Per child costs and puppies

I just heard a pod cast of a nonprofit discussion group talking about costs and raising funds. Probably the quintessential labor of non profit people is to discuss how to raise funds, and then to try to explain to boards why they were unable to get what they needed. (I am so glad that Jehovah Jireh told me years ago that it was his deal to provide, and my deal to obey...it definitely takes the edge off)

I then read an article about the Dallas Public school district that pointed out that some schools receive $8000 per student per year, while others were as low as $4000 per student per year. In a 10 month school year that is $400 per child per month in the poorest schools in Dallas.

Why am I bringing this up? I am very insecure, and a miser, and have had a hard time with the idea that we are spending about $300 per child per month ( total organizational costs) to not just educate, but to feed and house, and provide medical care and all the special things that make the special children feel…special.

For instance, our latest guilty indulgence:

Labrador Puppies.



I hope they will grow to become good guardians of our children and our houses. But in the meantime, the people who sway me the most are happy to have them














Yes...I said "Puppies", as in 2




Jose likes to get on the ground and wrestle


























Hannah just plain loves them


Danny is not so sure


And Selvin is such a servant hearted little person that he makes sure the puppies are well fed.














We will keep working at being a good organization, and at being a place where the children who have no say over whether they would be here or not...would choose to be here if they had.

Thanks for your prayers that keep us going!




Please forgive the photo quality. I shot in low light with my available camera. I hope you agree with me that a fuzzy picture is better than no picture at all.

A Child of Promise

The arrival of a number of our children has had a sense of something special attending it. Each one is a special arrival, and we fully believe that their attendant angels as well as the prayers of all the saints are involved in working out their becoming part of our little family. Although we do not make decisions based on special “coincidences” or signs, it is fun to note them as part of the general joy.

This week, we were blessed with the opportunity to take care of a little boy, who was abandoned at the Roosevelt Hospital at birth. He was born with some physical problems that were actually considered worse at first than they turned out to be. That is a shame because the mother who may have been frightened into running away due to the first diagnosis is now no where to be found.

He had no birth data and had not been given a name when he arrived with us, maybe a week old. Usually, the court papers assigning a child to us come with either the name the parent gave, or a named given by the police or social worker or nurses involved. Names are important, and we don’t mind when the people who brought him to us have given one, but it is really special when we get to name our new family member.

I am POSITIVE we have given him the right name.

Isaac.

The child of promise.

Shyrel talked it over with the staff, and especially the nannies. I think Rosa was the one who first said Isaac. But as Shyrel liked it and when I heard it it sounded very good. Little Zak! We decided to think about it and see how it fit him. But the icing on the cake was talking with a good friend (who likes to remain anonymous in these things)the next morning about the nameless child who had joined our family. He said, straight out, “If I had another boy, I would have named him after my great Grandfather Isaac.”


Who knows what plans the Lord has for this little boy. But it gives us a long term perspective and insight into potentialities to think about names and namesakes and especially that Isaac born miraculously to Abraham and Sarah so long ago.

Are you … Steve?

It was an odd, slightly hesitant salutation. I was speaking with one o f the pastors of the many churches on our street, and a woman approached and asked that. I said Yes, I’m Steve, and she explained that she is the new teacher in the school, for Gabby, Diana, Herlinda and Shirley. She gushed about how much she enjoyed our children and what a wonderful work we have. I then realized she had hesitated in asking my name, as she checked herself, because she keeps hearing about “Papa Steve” and I guess didn’t want to use that moniker. She went on to embarrass me by saying I must be a loving person, because the children obviously love me so much.

Diana, Shirley and Herlinda ready for school

I get embarrassed in those situations because it isn’t true. The children love me a lot, due to, I think, the wonderful home they live in and the wonderful way they were hard wired to love the big people in their lives. So, really, that compliment needs to go to Shyrel, for the beauty of the home and the hard work and love that maintains it, and to their heavenly father, for the beauty of these little creations, and the redeeming love that is at work here.

They really are loving and beautiful, and I receive comments like the teacher’s regularly. People notice, I think, the special joy these children have. I am amazed regularly, myself, how happy the children are. Ours really is a happy home. There really is a lot of Joy. And a lot of patience and love. There is a remarkable amount of kindness too, between the workers and the children, and between children. And they are pretty well behaved when out and about in our neighborhood.

Selvin and Bryan helping out front

Those attributes, though, aren’t fruit of our labor, although it takes a lot of work. Galatians 5:22 shows a different source of this fruit: the Holy Spirit. How does that fruit come to be? I believe that that is where our prayer partners come in. One of the strengths of our lives is the prayer covering our friends have provided since we first came to Guatemala. We can’t thank them enough.

PRAYER WORKS, I am here to testify. If you would like to receive prayer requests and updates that we don’t publish publicly, please e-mail me, and ask to be put on the list.

Bryan and Angel practicing what I mean

Not all our neighbors are happy to see a big group of cute albeit lively children, and as we played with the children in the new house Sunday evening, a neighbor came out on his balcony and and threw insults and comments about having a day care business in his neighborhood. Being deaf, I didn’t hear him, but Shyrel told me later. She took the brunt of his tirade, and took it as she does most suffering, very stoically, but I am sure it stung her. One wants to respond in these situations. Then as I went in to close up the house, she told the kids that this neighbor needed a blessing, and so she had the children all say in chorus “ God Bless you” as they left. A powerful response, and one, I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought of.

You can go east or west…

But home is best

My mother used to have a plaque on our wall that said that. All my growing up, looking over the next fence or next horizon, it didn’t move me much. But this last Thursday, as I arrived again in Guatemala, I must now agree.

It was a great trip, with many good meetings and fellowships, and I really appreciate the kind hearted Americans who hosted and helped, and took time to hear me.

BUT…It’s good to be home! Friday was quite a day. This place is busy! Apart from my focus on getting the new house ready to use, I was impressed that there is a lot of activity here. Shyrel says she missed my help, but I think she was just being kind, as this is a well oiled machine, with a special touch of love. Having been away, maybe it is more clear to me to see love's effect rub off on the women who work with us. The combination of joy and diligence with which they care for the children is amazing. As we have grown, Shyrel has delegated various tasks that she had in the past perfomed herself, and it is encouraging for me to see our women do things well…and Shyrel right there as it all works like that clock. The routine is important, and the kindness with which it is maintained make for a flock of very contented babies.

Friday saw school, therapies, hospital visits, legal communications, then also the arrival of electricity at the new house. Oh yeah, lots of hugs and shouts and cards for the returning prodigal Papa. Shyrel was glad to turn over the finishing touches of the new house to me, and I finished up the painting inside by electric lights Friday night and Saturday. Teams, and friends had helped paint during March, so that we have new paint on all interior walls, and ceilings! We might get some help on the exterior walls from visitors in the next few months.

Friends who remember our move into the present house might remember our water woes back in August and September. This new house has a double cistern, and the water pump, after a few prayers and tech checking worked! Hallelujah! To celebrate, we had a water party over there on Sunday. We will finish cleaning and organizing and move a group of children over there this coming Saturday.



It was good to see our new additions, also; Dora,
who is Letty’s sister, and Estuardo, who got a beautiful lip thanks to the Surgeons of Faith in Practice. They got dressed up cutely for Letty’s Birthday which was Friday, but celebrated with a cake on Sunday.

Saturday too was full! Shyrel had promised Zoo visit, which was fun and followed by lunch at Pollo Campero. It was mainly a celebration of good grades at school. We received the first round of grades in March. Surprisingly good grades!

Letty and Michelle and Giraffes

Jose knows how to enjoy Pollo!

With an Ice Cream chaser, of course!

The life of Victoria Maria might best explain it.

She was born the fifth of November, 2006, very premature and very tiny. Victoria had many problems, and she was admitted to the National Hospital in Antigua on December 21st, three days before Christmas. Then her mother quietly slipped out of the picture, abandoning this weak, sick child.

Her mother is known to us only as a shadow of a name on a copy of a hospital form. We don’t know the mother’s story, but we know the story of women who have done similar things. In a society where rape is not a reported crime, maybe she was a victim of that heinous act. Maybe she was seduced by one of the millions of prowling peacocks in this macho country, looking to prove their manhood by impregnating, but not marrying a young woman, before moving on to the next conquest. Perhaps she had a husband, and has many more children. But the husband has left her and moved in with another woman, and her hard work to support and care for her children caused the premature birth. At this point, wondering too much only wastes our energy and tears, so we can only commend the mother to God, and look after Victoria.

Victoria lived in the National Hospital until February 12, when she was brought to our home by the Guatemalan equivalent to the Attorney’s General office. She was so weak, and so tiny. At 3 ½ months she weighed less than 4 pounds. The attorney said she had hydrocephaly, but we have since proved that diagnosis wrong: she has a cute little head, but her body is so tiny, the head could seem large in relation. She had respiratory issues, and apnea, a not clear condition that causes the child to stop breathing periodically, terrifying the caregiver. One cannot prove this, but I think they brought her to us so that she would not die in the hospital. In other words, you might say we were presented with a dead baby crying, instead of a dead man walking.

As we have seen over and over again in our journey with Jesus, Men and Demons deal in destruction and death; but Jesus turns destroyed lives into abundant ones, and converts death itself into life. Through God’s grace and the prayers of the saints, Shyrel was able to bring this precious little girl through to a proper diagnosis and treatment and care so that she is truly, a month after arriving in our home, a new creature. She has doubled in weight, and instead of lethargic and skeletal, is vibrant and active. So very precious.

It is fitting, this Easter season, to reflect on the redeeming, restoring and even resurrection power of our Lord. This is the time, when we can be assured that through every suffering moment, he is there with us. With proven empathy and power, he can make something beautiful out of each life. No matter how frail, or sick, or marginalized, Jesus brings new life. He is Life. He is Love.

For every Victoria saved there are so many who do not make it to our door. We want to be able to receive the children in need and plan on expanding as quickly as we can while maintaining a high level of quality in the care of these children. Won’t you consider how you might join with us as we join our Lord in redeeming precious lives? Each new arrival means more costs, and more prayers needed!

Thanks so much! Shyrel, and Steve and all the children of Amor del Niño.