time you book a flight using either Delta or America as your carrier regardless if you are booking via Expedia, Travelocity, your travel agent, etc., when you give them your frequent flyer number also give them these business account number. Just keep these numbers with your frequent flyer numbers.

It is easy as one, two, three and it makes a big impact for Our Little Roses. If you have any questions, email Kristen@ourlittleroses.org.

Thank you!