Almost there!

Praise God!  Hogar de la Esperanza is now getting very close, hopefully within a week, to being an officially licensed group home for special needs orphans!  We have been working on the licensing process for this ministry for quite some time.  And we are so excited that we are now getting close to the end of that process and to the beginning of this exciting ministry! 

This group home will be family based.  We will be bringing the children into our house and living with our family, as valuable members of the family.  They will eat at the table with us, have family devotions with us, go to church with us, etc.  Our goal is to live as a family, not as an institution.  This is not to imply that all institutions are bad; it is just to say that our desire/passion is to give these precious children a family, not a large institutional setting.  We believe that they can receive better care in a smaller setting.  Plus, every child deserves to be part of a family.

We are being licensed to take in children from birth to 12 years of age.  Although once they are in our home, they do not have to leave when they turn 13.  We will be specializing in children with moderate to severe Cerebral Palsy (like our daughter Kimmie), Spina Bifida (like our son Joshua), and Down’s Syndrome.  We will be licensed to take in up to 12 children.  But likely, depending on the severity of their needs, that number will be lower.

Although we want to stay small enough to keep the family feel, we also recognize that we need help in the home in order to give these children and our own children quality care and attention.  Therefore, we will hire help as necessary.  Our goal is to hire mothers of special needs children to help in our home…especially widowed/single mothers.  In preparation for the upcoming opening of the home, we have recently hired our first in-home worker.  Her name is Aura, and she is a single mother of eight beautiful daughters, one of which has some special needs.  She has already proved herself to be an honest and hard worker.  Right now she is cleaning and cooking  (Guatemalan food) for us.  But, as we start taking in children, she will also help with childcare…bathing, changing, feeding, and loving on the children.  She is a great blessing to us; and this job has already been a real blessing to her and her daughters, as she had no income previously.  We praise God for sending Aura to us.

Our family and the children who will be brought into our home will continue to live on the lower level of our house, while the second level will continue to be used for hosting others—ministry teams from the States, Guatemalan families with whom we work that need a place to stay when they come to the Antigua area for doctor’s appointments, and others as needs arrive.  We are very grateful that God has blessed us with this large home which we can use to minister to so many people.

This is such an exciting time for us, as we have been waiting and working a long time for this ministry to become reality.  Please pray with/for us:

                Praises:

1.      The licensing process is almost complete and the house is ready.

2.     That God started preparing us years ago, when He called us to do foster care and then to adopt special needs orphans.  Those experiences are helping to make this group home seem a little more possible and natural.

3.     That God has already sent us Aura as a valuable staff member in our home.

4.     That God has given us children that understand our call and want to help with the ministry.

                Requests:

1.     We recognize that with the opening of this home, our family life is going to change  significantly.  Please pray that we will transition as smoothly as possible into this new  family ministry.

2.     That even now, God will prepare the right children for us and prepare us for them.

3.     That Daryl and I will be able to successfully juggle our present responsibilities along with the new responsibilities of this added ministry.

Your prayers, encouragement, and support are greatly appreciated and needed.  Thank you to all who are ministering with us in these ways!   You are also valuable members of our team!

Weren't Our Children Still Little Just Last Year?!!!

A few posts ago, I focused on the older half of our clan.  The younger half is also changing and growing quickly.  Although, fortunately for us, none of them are getting ready to leave the nest.  (After the first five, we need a few years break from children moving away from home.)

JONATHAN, our youngest child, is already 8 ½ years old and is almost finished with 3^rd grade.  He loves to draw and has a great imagination.  His official paperwork says that he is Guatemalan.  However due to his lack of love for soccer, we are not quite sure.  We adopted Jonathan a little over 5 years ago.  How time flies!  We have some incredible, miraculous stories to tell about how God provided the $29,000 for his adoption.  Plus, the trips to Guatemala to complete his adoption were used by God to start growing in us a passion for the wonderful children of this country.

  

KIMBERLY is now 10 years old and growing so quickly.  (Although most days she thinks she is 18 or so.)  Kimmie has been part of our family for 7 ½ years.  In spite of her cognitive delays, she is doing a wonderful job with her 2^nd grade school work.  Her adoption was used by God to spark our burden and love for special needs orphans.  She enjoys reading and putting puzzles together.  She would prefer to sit around talking to adults for hours than to play with her neglected dolls and toys.  She also shows  a lot of patience and love as she holds, talks to, and cares for the special needs children with whom we work.  She is such a joy to have as a daughter.

  

JOSHUA…Oh, there is so much that I could say about Joshua!  He is also 10 years old now, soon to finish the 4^th grade, and his adoption was completed almost 5 ½ years ago.  Life has not been the same since the moment that we met him.  By that, I mean that life has not been quiet since the moment we met him.  What Joshua lacks in leg strength, he makes up for in determination and volume.  He likes to do almost everything.  He is full of life, joy, hyperactivity, and noise.  He is a great source of free entertainment. 

JEREMIAH is 12 years old and in 7^th grade.  And he is definitely in a growth spurt.   I am now used to having daughters taller than me, but to have a son approaching my height feels a little strange.  Jeremiah is doing a wonderful job with his Spanish, although he has never taken even one class to learn it.  (Although I am proud of him for that, I am also very jealous of him for that.)  He enjoys drawing, being outdoors, playing sports, and helping his Daddy around the house and with ministry.  He is growing into quite the young man.

TARYN has definitely transformed before our eyes from a child to a young lady in the 2 ½ years since we have been here.  She is now a high school freshman and doing a fantastic job with her full school load.  In just three months, she will be 15 years old.  Taryn is a beautiful and talented young lady.  She, too, is learning Spanish very quickly.  She enjoys crafts, reading, and working with children.  Before too long she will be the oldest child in our house.  Hard to believe!

  

All five of them have accepted Christ as their Savior.  And they are each growing, at their own rate, in their love and service for Him. 

A brief update on the older girls:

Brittney’s job (homeschooling a special needs 11-year old girl) has ended for the year.  So now she has the opportunity to focus her efforts on her university classes.  For the next four months, Brittney will be taking double load on her school classes, and then she will be ready to start her student teaching.  

Krishauna is getting ready to make her move to Casa Bernabe Orphanage at the end of this month.  But in the mean time, she is dealing with some dental needs that she has.  Tomorrow (Thursday) morning, she will be getting all four of her wisdom teeth pulled.  This is complicated by the fact that a dentist here in town tried to pull one of her wisdom teeth last week.  After a lot of tugging and pulling, she decided that she could not do the job and would have to send Shauna to an oral surgeon.  As a result Krishauna has been dealing with a great amount of pain, swelling, and infection since last Thursday.  We are praying that this Thursday goes much better than last so that she can have some pain relief and start eating again.

Teisha has arrived safely to Troy, OH.  She will be starting her job next week.  She is living with some wonderful friends there, but I know that she would enjoy seeing those of you who live in the area.

Carissa is still in Uganda…for about 6 more weeks.  She has finished homeschooling the children of the family with whom she had been living.  She is now living and working with a Christian-run group home (called Ekisa) for special needs orphans in Jinja, Uganda.

 

Did I say they are growing up quickly?...Well, maybe in body, but I think they will always be kids at heart!...and I like it that way!

God has blessed us immensely with our wonderful children!  And I look forward to seeing what He is going to do in and through them in the coming years!

 “CHILDREN ARE A GIFT FROM THE LORD; THEY ARE A REWARD FROM HIM."  PSALM 127:3 (NLT)