It’s done!  It’s finished!  We’re approved!   After almost two years of trying to open up our own accredited preschool program within our children’s home I’m happy to announce that yesterday we finally got approved! Hope Preschool is officially open for business!

From the beginning we knew that one of the foundations of our children’s home was going to be a quality education.   As we think of the long term growth and development of our children we know their education will be fundamental for their future.  Thankfully, God is good and he provided a wonderful Christian school (elementary through high school) just down the street from our home for our older children.  But as we began to look for a preschool for the younger ones, we weren’t extremely impressed with what we saw.   Couple that with the fact that Jennifer (co founder of Hope For Tomorrow) has her doctorate in Early Childhood Development and is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky, and it was obvious that we should just start our own preschool.   Little did we know the amount of time and the seemingly endless complications that would be involved.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but our application process included writing an 80 page overview of our preschool, having a room (yes one room!) of our home rezoned to be an public space, a God-inspired car accident with our sectors education supervisor, countless meetings with various city officials, a complete rewriting of the application, and of course lots and lots of waiting.   That said, even though it took a great deal more time than we expected, the Lord was in it all.   Looking back, many of the key pieces of our application and approval process came together because of what I can only call divine intervention.  The right people being involved at the right time.  God is good!

Now that we are approved not only does it allow us to officially “graduate” our children from preschool and makes our Children’s Home even more respected, but it means that we also have the ability to take in students from outside the children’s home.   Our vision is that in the near future, Hope Preschool will not only be a blessing to our children but also to the community.  And eventually we believe that this preschool could even become a means of income for our children’s home, helping to relieve the financial pressure we have month to month.   We’re not quite there yet, but our accreditation is the first step in reaching this goal.   Please continue to pray for this vision and for the future of Hope Preschool.

As I mentioned before, last week we had students from Asbury Methodist Church that came and spent time at our Children’s Home. Well once again we were blessed to have one of our good friends, Ruthie, come and visit us with the team and take pictures of our children. Last year she got some wonderful shots of our kids and this year we repeated the activity and took the children to the park. She got some great pictures of our children and I have put them below for all to see. Enjoy!

Remember, once you click on an image and it enlarges, you can navigate to the next image by clicking on the right side of the image (a “NEXT” button appears) or return to the previous picture by clicking the left side of the image (a “PREV” button appears). When you are done, click the “CLOSE” button or click outside of the picture. Finally don’t forget to view the next page of photos by clicking the “NEXT PAGE” link below the pictures.

Last week 100 students and adults (yes, you read that right…100) came to Guatemala from Tulsa OK to serve at various ministries around the city and we had the privileged of hosting part of the group each day. This youth ministry from Asbury Methodist Church has been a huge part of our ministry since the beginning. Just a few months after Diana and I came to Hope For Tomorrow in 2009 they sent a group to our home to put a beautiful roof over the patio area. Last year the students painted the entire home a new, fresher color and also did an incredible mural in the patio area. And this year, each day a group of 12-13 spent time repainting the home brightening it up again (it’s amazing how dirty a home can get when you have 8 children living in it!!).

However, more importantly the group spent time loving on the children. Angel got hours and hours of attention as the students and adults took turn holding and feeding him his bottle. Miguel and Amelia felt special because everyday some of the kids helped them out with their English homework. Each day, the students not only worked hard fixing up our home, but also made sure that they connected with the children.

It was a privilege for us to have received this group once again this year and we look forward to having them return in 2012.

Before they left, I had some of the students give me the pictures they took while they were at the home. Here a some of those pictures to visually show how they worked and played throughout the week.

Remember, once you click on an image and it enlarges, you can navigate to the next image by clicking on the right side of the image (a “NEXT” button appears) or return to the previous picture by clicking the left side of the image (a “PREV” button appears). When you are done, click the “CLOSE” button or click outside of the picture. Finally don’t forget to view the next page of photos by clicking the “NEXT PAGE” link below the pictures.

In March we were blessed once again medically, this time by a local rehabilitation hospital that graciously donated a pair of form fitted braces for Carlos.  The process of turning pieces of plastic into useful tools to help Carlos walk was so fascinating that we created a short video of the making of his orthotics.

There are certain milestones in the life of a child that will always be remembered.  A baby’s first step.  His first birthday.  Her first spoken (and understandable) word.  Lidia reached one of these milestones this past January as she started first grade!  In the weeks prior to her first day of school, Lidia was really excited about beginning first grade.  At first I thought that her excitement might be because she was anxious to experience a new environment or because she was looking forward to meeting new people, but I quickly realized that it was due to something much more heartfelt: Lidia was looking forward to being close to her brother and sister, Miguel and Amelia.  For the past year, she had watched them leave for school every morning as she stayed behind in preschool, a disconnect that hadn’t ever happened before.  But now, finally, she was going to be reunited with them every day!  Lidia’s sense of family and relationships is so strong and the bond she has with Miguel and Amelia is truly one of family.

I remember back in October when Delmy, our preschool teacher, celebrated Lidia’s graduation.  It was an emotional morning and Lidia spent most of the morning crying, not because she was sad but because this accomplishment was so important for her.  Towards the end of the event, the children shared words of encouragement with Lidia and I’ll never forgot what Miguel shared.  He told her, “Lidia, next year you will be going to school with us, and I don’t want you to worry, because I am going to take care of you and protect you.”  Words that only a big brother could speak to a younger sister.

Fast forward a few months and it’s Lidia’s first day of school.  She doesn’t have her school uniform yet, but she pick the best outfit she has.  She packs her pencils, crayons, and other school supplies into her fuchsia colored backpack, grabs her Disney princess lunch box and she’s ready to go.  Going to school for the first time may seem to be an intimidating ordeal, but she’s confident; Miguel and Amelia are on either side.  As they walk out the door to school, she looks over her shoulder and tells Juan Jose and Carlos goodbye…she’s a big girl now.

Lidia with her principal (left) and teacher (right)

Monday, February the 21st was Lidia’s 7th birthday!  It’s amazing to see how she has grown up so fast.  When we first came down, she was only 4 years old!  Like we do with all the children, we celebrated her birthday, and we wanted to share some of the pictures and video from the day.  Enjoy!

Remember, once you click on an image and it enlarges, you can navigate to the next image by clicking on the right side of the image (a “NEXT” button appears) or return to the previous picture by clicking the left side of the image (a “PREV” button appears). When you are done, click the “CLOSE” button or click outside of the picture.  Finally don’t forget to view the next page of photos by clicking the “NEXT PAGE” link below the pictures.

And a video:

Two weeks ago, Brenda and Jennifer (the founders of Hope For Tomorrow Children’s Home) came to visit the children over a few days.  They were accompanied by Brenda’s long time friend, Deb.  Together we spent 4 days hanging with the children, evaluating Baby Angel, and discussing future plans.  Every time they come down it seems that we never have enough time to talk about everything, and this trip was no different.  From the start we were busy and the trip ended that way too.  But of course we had time for pictures, so here are some photos from their visit.

Remember, once you click on an image and it enlarges, you can navigate to the next image by clicking on the right side of the image (a “NEXT” button appears) or return to the previous picture by clicking the left side of the image (a “PREV” button appears). When you are done, click the “CLOSE” button or click outside of the picture.  Finally don’t forget to view the next page of photos by clicking the “NEXT PAGE” link below the pictures.