Mission:
Equip Salvadorean Christian families to receive vulnerable and/or orphaned children into their homes and disciple them in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Vision:
To provide a loving Christian family to every orphan in El Salvador.
What we do?
- We work with local evangelical Salvadorean churches to recruit potential families that can provide family care to vulnerable and/or orphaned children. We work with the local church because they are a key source of accountability and can provide a wrap-around support group to the temporary families within the church.
- We walk alongside the temporary families in the healing process of the children’s heart by providing financial, spiritual, and psychological support. None of these are provided by the local child protection system when a family steps up to become a temporary family. This is why there’s only handful of temporary families in the entire country.
- We shepherd the temporary family’s heart to make sure they’re staying spiritually & emotionally healthy to love and care for the vulnerable child placed in their home, but most important to disciple them and point them to Christ.
- We equip the temporary families with continue trainings on trauma informed care, grieving, attachment and other related topics that will provide tools to face the challenges of providing temporary family care. We want the temporary family to know they’re not alone!
- Provide the vulnerable children opportunities to develop their gifts and abilities and become godly men and women, by covering that extra mile.
- Encourage and develop the culture of “belonging to a family” through our temporary family program within the body of Christ in El Salvador. Mobilize the local Salvadorean church to care for their orphans.
How?
Working with local Salvadorian Christian churches to seek for Godly families that have the calling to serve as substitute families to intake these children in their own home. As they model what a family looks like, they use this opportunity to disciple the children in the gospel and point them to Jesus. Once the family has been trained and certified by the government, they become available to receive a child that has gone through early childhood trauma. Healing Love Ministries comes along side the certified substitute family to cover for the child’s food, clothing, education, health, transportation and most important their spiritual needs; teaching them to trust their lives to Jesus.
Why?
We are convinced that God designed the family structure for a reason and it has a deep effect on a person’s development into adulthood. The sinful nature in human kind has driven us away from God’s family design where instead of protecting the children, they are being abused and abandoned. When a person has gone through a trauma of abuse or abandonment in their early childhood, this can leave deep wounds that last for the rest of their life. We want to walk with these children and let them know that they are loved, not only by us but that the creator and savior of this world loves them!
When?
-In 2016 The Barlow family moved back to Wisconsin to lay down the legal framework and get established as a 501(c)(3) setting up a Board of Directors for accountability.
-In 2019 they legally opened a branch in El Salvador and filed our programs to the Salvadorean child protection system that where finally approved by the end of 2020 (covid year).
-In 2021: Our first temporary family got certified by the Salvadorean child protection system! Read the Zepeda’s story here.
-In 2022: The Zepedas received 3 children in their home throughout the year. The first placement was a pair of siblings ages 5 and 11 months. The second placement was a 23 days old baby.
-In 2023: Our second temporary family got certified by the Salvadorean child protection system; the Lopez’s! Read their story here.
-In Feb 2024: Our second temporary family (the Lopez’s) were assigned their first child!
-In 2025: Two more families get certified and join our ministry: The Garcia & Figueroa! Read their story here.
-In 2026: A fifth family gets certified by the child protection system; The Villatoro’s and in May received their first child. Read their story here.