It’s a phrase we use almost every single day: “breaking cycles by empowering lives”. It’s the very heart of everything we do. You can find the phrase on our website and plastered on our vehicles. But what does it mean? Today we’re taking it back to basics, and really breaking down this terminology. Maybe it’s not a concept you’ve heard much before, or you’ve heard the verbiage, but haven’t seen it happen in real life.
It’s as simple as this. There’s a family of four in our village community that we know and love. A momma named Chuy and her three kids. The dad is out of the picture, something that is far too common in this community. For the longest time, this family was devastatingly poor. Chuy juggled a grueling commute to the big city each day, and she could only work for a few hours at a time in order to be there for her kids. There was simply never enough money to keep the family alive and well. Like most boys his age, her oldest son Lisandro was ready to drop out of school at sixth grade to help keep food on the table for his mother and siblings. Uneducated and with no support system to lean on, there’s no telling what his future would have looked like. Maybe something like his father, who had a very similar childhood. Thus begins a cycle of poverty and destitution that this community knows all too well.
When we started serving this community, our primary goal was empowerment. If we can show these kids (through trust and relationship) that they are powerful, their community would never be the same again. We decided that we could be a source of stability in their lives when no one else was there to offer it. We decided to stand up for these families that have never had the luxury of being defended.
So we broke this issue down into two basic needs: a better job for Chuy, and helping Lisandro to enroll in school. We found the perfect solution: she could create our Marked Key Necklaces at home each day. It would give her the opportunity to be home with her children, and actually put in a full day’s work instead of just a few hours here and there. All the sudden, she didn’t have to worry about whether her kids would eat or not.
For Lisandro, all he needed was an adult that would talk to the principal for him and get his paperwork squared away. Happy to fill that role, we helped him get it all sorted in just a few minutes. Now, Lisandro is happily enjoying his sixth grade year, and he doesn’t have the unnecessary stress of keeping food on the table for his family. He keeps telling us about all the dreams that he has for his future, all of which wouldn’t have been possible if he quit school. He’s a dreamer, and we’re so proud of him.
You see, the goal isn’t for this community to become dependent on Marked as a source of support. The goal is for each of these families to see that they are actually important and powerful enough to change the statistics that have been set before them. That they can rise above the odds and go further than they ever thought possible. Maybe Lisandro will help his friends see that staying in school is best. We pray that he grows up to be a loving and supportive father and husband, unlike the story that he was born into.
Most of the time, “breaking cycles” simply looks like showing up consistently for people that have never had anything “steady” in their whole life. We get asked all the time, “Why should I trust you? Aren’t you just going to leave?” Unfortunately many of the kids we serve have no idea how to trust someone when they say that they won’t abandon them. And the only solution is simply showing up, week after week, and showing them that someone is fighting for them. That they have a place in our hearts. That we will continue to show up when no one else will.
We dream of a world where families are whole and communities are strengthened by the power of family. Healing doesn’t come through a formula or system. It comes from heart-to-heart connection. From love over time. From people who dare to show the faithfulness of God to people who have no idea what that could even look like. It’s what we’ll give our lives to.