Sara is Adopted!

Look at this precious family.

It is always a privilege to speak with the parents who come to adopt their children. Oftentimes our communication is limited to broad smiles, enthusiastic nodding of the head, gestures and a few basic Spanish words.  This is because the international adoptions usually come through Holland, Italy, Germany and France. One thing is for sure, no matter the language they speak, the shine on their faces from the happiness they are feeling is like none other I have ever seen. To know that one of our little girls was going to be adopted by a couple from Spain got me excited about speaking with them and having a real conversation.

They are such a sweet couple. She offered the information that she is 33 years old. They started the adoption process five years ago with the idea that it would take nine months to a year to complete. She said that year after year passed then finally they were told they could come. The day after they landed in Bolivia they were told who their daughter would be. Before that no name, no picture, nothing. The mother told me that the hard part was that they had friends who started the adoption process at the same time they did, but decided to work through another organization to adopt from China, with the same idea of about one year for the process. Well, their friend’s daughter is now three years old and has been in Spain for two of those years. She told me that she knows she deserves this daughter because they have waited so long for her.

I have many sweet memories of Sara. I remember how tiny she was when she came to us. I remember when her first tooth came in. I remember when she started sleeping through the night. I remember when she started walking. The first time she said Hola to me was just a treat. We will miss her, but I know that she is going to have a wonderful life.

Enjoy the slide show of our Sara:

~ Angie

Edgar is Adopted!

This little man was with us since he was a bitty baby. He learned to walk and was even starting to talk here at the the House of Dreams.

My favorite memory of Edgar was during snack time one morning. I was shoveling gooey cereal in the mouths of two very eager babies. We were having a jolly time evidenced by the smiles, flapping arms and messy faces. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edger meander into the room and make his way over to where I was. Clenched in both his fists and held tight to his chest was a small bag of cookies. He slowly reached into the bag and pulled out a morsel which made its way to his lips and was munched upon. The crunchy goodness tucked away on his tongue and the bag once again secured to as to not lose any of his treasure he nudged me with his forehead. I made room so that he could crawl into my lap. He snuggled in and sat so still watching me finish off with the other two. Even after I was done feeding and the babies were whisked away for  a good scrubbing Edgar just sat. We cuddled until I had to go. Such a sweet boy.

We are thrilled that Edgar has been adopted! He is going to be a little German guy, now.  After the obligatory time of stay here in Bolivia is complete the little family will be making the final leg of their trek home. Enjoy the slide show!

~ Angie

A New Dreamer

Meet our newest Dreamer: Lizbeth. She is three years old. She plays well with the other children, although it seems that she prefers to be with the littlest of the home. She was unsure about what to do with the camera and was shy to have her picture taken. Unlike the ones who have been with us for quite some time that were clamoring to get their picture taken. She just came to us last week so she still has that deer in the headlights look on her face. You can pray that she knows the love of Christ during her time here at the House of Dreams.

Check out the Kid Pics page for pictures of all the kids here at the House of Dreams.

~ Angie

Getting the Word Out

This is the season for getting the word out about the House of Dreams orphanage. Over the coming months we will be making many visits to churches and groups in the United States to share about the work going on here in Cochabamba in the hopes that there will be more people to come alongside and support the kids financially. In fact, DaRonn is in the States as I write this post working hard to raise funds for the operations.

If you have or know of a group of people that would like one of us to come and share stories, pictures and an opportunity to get involved with the House of Dreams then please let us know.

Please pray that each of these trips would be a time of increase for the home. Thank you.

~ Angie

Church of Christ

The House of Dreams Orphanage can not attribute its success to one sole organization. It takes a mass of individuals, groups, volunteers, sponsors, staff, churches and missionaries working together to care for these children.

One church that has been helping us out is the Church of Christ Cochabamba. Their youth group has come to spend the afternoon with the kids and we are planning for them to come again. They have a small group of college and career aged people that are going to be helping out a couple times a month as well.

To kick off their involvement with the House of Dreams the leaders organized a party complete with favors and presents for everyone. The undertaking began at the one-year birthday celebration for a few of the children of the missionaries. We lovingly call our missionary kids M.K.s. This team is replete with M.K.s. For their babies’ birthday party they asked the guests to bring gifts that would be donated to the House of Dreams.

After the birthday party we planned a time for the M.K.s to give the gifts to the kids at the House of Dreams. It was a good time. My kids even came for the fun. Enjoy the pictures. Thanks so much Church of Christ Cochabamba!

Butch "Tio Fernando" helping a child with his gift

Party!

"Tio Jeff" with Isaura

Jubilee gives Estefani a gift as her proud papa looks on

Micheala reaches over to give Adriana a gift

Roberto gets a gift from Nathan

Bernancio got the most desired gift of the day: a box of Zucaritas cereal

~ Angie

Lovely Ladies

We had a visit from a lovely group of ladies. The three of them made the trek together for a week of helping out in all the aspects of the ministry. Part of their time was spent in the House of Dreams. They read to the kids, held babies and played. Another part of their time here in Cochabamba was spent in our school teaching an art project to the classes where the kids from the House of Dreams are students.

What impressed me most about this threesome is that they are frequent globe trotters as member of senior citizen mission trips. They told me that they are usually the youngest one of the trips so they are the ones that usually have to haul the luggage. What a blessing to have these precious ladies working with us.

Thanks so much for giving so unselfishly Patty, Winsy and Jan!

Here are some shots from their day at Christ Nation School.

~Angie

Here to Their Donation of Books

Don’t you love surprises? I know I do. That is why I was so excited when a group called “Here to Their” contacted us to see what they could do to help us out. At first I thought it was too good to be true. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Recently there first shipment arrived. It was books! So many good quality books for kids – Spanish and bilingual. What a treat! The kids are thoroughly enjoying classics such as ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, ‘Goodnight Moon’ and ‘One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish’.

You can visit the “Here to Their” site to learn more about what they do: heretotheir.com

Here are some pictures of the reading bliss going on here at the House of Dreams Orphanage.

~ Angie