Franco and Franca arrived from Italy last month in order to meet their children for the very first time! Mainor & Jenny have been here at the Abraham Project since 2009. The Office of Adoptions has worked diligently in order to find a family for these siblings. The adoption was finalized today (June 6, 2012). Mainor & Jenny are thrilled to have their very own parents. We wish this sweet family our best as they begin a new journey together!
Ashley gets Adopted!
On June 1, 2010 (exactly 2 years ago today) we received Ashley into the children’s homes. She was only 9 months old then. Today, she was adopted by a sweet family right here in Costa Rica. It’s so exciting to see how God moves on behalf of all the kids here at the Project. We know little Ashley will be in good hands and that the Lord will continue to guide every one of her footsteps.
The Cancha Completed
Ten more teams came down to serve at the Abraham Project during March and April and as always, it was such a blessing to have them here! In the last post about teams, we mentioned how hard all the volunteers and local workers had labored to prepare the dirt floor for concrete to be poured in the to-be church building. Well, that hard work continued into March and early April too. The work was not in vain and we can proudly announce that the cancha is complete!
After countless hours of labor, the concrete was poured in early April. Now, children from the daycare and our teams can come and play futbol, and eventually we plan on installing a basketball hoop too! Thank you to everyone who dug, sweat, hauled dirt, and poured concrete!
Almost all the teams below contributed to finishing the cancha, so in order not to be redundant, we won’t mention that for every team. But along with this project being accomplished, teams contributed in many other exciting ways:
- A Pepperdine University team came in late Feb and organized activities for the Children’s Homes and daycare.
- A team from the CR Language Academy visited from Pennsylvania in early March and donated financially to the material costs for the cancha.
- Two Joshua Expedition teams came in early March, one from McKinney Christian Academy and another from Prestonwood Academy, and they both helped in a variety of ways including cleaning offices, working with the daycare and donating materials.
- A group from University of Georgia came and continued the hard work of prepping the cancha, as well as worked in the daycare and children’s homes.
- Bethany Community Church, the home church of missionaries Joe and Jennie Westfall, visited from Seattle in mid-March to explore the potential opportunity of a long-term partnership with the Abraham Project. They also purchased and installed brand new curtains in the Children’s Homes.
- Next, a team from Wesleyan Church came from Georgia to serve. They planned a date night for house parents, and also did an outreach in poor area called Rio Azul, where they handed out school supplies, taught Bible stories, and facilitated crafts with about 100 kids.
- Three families from First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue (WA) came the week of Easter. Along with their children, they organized an Easter egg hunt for the Children’s Homes, did crafts with the daycare, and helped to paint the metal fence that borders the property.
- Living Hope Baptist Church from Kentucky was here in early April and installed a ceiling, as well as telephone and internet lines in the Multipurpose offices. In addition they welded and installed a metal fence for Steve's house and donated funds to help install the concrete for the soccer field.
- On May 9 an Appleseed Expedition Team came from Ring Mountain Day School and donated 50 man-hours in one day's work doing various construction tasks.
This month, there was a little pause in teams visiting us before we hit the busy summer season. That’s great news for the team leaders Jason and Kerby Harpst because they just welcomed a beautiful baby daughter into their family on April 20th. Adaya Ruth Shirley Harpst. They are enjoying these first few weeks bonding with their newborn before a dozen more teams come join us at the Project this summer!
Thanks to every single person who took time out of his/her every day life to come serve the people of the Abraham Project, as well as the people of Costa Rica. We are blessed by your service.
Ministry News
At the end of March, the pastoral group that we oversee was in charge of the church service. We decided to develop a PowerPoint presentation in order to illustrate to the congregation the daily happenings of the children’s homes. In order to take all the photos necessary for the presentation, we had to arise early in the morning (5:30 a.m.) so that we could get all those candid “pillow hair” and “rubbing the sleep out of your eyes” shots. The kids had no clue we were coming so it was definitely a big surprise to them. Needless to say, we did get a lot of really good pictures and it gave us invaluable insight to how a typical day flows in the children's homes and that’s what we’d like to share with you!
Have you ever thought about what it takes to get ten kids (in one house) and seven kids (in the other house) “up and at’em” in the morning? It could be chaos, but our house parents, Esteban & Gabriela and Aaron & Candace, really make the process look easy. At 5:30 a.m. the tios head upstairs making sure that all the kids get up and begin the day with baths and making their beds. Some of the children have their own alarm clocks. This allows them to begin developing personal responsibility. The tias in the meantime are busy preparing breakfast. As soon as the kids are dressed in their school uniforms, they head downstairs to eat their morning meal. After breakfast, they wash their own dishes and brush their teeth. In the house with the big kids, Ericka helps her Tia Gabriela comb and fix the younger children’s hair. The tias faithfully apply piojitico to the girls hairs (a special lotion that keeps them from getting lice!). During the morning rush hour, showers are taken, shoes are shined, snacks are packed, backpacks are readied, and lotion is applied. The big kids help the little ones get ready and the tios are doing a little bit of everything.
At 6:30 a.m., the kids (11 in all) load up in the van and it’s off to school! This year the kids are attending a new public school that has a private school schedule. That means that they don’t go to school half days anymore. They go all day from 7:00-2:00 p.m. This has made life a whole lot less complicated for the tios. Once they’re gone, the tias start getting the little people (5 kiddos) ready for daycare at the Abraham Project. The children start at 7:30 in the morning, and enjoy a snack and hot lunch before returning home at noon for naps. Once the big kids get home from school it’s time to do homework, study for exams, and play a bit before dinnertime. The children help their house parents prepare for dinner by setting the table and serving the drinks. Afterwards, they head upstairs to put on their pajamas, brush their teeth, and have devotions and prayer before going to sleep.
You see, much of what our house parents do during the day is exactly what you and I do, only on a greater scale. The job of house parenting is raising excellent kids who love Jesus. One of our tios recently told us that they instill “family” values into the kids in their home. They remind the children that although they are not brothers and sisters by blood, they are brothers and sisters in Christ, because we are all part of the family of God. What a sweet lesson our kids are learning right now.
Our house parents are definitely our “heroes!” The Lord has blessed us with parents that truly see their work as a “calling” and not just another job. Without a true calling, this mission would be incredibly overwhelming. God regards their work as a labor of love that He will not soon forget. Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Thank you Esteban, Gabriela, Aaron, and Candace for your love and dedication “to the saints” the forgotten children of Costa Rica/Nicaragua!
Joselyn Goes to Italy!
Many of you remember Joselyn, a girl we had in our children’s homes since she was four. A couple of years ago, she was relocated to another children’s home after a failed adoption attempt to Spain. We have great news to share! The Office of Adoptions informed us that they had found a family for her in Italy! A couple weeks ago, she and her parents, Aldo and Gloria, stopped by the Abraham Project for a visit. We enjoyed seeing her again and meeting her new family. Today, they left for Italy. Joselyn was nervous about flying on a plane (never mind the fact that they had 2 layovers – Panama City, Amsterdam, then on to Rome). We have since heard that the family arrived safely in Italy and is now beginning their new life together. Please continue to pray for Joselyn. We trust that the Lord would go before her to prepare the way as she adapts to her new family, new language, and new culture. She has always held a special place in our hearts and we believe that God is not done with her yet!