Bye-bye Baby

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.

Juan Pablo - November 2009

Juan Pablo - December 2009

- Angie

Video: Look Who’s Walking!

- Angie

New Stove and Oven

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.

- Angie

More Answered Prayer

Updates of Prayer Points:

• Restructuring of staff hours received well

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.

Thank you for your prayers!

- Angie

When you wish upon a star video

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

Prayer Points and Answers

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

~ Angie

Backpacks Packed Full Thanks to You!

All thirteen school aged children at the House of Dreams are sponsored for back to school!

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.

(Click here to see the video of Carolina in a previous post here on the blog.)

School starts the first week of February. Pictures to come!

~ Angie

Video Back to School Back to school campaign

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

Back to School Backpack Fill at the House of Dreams

The beautiful aroma of freshly sharpened pencils will fill the air in just a couple of weeks. Trepidation and anticipation will make young hearts beat just a little faster as they pull on un-scuffed shoes and button up freshly pressed school clothes. It is Back to School season! In Bolivia the school year runs from February to November.

Thirteen of our 23 Dreamers are going to be heading back to school, or experiencing the wonder of the first day of Kindergarten. Last year was the inauguration of the Christian school we started. Only nine of our Dreamers were amongst the 30 students who attended in 2009. This year we are anticipating at least a doubling if not a tripling of enrollment. The buzz is in the air! We are so grateful that by God’s grace we have been able to establish a place of quality education for the kids of our orphanage, church and city.

While the kids from our orphanage attend on scholarship there are still some items that we need to purchase to prepare them for school. This is where you come in. For just $50 we will match you with one of our kids to provide him or her with: a backpack, uniforms and supplies. We will get a picture to you of the first day of classes. Just let me know if you are interested in giving and I will let you know which child (or children) you will be helping.

The kids we have going to school this year are:

• Estefani, 3rd grade (highest grades in her class last year)
• Anne, 2nd grade
• Jhoselyn, 2nd grade
• Jose Luis, 1st grade
• Gabriel, 1st grade
• Roberto, 1st grade
• Mayra, 1st grade
• Emilin, 1st grade
• Carolina, 1st grade
• Bernancio, Kindergarten
• Jose, Kindergarten
• Yamil, Kindergarten
• Shirley, Kindergarten

If you could give by January 22, 2010 that would be great. Thank you for considering helping our Dreamers receive a top-notch education.

~ Angie