Perú por los Niños Conference
Last month we traveled to Trujillo, Peru to help host and participate in the Perú por los Niños summit. This was the third big, in-person event that the PPLN network has coordinated since 2023 and the first one held in northern Peru.
Paths of Hope has been part of the Perú por los Niños network since 2021. The network’s mission is to unite churches, non-profit organizations, individuals and the Peruvian government to improve the care of vulnerable children. As a part of the leadership committee, Billy met regularly with the PPLN team to plan the event. Kate, who manages the social media for the network, helped coordinate the publicity and registrations for the conference.
Over 225 people participated in the 3-day event where they learned about caring for vulnerable children and adolescents. Participants came from a wide range of backgrounds - government workers, church leaders, children’s home workers, non-profit organizations, schools, mentors and foster/adoptive parents.
As members of the planning committee for the conference, our prayer from the beginning was that this event be an encouraging and uplifting space for the participants, a place for them to meet others doing similar work/ministry, and provide opportunities to learn so they can improve the care that they provide to vulnerable children and teens.
Each day had two plenary gatherings and two workshop sessions where participants were able to select the workshop topic that best suited their interests and needs.
Billy was asked to give a session on how to create and lead a mentoring program, and he also led an overview workshop on trauma competent caregiving. In both workshops he was able to share about Paths of Hope’s experience in working with vulnerable children and what we have been doing through our Caminando Juntos mentoring program.
The conference gave us the opportunity to meet people who are interested in learning more about how they can serve as volunteer mentors or how to implement a similar program at their church or children’s home. While conferences like this are a great place to learn, they are an invaluable space to network and get to know others with a similar passion for caring for the vulnerable.
Join us in praying for the participants who attended the conference and returned home better equipped to continue serving and working with vulnerable children in their various contexts.
