Hello,
The past couple of weeks have been pretty rough ones. In my last update I asked for prayer concerning the Villa Israel orphanage. Well, a week ago we got the news that the house parents were thinking about stepping down. To say the least, it was a very discouraging day. These house parents were really great and we thought that although things were a bit rough with the kids… that things were really going to start getting better. The house mother, we found out, is pregnant and six months along. Apparently the stress in the house with eight boys and one girl has caused some complications with the pregnancy and they were worried about the health of the baby. This being the case, they decided that it would be best to step down. We really wanted to try and keep the parents and told them that we were going to do everything possible to make it easier on them. They said they would pray about it and get back to us. In the mean time, we decided that some immediate action needed to be taken concerning the kids in the house. Two of the boys, Roberto and Miguel who are brothers, have a mother who for about a year has been preparing to take them back. We met with her the next day and things worked out so that she was actually ready to take them that very day. We filled her pantry with food and gave her some money to try and help out with this sudden transition.
We also started talking about the four brothers we have there. As hard as this is to say, our style house did not seem to be meeting the needs of these boys. There is a lot of background behind that statement which I'm not going to go into at the moment but after lots of discussion and prayer over the matter, it was decided that maybe our house was not the best fit. Our physiologist knew of another home that is made up of all boys and although similar to ours in the since that it is very family based, the structure of that house will hopefully be a better fit for what these boys need. To be totally honest, I struggled quite a bit with this decision of moving the boys out. I felt like we were failing them in some way and it really hurt inside. They have all gone through so much already and at such a young age. I felt like this was going to be one more thing that was going to cause even more of a wall to be built inside them. I really questioned God quite a bit on this. Why do some people have to go through so much pain and suffering? It just doesn't seem fair. Well, today was the moving day and as expected there were a lot of emotions being expressed. The oldest boy Joel, was crying and the goodbye between him and his house mother really set him off. The other boys took it a little differently. Although you could tell that there was pain inside, they covered it up with acting like they didn't care. They distracted themselves by asking lots of questions and just acting silly. This was equally as hard to see as Joel's crying.
We got there to the new house and the younger boys barged right in. It was a big house quite a ways out into the country. After looking around the house and meeting a few of the boys who live there, a few of us made our way outside and we started knocking the soccer ball around with a few of the boys who lived there. It was good and I think helped to get our guys feeling a little more comfortable and at the same time helped to take their mind off what was going on. Samuel started showing off some of his cartwheel and handspring skills to me and so of course, being the "mature" twenty-one year old that I am, joined in and started showing off my skills, or lack there of. A bunch of the other boys quickly came over and started joining in. One of the older boys was pretty good and could do standing back flips and a front handspring into a back flip, which of course I had to try! It was actually a really good experience and as much as I still don't understand, God is truly good and in control. I left there feeling a real peace. As hard as this change is, I think it could actually be really good for our four brothers.
It has been about two weeks since the boys arrived in their new home and this Monday we (us interns, Nate Spie and Matt Johnson) had the opportunity to go check up on the boys. There is twenty boys in total with a big range in ages. It was really good to walk into the house and not see fighting, arguing and crying! Instead, our boys were just playing a peaceful game of marbles with their new brothers. They ran up to us and gave big, deep, long hugs and it just made me feel a real joy inside. We got to hang out for a little over an hour and it was really good to see the change that has already happened in their lives. They are no longer 'top dogs' in the house and have other brothers who seem to do a really good job at setting a good example for our guys. What is really cool to see, is that our boys actually respect their brothers and listen to them and their new house mother when they are told to do or not to do something. God is truly good isn't He!
I want to say thank you for all your thoughts and prayers as they obviously and evidently work! Some of our challenges now is starting the search process for new house parents for our now soon to be empty, Villa Israel orphanage. Guidance and wisdom in that and also out in chapparre (jungle). We have some prospective house parents for one of our homes out there; but we really want God's leading and guidance in that process because it really is a big task to take on a houseful of orphans. It takes a special kind of person with a LOT of love and patience!
God bless you all and I hope you are enjoying winter! Don't be jealous that it is eighty degrees during the day here with no humidity at all. In fact, right now I'm sitting out in the hammock on our porch and there is a nice breeze keeping the temperature just right! HA ha… Love you all lots and miss you guys,
Craig (or as the guy at the bowling ally spelled my name on the computer screen : Greck!!!)
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