Feliz Navidad are the Spanish words for Merry Christmas. The children are having a lot of activities to do around the orphanage. There are various groups that come and entertain the children at the orphanage, and we have the children give a Christmas pageant. On every Saturday afternoon, we have some of the parents of the children visit and sometimes we put on a program for them. We try to make Christmas something special for all the children, but of course we can not replace a mother and father.

Starting the first of January, we are bringing two professional teams to the orphanage. One team is going to set up a permanent eye clinic and train local people to operate the equipment to examine people’s eyes. If the person needs eye glasses, we will give them a free set. Also, we have an ophthalmologist who is going to study 1000 people’s eyes for diseases. He wants to do a study of the Peruvian people’s eye problems. The other group are dentists and technicians who will do dental clinics through out the city of Trujillo. The team will bring all their own supplies and will be able to do a lot of dental procedures.

We are also having a husband and wife team come from the U.S. that has a heart to start a school in the orphanage. They are going for 3 months to Trujillo, and if God continues to direct them, they want to stay there permanently. We have a real burden to educate the children of the orphanage and for the last two years we have used the public school system. But there are severe problems with the public schools, and we have to do something different. The ages of our children range from 3 months to 12 years of age, but the highest grade level is the grade. All our children have had little education before they came to the orphanage. Our goal is to start a school that is run by adults that have a passion to see a child grow educationally, socially, and spiritually. Several families have contacted me to sponsor a child for the endeavor. Maybe you could help also.

Starting in January we are going to finish the second floor of the Ranch that will increase our capacity from 4 teenagers to 30. We need men volunteers for this program who will give a year of their life to helping 4 street kids get off drugs and turn them in the direction of responsibility and learning. One thing I know, it will change the life of the volunteer.

The goals of the orphanage are to start a school in the orphanage, to finish the second floor of the Ranch, and to have at least 6 children adopted from the orphanage. Please pray that God give us direction and wisdom in these projects.

From Vickie and I, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and God’s best for the New Year.

David Miller