Our Work

CHAIN OF LOVE: TRANSFORMING LIVES

With the goal of taking in children and teenagers in situations of social vulnerability and transforming their lives, Chain of Love (known as Lar Colmeia in Brazil) was created. The organization has homes in the cities of Campo Bom and Novo Hamburgo, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil.

The homes take in children and teenagers (between 0 and 18 years of age) sent by the judicial system (in a protective measurement) after all attempts to place them with their extended families have failed. The organization provides a familial living where the resident caregiver/housemother devotes her full time to looking after and protecting the children and teenagers taken into the homes. A resident housefather also invests significantly in the lives of the children and teenagers.

Additionally, there is our Transition Home (aka Youth Home),

Where some of our young people live once they pass the age of 18 after spending some time in the regular COL homes. The Transition Home is the home for young adults who are not yet capable enough to function independently and so need more time to obtain their financial independence and autonomy.

* Transition Home, as its name suggests, is part of a transition time between teenage and early adulthood. We know that this time of life for a person in care is marked by biological and emotional instability. Besides having to leave the regular homes they were part of and entering a new environment that will demand bigger responsibility and maturity, many of them need to finish their studies and settle down both financially and professionally so that they can manage their lives in a more autonomous way. In this sense, the technical staff (psychologists and social workers) are a support for their self-esteem and a platform for their inclusion in society.

All in all, we daily serve about 110 CHILDREN, TEENAGERS, AND YOUNG ADULTS. This includes about 70 children, teenagers, and young adults in Campo Bom and 40 children and teenagers in Novo Hamburgo. We serve over 14,000 meals per month to these children, teenagers, and young adults in our care.

The organization tries its best for those in care to have a less painful adjustment by respecting their story prior to coming to COL and giving them a loving time with sensitive and singular attention from our technical staff (psychologists and social workers).

Besides food, the ones in care have access to personal hygiene, school supplies, clothing, footwear, and medication as much as necessary. They also obtain emotional support through sessions with psychologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists, and educational support in their homework, meetings, and monitoring their performances in the state or municipal schools where they study. We also provide health care, dental care, psychosocial, psychoeducational, and spiritual support.

We thank the Lord for the 26 years of making a difference in the lives of so many precious young people. We thank Him for the lives that were entrusted to us and the lives of our supporters: partners, sponsors, friends, and volunteers. We are also thankful for the partnership with several cities/municipalities, Christian institutions, clubs, service providers, companies, businesses, and the community in general. This ministry has transformed several lives through the affection, empathy, and dedication of the resident caregivers (housemothers) and other workers.

 “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness”. Colossians 2:7

About Us

 WHEN PAIN BECOMES HOPE – HOW EVERYTHING STARTED

 

A Report from Chain of Love Cofounder – Jerilyn Bayer

“We didn’t even know his name. Everyone called him “Rusty” because of his fiery red hair.  Rusty sniffed glue and was always dirty and high. When he was hungry, Rusty went to church because the caretaker, who lived at the back, always gave him something to eat. She would offer him her bathroom to shower in and would invite him to stay and attend the service.

One Monday night, we were celebrating a fifteen-year-old girl’s birthday party, a quinceañera as it is known in many parts of Latin America. The party was coming to an end and we started to clean everything up. Then, Rusty showed up. As usual, he was dirty, high, and very hungry. A lady gave him a plate full of leftovers. He sat and started to eat, savoring every bite and watching everyone put away the chairs, disassemble tables, and sweep the floor. Everybody was in a hurry because it was late. Rusty, however, was not in a hurry!

Eventually, Pastor Ken Bayer said, “Rusty, we have to close the church. You should go now.”

Slowly, Rusty left the door and went to the gate.

“You have to leave the front yard so we can lock the gate,” Pastor Bayer added.

Rusty stayed on the sidewalk in the dark. It started to rain heavily. All the people left.  As our family got into our Kombi van our daughter asked, “Where is Rusty going to sleep tonight? It’s raining and he will get soaked!”

“We don’t know,” I answered, “but he will find a place to stay.”

 The following day we were reading the local newspaper when we got a huge shock. Rusty had been shot and had died! We were utterly devastated!

In reality, almost every day we had watched news of children being killed. But up until that moment, it was just statistics: part of our fallen world.

However, when a violent death befell an acquaintance, we started to wonder: “What kind of Christians are we?”

We knew that Rusty didn’t have a place to stay. We knew he would spend that night on the streets. Then, we had no peace.

The church people also wondered: “How come we went to our comfortable homes and left Rusty all alone? We should have taken him to our homes so he wouldn’t have died! Where’s our love?”

It was time to make a decision. God had opened our hearts and revealed a problem to us. We could take the challenge or ignore it. If we ignored the problem, we would face painful consequences.

The challenge was accepted and Chain of Love was created to take in children like Rusty. Five years later, we found out that his name was Amilton Renato Ternus, deceased on April 24, 1993. God rest his soul.

Our Structure

Our Welcoming Structure

Chain of Love owns a large and organized structure with housing and leisure so that our children and teenagers can experience a feeling of safety and of living in a welcoming home. Each home has a dorm for boys and a dorm for girls, bathrooms, a living and dining room, a kitchen, a pantry, a porch, and a laundry room.

For our residents to have fun, we have a sports gymnasium for them to play soccer, volleyball, and basketball. The compound has an outdoor gym, a playground, two big slides, a gazebo (a kiosk-like structure used mainly for social gatherings where people drink chimarrão—or maté tea—which is a common drink in our state), built-in barbecue pits, a multipurpose facility where activities such as workshops, Bible studies, and birthday parties are held, and an auditorium, that is also our sanctuary and is used for cultural and artistic activities,  lectures, seminars, and worship services.

To perform our technical and administrative tasks, the organization has a Technical Center in Campo Bom and in Novo Hamburgo with offices for sessions with psychologists, the psychiatrist, educational psychologists, social workers, and coordinators, in addition to rooms for workshops, a dining hall, a computer lab, and a nurse’s office to treat the residents’ health and that also serves as a dentist’s space.