God knows where my kids are. Friday afternoon I wanted to drop by at the orphanage to see how things were going. As I pulled up to the curb in front of the house I felt like I was not supposed to stop. It was just like I felt as though I needed to keep going. I could not have told you why but I complied. As I pulled forward and rounded the corner I saw quite a bit of activity at the park. As I approached the park I saw that our kids were there. Then I knew why I didn’t need to stop at the house; the kids were at the park. So I slowed and found a spot to stop. Even before the engine was clicked off I heard the delighted voice of Yamil yelling out, “Tia Angie!”
In that moment I felt the reassurace from the Father God in my heart. God knows where my kids are. He knows and He cares. It was a moment of gratitude as I let that truth really settle in. Then it was off to push some swings and watch the flip-flopped feet splash through the afternoon’s rain puddles.
As I reflect this morning on that beautiful encounter I am struck once again with the greatness of our God. He knows, He sees, He cares and He provides. Would you take a bit of time right now and sincerely thank God with me for all He is and all He does.
God, thank you for knowing always where my kids are. Thank you for showing me through this experience that you are caring for these children. You are so good to us. Thank you for guiding us and leading us with your gentle hand. I pray, God, that we would always be able to hear your voice and that we would obey. Thank you for the provision to do this work. We want you to be glorified in this home. Amen.
New Orphanage facility. Many of you have been following our activities in the House of Dreams Orphanage and our recent move. We shared with you a little more than a year ago about the great facility that we found and how it was perfect for us. It was perfect for us until 10 months after we had been in the facility the owner asked us to move out because she wanted to try to find someone to buy the property. Since we did not have the funding to buy the building we decided that moving was the only option. So around the end of November we found our orphanage orphaned. But, as usual, God provided for us and we were able to move into another facility that is a much closer to our ministry base. The kids have been there for just over two months now and it is working out just fine for us. If you missed the pictures and updates of the new house you can visit the House of Dreams Blog site and see it: http://houseofdreamsorphanage.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/first-looks-at-the-new-house/
A wonderful Christmas. Wanted to give a special thanks to everyone that helped buy Christmas presents for our children. We sent out an email for a special campaign to raise funds for Christmas presents for the orphanage. Angie and I have always tried to make the best Christmas that we could for our children and because of several partners stepping forward we were able to do just that. If you missed the update you can visit the blog page and see pictures and read the testimonies: http://houseofdreamsorphanage.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/christmas-at-the-house-of-dreams-2009/
School has started. It is school time again and many of our kids are off to school. Many of your know that last year we started Christ Nation School. One of the main reasons we started the school was so that our children in the House of Dreams could get the best education we could possibly give them. This year Bernancio and Yamil started kindergarten. With those two we have 10 of our children attending our school (Bernancio, Yamil, Carolina, Roberto, Emilin, Gabriel, Jose Luis, Anne, Jhoselyn and Estefani). We wanted to say a special thanks to all of you that helped with buying their school supplies. Today Angie and I were in the school supply store all morning buying the different supplies they needed. It does not cover all of their expenses to attend school but it is a great blessing to have some help.
Please pray for us. As you can imagine in this type of ministry there are always needs. Thank God that up to this point our children have never lacked. Our biggest prayer is volunteers. We are looking for people that will come and serve both long-term and short-term working with our kids.
Angie and I would like to again say thank you for helping us make dreams come true in the lives of Bolivian orphans.
Bernancio in his kindergarten class
Jhoselyn studying in her 2nd grade class
We had several people sponsor a child to help us buy these school supplies.
On Sunday our littlest Dreamer was reunited with his family. Juan Pablo had a rough start with us in and out of the hospital for a few different issues. After those were taken care of he thrived under the care and love he received here at the House of Dreams. His winning smile and cuddles won everyone over. All the other kids in the home were vying for a chance to hold him, to help bathe him or to give him his bottle. He really is a great baby.
A few weeks ago his grandmother, who lives in a small village quite a distance from Cochabamba, heard a rumor about her daughter. A neighbor who had just returned from a travel into the city told her that he had seen her daughter without the baby. Immediately this grandmother took a bus to come to talk to the child defense services here in Cochabamba to find out what had happened to her grandson. After a bit of investigation they found he was in the House of Dreams and gave her a court order to come visit him. She was so happy to see him and glad to know he was ok. She made the legal arrangements to gain guardianship of her grandson. Sunday she was able to take him home. They allowed her to receive him because she is still in her early forties and re-insertion is always the first option here in Bolivia. We will miss him, but we know that he will be cared for where he is now.
Remeber I mentioned about the wonderful gift of a new stove and oven? I was reluctant to do before and after pics because of the horror that our dear cook had to deal with before this huge blessing came our way. I decided a little peek at a corner of the beastly thing would be enough to not turn your stomach too much.
Before:
Before the move there was a full kitchen at the rental. This new place didn’t have all the appliances. So for about six weeks we have had various local promises of the donation of a new stove and oven. Finally one of the promisers followed through on their word and brought us their gift. As you can see this old one was a contraption made of open burners connected to a hose that ran to a tank of gas. Every time it was used the cook would have black soot all over her hands and clothes. People were concerned that our director was being abused because she made lunch one day and ended with a racoon face from the grit. An awful smell of gas from a leak would fill the kitchen and dining area to the point that I prayed for the safety of the kids while we waited.
Finally, help came! Here is the brand spanking new stove and oven:
Isn’t it beautiful?! Six burners. A huge oven space. Clean, new and safe. All the workers at the home are vying for time to use it. It is fun to see them so excited to help the cook do her work. The kids know that this was a donation and are happy to tell me the story of it coming to us. I am glad that they were able to see a real life answer to prayer.
UPDATE: There were already some gals who had told us they were leaving to continue with their studies or advance professionally in their chose profession. That is one reason I felt the green light to restructure the shifts to increase efficiency. The gals who are staying are happy with the changes. I am especially grateful that our director (who has more interaction with our staff) is completely on-board and even excited about the change. She is taking some initiative in some areas that I was going to address soon, but she is already on top of it. Thank God with me for this good reception to change.
Wise hiring
UPDATE: You might remember I referenced some hiring in December. Maybe some day I will tell the story of my lesson at the school of hard knocks during that fiasco. Suffice it to say that there were no new hires that stuck around in December. This has made me a bit gun-shy for the current hiring going on at the House of Dreams. I feel strongly that I need to be the one doing the hiring right now. I learned a ton and I think I can do a better job this time around. So, continued prayers in this area are much appreciated. I started calls yesterday. I have interviews today and tomorrow. Final decisions by Friday. Training on Monday.
Implementation of the new volunteer program both locally and internationally
UPDATE: Still in progress but coming along nicely.
The set up of my office
UPDATE: How much have I done on this? Nada. It remains a point on my to do list.
A new stove and oven for the kitchen
UPDATE: We have a new stove and oven! It is beautiful! Pictures to come soon. It was purchased and donated to us by Juan David’s adoptive parents. I am so grateful that the Lord would move on thier hearts to help us with this urgent need.
No too long ago I made a video that featured several lives that have been touched through The House of Dreams Orphanage here in Bolivia. Hope you enjoy it. We are still looking for sponsors so if you are interested contact us at: cnministries@gmail.com or visit the website www.houseofdreamsorphanage.org
Time and again there is proof that prayer makes a huge difference in our lives. If you are in any way involved in the lives of our little Dreamers here at the House of Dreams I invite you to join me in praying for the following topics. The “Prayer Points” are requests and the “Recent Answers” are reasons to rejoice. Thank you for joining in this strategic element.
Prayer Points
Restructuring of staff hours received well
Wise hiring
Implementation of the new volunteer program both locally and internationally
The set up of my office
A new stove and oven for the kitchen (A member of the church is heading up the local fund raising for this project. Pray for expediency, favor on his face and willing hearts to participate.)
Recent Answers
The recent approval of one of our little girls to be returned to her mother (more on this soon)
Our church members becoming much more involved
The wonderfully quick funding of the Back to School Backpack Fill campaign
Increased involvement from the community by way of donations of goods and services
Good neighbors and a kind landlord who like us
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.“ Matthew 25:40
I am just overwhelmed by the amazing response we have gotten from the people who heard about this campaign and stepped forward to say that they wanted to fill a backpack for one or two of our dreamers. In a matter of three days individuals like yourself read about the need or watched one of the videos and said, “I can do that!” Together, as a team, we have provided: 13 backpacks, 52 uniforms, and dozens of pencils, notebooks, markers, and other fun school supplies for the kids.
My God is amazing! Please join me in giving Him thanks for bringing us together and enabling us to help the kids.
Even though the kids are all sponsored I wanted you to see this video of Jose Luis if you hadn’t already.
This year we are having a campaign to raise funds of school supplies for our 13 children in the House of Dreams Orphanage. Here is a video of Carolina one of the kids needing a sponsor. Let us know by the 22nd of January 2010 if you want to sponsor a child. cnministries@gmail.com
DaRonn
@ngie
