My first time at Casa Aleluya was with Fellowship Bible Church during spring break of 2017. This trip was also my first time traveling out of the country alone. I knew the Lord was calling me to do greater things with my life, but I was not sure what that was until I arrived at Casa. I was immediately overwhelmed by the infinite amount of joy and love I saw in the kids. Spending a week here, I knew this was where the Lord was calling me to serve. I returned for another spring break in 2018, and I felt a peace here at Casa. When I returned home, I applied to be an Intern which began my journey at Casa – a journey that would truly transform my life and transformed who I am.
I graduated High School May 18, 2019 and moved to Casa June 10, 2019 for one year. When I arrived, I found out I would be working in Esperanza Arriba which is the house where girls ages 10-13 live. My job for the year was to help the dorm parent and to love and spend time with the girls and help a teacher at the Casa school organize her room and school supplies. Each day, I helped wake the girls up in the morning, ate with them, and spent most of my time playing outside with the kids. The girls soon became my best friends and Casa became my home.
Before I moved to Casa I had thought and prayed about certain things I wanted the Lord to teach/show me in my time at Casa. Three main things I wanted to focus on were: 1) how to love others well; 2) how to love myself, and 3) how to be patient.
The Lord has certainly answered my prayer through my time living in a house of 25 girls. Each day I had the opportunity to love, care for, and spend time with an amazing group of girls. Learning patience has been a very important, partly because there is still a language barrier and partly because our relationships are still growing. The Lord taught me new things every day through these girls.
If you are considering an internship with Casa or feel God calling you to come serve, then I urge you to take that leap of faith. This year has been a life changing experience for me as I have grown in my walk with the Lord and have made new friendships that will last a lifetime.