Good morning SE Familia!
Ale and I hope each of you are doing well. We are a week late on our normal updates, but we have been going through a lot the last few months that we want to share here and now.
At the beginning of February, my mom’s husband passed away. He had an illness that he was unable to shake off. I flew back to be with my mom in February as she began to navigate life after his passing.
Then, almost two month’s later, Ale’s father passed.
Ale’s father, Jose, was diagnosed with a terminal illness seven years ago. When he was diagnosed he was only given two years to life; yet, God blessed him and all of us with five extra years. We are very saddened by his passing, but at the same time we are rejoicing! He is no longer in pain, and is wrapped in pure love, joy, and grace that we can never fully comprehend on this side of heaven.
Due to this, our attention to our attention has been absorbed by all of the changes.
A major change is that we are moving to live with Ale’s family at the end of this month. This will drastically affect our plans for Sembrando Esperanza.
Are we stopping our work to enrich and guide the lives of youth towards Christ and to thrive after school? No.
We are, however, changing a few things:
We will be transitioning from focusing on academics and putting more of an emphasis on faith building.
We will have the opportunity to reach new students throughout the area of La Union, Lempira.
The following will not change:
We will still have workshops to help develop life skills such as budgeting and finances, interview and job resume building, etc.
We will still offer help and support for students who want to study at the next level after high school.
We will still have a scholarship fund to help said students pay for college admissions and entrance exam fees.
We are still committed to helping students thrive, not just survive, in life. We hope you continue to support us through your thoughts, prayers, and gifts. We cannot be as effective without the support of your prayers.
I want to wrap up with three things.
First, if you have any further questions about the changes and how Sembrando will be affected, please do not hesitate to email Ale (admin@sow-hope.org) or Austin (office@sow-hope.org).
Second, please pray for us:
Pray for God’s love, grace, peace, and provision over our family as we mourn the loss of Ale’s dad and adjust to how life will look going forward.
Pray that God continues to guide and support us as Sembrando Esperanza’s focus is changing.
Pray for safe travels as we move to Ale’s hometown three hours away, and when I (Austin) will have to commute weekly to teach in person two days a week these last eight weeks of school.
Pray for God’s grace to be over both sides of our family as we face a lot of uncertainty and questions going forward.
Lastly, I wanted to share some photos of our last workshop we had in Yamaranguila. The students and volunteers we have been working with have been incredible! We finished up the Speaking portion of the TOEFL exam. The students are challenged by the rigor of the TOEFL, but they are growing so much as they face it head on!
We hope you all have a great day and a wonderful week! Please, do not hesitate to reach out to us with any comments, questions, or if you just want to connect!
Vaya bien,
Austin and Alejandra Hudson
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