An elementary-age girl leans against a door frame of a small ramshackle wood building with a big smile and a head full of brightly-colored hair rollers. She is wearing a simple sun dress with hot pink sandals.

It is a school day and instead of sitting behind a desk solving a math problem or reading a book, she is getting her hair done and “hanging out” with her friends in the Eduardo Brito community in the town of Pedro Brand in the Dominican Republic.

Her image stayed with me after my visit to the Dominican Republic last fall and as I look back on the trip, I always return to the face of this adorable girl of 8 or 9 and wonder about her future.

Will she become one of the young teenage mothers found sitting on lawn chairs positioned near scraps of grass tending her babies playing in the dirt? Will she ever learn to read a book? Will she attend school? Will she drive a car?

Will she have the chance to travel outside of the Dominican Republic? Does she have a future outside the dirt roads of her neighborhood with its limited electricity, dilapidated shanty structures and open sewage running down the street?

In December, Buckner opened a Community Transformation Center in her neighborhood just around the corner from the makeshift beauty shop. Buckner believes that a CTC offers a chance to the children and families in this fragile community. Through a variety of integrated services, we believe if you change the direction of a child’s life, you take a step in changing a community.

We also believe in a redemptive God who “loves all the children of the world.” The door to the CTC in Eduardo Brito is just steps away from the home of the little girl with the big smile.

Now I wonder if she has walked through the CTC doors. Is she discovering that she is a person of value whom God loves? Does she hope for a future with new possibilities? I pray that it is so.

Jerilynn Armstrong is a gift officer for Buckner Foundation.

Prayers of the Week:
-God, please work through the Community Transformation Center to transform the community of Eduardo Brito. Bring children and families through the doors so they may be equipped to live healthy lives.
-God, remind us to never take for granted the lives and opportunities we enjoy. Help us to remember that every good gift we have comes from you.

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If you are interested in submitting a devotional for Buckner Faith Focus, please e-mail lhollon@buckner.org.

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