Our visit with Daniel and his family was too short (like all of our visits with him are!), but we end today feeling like we did what we came here to do. Daniel’s uniform is ordered. and he’s enrolled in a seemingly great school (run by compassionate nuns) that will send us emails and updates. […]
Category: widows and orphans
Why every Christian is called to rescue orphans
Roxy Bertsch, a good friend from church and InterVarsity, sent us this article from the latest issue of Christianity Today. I loved the paragraph where the author addressed his fear of not being able to love an adopted child: “I was at first reluctant to adopt, because I assumed an adopted child would always be […]
Things are always changing in Guate.
As I was sitting in the front seat of the van this morning, I realized that, after seven trips, parts of Guatemala have become very familiar to me—the friends we see, the van we ride in, the volcanoes we pass, the communities we drive through, the routes we take. They’ve become so familiar that they’re […]
Saturday with Orphans (by Nate)
Usually, I think of Saturday as a relaxing and restorative day, but I realize that relaxing on the weekend is a luxury not everyone can afford. Today, a woman who cares for the younger orphans shared with us that she works Monday through Saturday at two jobs to take care of her four children. Oh, […]
Guatemala Day 1-Foreign Exchange (by Rachael)
As is usually the case in Guatemala, today tested the limits of our emotional and physical strength. I. Am. Exhausted. We started the morning by visiting one of the Compassion projects on the outskirts of Guatemala City. There are currently 200 kids who participate in the after school/weekend program. 50 kids still need sponsors. Interested? […]
Headin’ Out
This time tomorrow, we’ll be in Guatemala! Nate and I are heading to Chicago this afternoon to enjoy a nice birthday dinner (Happy birthday, Nate!), some shopping at IKEA (Nate’s request, not mine), and a good night’s sleep before our plane takes off bright and early tomorrow morning at 5:40 a.m. We’ll be traveling with […]
Welcoming the Wiggins (by Rachael)
Wind, cold, snow, and icy roads couldn’t keep us away. Last night, friends and family crowded around the exit gate at the Indy airport and anxiously awaited the arrival of the Wiggins family. With balloons, Spiderman t-shirts, and posters, our crowd attracted a bit of attention. But no one attracted more comments or stares than […]
My favorite children (by Rachael)
I hate this. I hate saying goodbye to the kids. I hate leaving. But the painful goodbyes don’t make the moments together any less sweet. Today we had the privilege of taking the seven oldest “babies” to the children’s museum and to lunch at Chuck E. Cheese. And when I say “we,” I don’t just […]
Pizza= God’s Love (by Nate)
If you would have asked me a year ago, “What do orphans need?” I probably would have said, “A loving family.” That hasn’t changed, but what if you can’t give them a loving family? At least not right a way? How about friends from another country who travel a long way to throw them a […]
Meet Estuardo (by Nate)
We’ve all met old souls. That person in a group who seems to speak truth and wisdom beyond their years. The one who can communicate volumes with their eyes that perhaps most others won’t ever understand. In this group of children, Estuardo is the old soul. If you’ve been following this blog since June, then […]