From Peru to Italy...

The legal processes in Peru regarding the handling of abandoned children make it difficult for them to be adopted, so when children arrive at New Hope they are most often coming to stay for the long haul. In order to be eligible for adoption, children must receive an official declaration of "abandoned" from the government, which generally means that they have no known family or that their known extended family members have not made contact or visited the child at the orphanage. If the location of their family is known, the children cannot be adopted, even if the family has no intention of ever taking the child back. Poverty is the number one cause for abandonment, thus very few families will take their children back after turning them out.

Three of our little boys recently received their official "abandoned" status, and we just learned yesterday that they are now being adopted by two Italian families who have been waiting for several years for children from Peru. Carlos and Santiago, two brothers, will be adopted together, and Percy is being brought into family where he'll get a brother. We've seen pictures of their new families and new homes - they have beds set up and waiting for them already. The process has and will continue to move quickly - they'll be leaving us late next week.

Carlos

I have never been good at balancing two strongly opposing emotions at the same time, and I find myself facing that challenge again today. What joy that these little boys will now have mothers and fathers, stable families, abounding love and opportunities far beyond what they will ever have here! What heaviness of heart has taken over, however, at the thought of these darling boys leaving us. They are three of our youngest children (3 to 5 years old) and they have absolutely captured our hearts with their laughter, vivaciousness and sincerity of heart. They run around with capes made of bubble wrap, pretending to be Superman; they push each other around for hours in a wheelbarrow, imagining all kinds of grand adventures as they cruise around. This afternoon I watched Percy trying to throw a baseball in the air and catch it in his glove (never quite succeeding!) while Santiago and Carlos captured little butterflies from the flowers, studied them closely, and then released them again into the air.

Santiago

The thought of them leaving breaks my heart and I've been a crying mess all day. I selfishly want them to stay with us, though I know this is a wonderful opportunity for each of them. I feel like a protective mother, leery of these people that want to come and take my baby boys away. I don't want them to go through the difficult transitions that are inevitable - trying to understand why they're leaving, where they're going, saying goodbye and missing their friends here, learning a new language, developing trust and love for their new parents... I want to protect them from all of that, but I know it is necessary in order to move them into their new lives that have so much to offer them. It is a life lesson I know to be true - difficult things usually precede our great blessings.

Percy

As they come to your mind, would you join us in praying for their little hearts as they make this transition? They'll be staying with us at our house for several nights to help them get a better idea of what a family home looks like and I'm so thrilled to have that time with them before they go. We'll be talking with them a lot about their new families, and answer a lot of questions I'm sure. Little Percy asked today if he's going to have a brother when he goes to Italy, and when we told him he would he started jumping up and down with joy. They're starting to understand, and it's exciting to see those connections happening. And as you pray for them, pray for me that I'll be able to contain my tears and be a cheerleader for them as they join their new families. Thank you for all of your encouragement and interest in what we're doing here - it's wonderful to be able to share these kind of stories with you all.