Thank you everyone for your prayers!! After three years in the "system", three of our children are now with their forever family!! In the midst of the craziness, we are so very thankful to God for allowing us to play a part in keeping these children safe. Although we have no obligation to do so, we will stay in touch with them for the next year to make sure they are doing well. 

God is so good! Due to increased travel restrictions, court this past Friday was cancelled, so we were looking at another couple of weeks before the judge's decision. And I had already bought my ticket back to the States (tomorrow!!) so was disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to say goodbye. But this judge is persistent! When the president announced Sunday that travel restrictions would be lessened, the judge promptly re-scheduled court for Monday morning and formalized his decision for the children to go with their uncle. So off I went with our director and three kids at 9am Monday morning to drop the kids off at their new forever home! So very thankful to God!

Thank you everyone for continuing to share in this blessed journey!!

​Wow – what a special day!! Almost 10 weeks since the last time I was in the States has left me a little homesick, exacerbated by the COVID-19 restrictions on travel and activity. And then on Sunday, the staff and kids surprised me with a song, nice lunch, beautiful posters, cake and candy! A very sweet home away from home moment on my first mother’s day apart from my (grown) children! One for the memory book!

We start this week with anticipation. The visit to the uncle’s home last week was very encouraging.  The family is fully committed to taking care of the children, has an established relationship with them and is financially stable. We are so thankful for this provision and answer to prayer! Please join us in prayer for court this coming Friday where the judge will render his decision. 

As for me, I am hoping to make a trip back to the States toward the end of the month and be back in Guatemala in late June, when, hopefully, schools will be open, travel restrictions mostly removed, and the long, hard road back to economic recovery will have started. As the Lord provides, we hope to participate in meeting the needs of those God brings across our path. 

Prayer requests
• Court on Friday, 5/15 – for the judge to allow the 3 children to be placed with their uncle
• Jackie to be able to go back to the States in late May and return to Guatemala in late June
• Provision to meet the needs of the orphanage

The President of Guatemala has now started talking about re-opening the country in the coming weeks. With the official count of cases currently at 688 (as of Sunday, May 3) or 37 cases per 1 million people, the President was optimistic in planning an orderly re-opening.
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Here at Immanuel, it was a relatively quiet week. Spring is all around in the beautiful flowers (enjoy the pictures!) and there are hints of the rainy season with occasional showers and cloudy days. 

This coming Thursday, some of our staff will be visiting an uncle of one of the families that are here. He and his family have stepped up and requested custody of the 3 children of his brother. He has a stable job and home and has been in regular contact with the children. Please pray that this visit may go well and that our staff will make a wise determination and recommendation to the court. 

Thank you everyone for continuing to partner with us in this journey!