September was a month of change at the orphanage. We said goodbye to two long term workers, Melva and Sarita. Both of these ladies have been madre tutoras, taking care of the children day in and day out almost since we opened our doors in 2002. These two amazing women sacrificed their own personal lives to make a home for some of Peru’s abandoned kids. They spent every day getting the children ready for school, eating meals together, helping with homework, doing evening devotions with the kids, praying together and giving our children the love they need. These women have dedicated years to our ministry and we pray God’s best for them as they begin another chapter in their lives. Please continue to pray as Melva battles health issues and Sarita begins a family of her own. Pray for the 2 new madre tutoras who have joined our ministry this month.

We continue to have new updates on our water project and the on-going saga of the Hatfields and the McCoys. It is good to report that they are at peace with each other, but they now each have their own problems. The Hatfields’ problem is that they have 40 families who built their houses on land that is not actually their own and the new owner wants them off. He is playing a real tough guy role to get them off the land. The leader of the Hatfields is a lady named Louise. Louise became so upset with the new owner that she assaulted him and that incident put her in jail for a few days. The new land owner is also pressing the court to not allow any water to be distributed to the families on his property. This situation is very normal in Peru and I’m sure that eventually it will be resolved. The McCoys are very unhappy because they live on the bottom of the hill and they receive most of the water. More water means a bigger water bill, which they do not want to pay. They’ve approached us to lower the bill or possibly cut their service. I have a saying that I have used many times since I first went to Peru, “Peru enseña paciencia”, translated as “Peru teaches patience.”

After so many adoptions and reuniting children with family, we had several vacancies. Unfortunately, there are so many children that are still out on the streets and without a home. We were able to accept 8 new children into Hogar de Esperanza this past month. When these children come into the orphanage, they are malnourished, shattered emotionally, and in need of hope. The workers and volunteers have spent many hours praying for these kids, meeting their physical needs and sharing the love of Christ with them. Thank you for your continued support of Hogar de Esperanza.

Chau,

Dave