Aldea de Esperanza

Z and Dad

    For our first week in Antigua, we were invited to help at a children's home called Aldea de Esperanza (Village of Hope).  It is a ministry of Lifesong for Orphans, and the Guatemala location was founded by an American couple named Todd and Amy.  Todd and Amy are an amazing couple who have nine children themselves (both biological and adopted), and moved about two and a half years ago to Guatemala to pursue the calling that God has placed in their hearts. 
    Todd picked us up from the YWAM base, and drove us the 20minutes to the town of San Lucas where the children's home is.  We were all blown away by the beautiful buildings, and
   


The food table for our party.

property.  Todd and Amy's vision is for the children to have families, and to see what a functional Christian family is supposed to look like.  In each home (they have two so far, and are fundraising for the third/fourth), lives a married couple, along with up to ten children.  The fathers have jobs outside of the home, some on the property, and the mothers stay home with the kids.  It's a beautiful set up and the kids seemed very happy and well cared-for.  

Our clowns:  Sneezy, and his brother Sneezy  (Brad and Stian)

Todd and the staff set up a piñata for the kids

Z and I playing in the yard

Dave playing goalie for the futbol game

The sign above the entrance to the dining/meeting room

Our project for the week was to arrange the storage room, where a years-worth of clothing donations have been tucked away.  Every time a new child joins the Village they are outfitted with clothing, blankets, and shoes to call their own.  But since the staff is so busy with other work, no one had much time to sort everything out.  So we spent two days going through boxes of clothing and folding them neatly.  By the time we were done, the huge closet was organized so perfectly that anyone could go in and quickly find the needed articles for the new children. 
   
      The rest of our time was spent with the children.  One day we threw a Christmas party for the kids, and the other day we babysat the kids while all the house-parents and other staff had their Christmas party. 
    One of the guys on our team knows how to do magic (Stian), so he and Brad put together a little clown show and did it for the kids.  The kids all laughed, and were entertained for almost an hour by our silly clowns.  After that we did a craft and took turns hitting the piñata that Todd brought. 

 




  Babysitting day was a lot of fun as well.  The team spent the morning helping with landscaping, while Joy and I babysat all the little kids.  I enjoyed a morning with Zane, and he and I spent most of our time jumping on the trampoline or driving in the push-cars.  In the afternoon, we had a hot-dog barbeque with the kids and then most of them ran outside to play futbol, while I taught a class on bracelet-making for some of the older girls.  It was challenging for me to teach in Spanish, but I was glad to get to practice.  I can't wait until I am truly bi-lingual. 



    The week went extremely well, and I was sad to not be going back to the Village today.  Dave has been busy with maintenance projects around the Antigua base today, while I've watched Z. 

  Before I put him down for a nap he said, "No, mama, I can't sleep here, I have to go to the other place!" 

   I knew he was talking about the Village, so I said, "We can't go there today, Z.  Did you like it there?" 

   Z said,  "Yah, I want to live there forever." 

  I had to laugh, but I was glad he liked it.  Z has been doing so well in Guatemala, as have Dave and I.  This first week in Antigua was wonderful, and I have to admit that I think I am falling (back) in love with this country. 


    Thanks for praying for our family!