A Happy New Year for
It is hard to believe that we are looking at 2016, but HERE IT IS…and we are looking forward to what it holds for the children and for all whom the Lord will grant this ministry to impact through your giving and love this year. Happy New Year to each of YOU from our hearts!
In contemplating this new year, none of us know what our road ahead will look like. There will no doubt be times of great joy, and possibly times of challenge—
invitations to lean more fully on God’s grace and strength and to trust more fully in His sovereignty. Either way, we know that the Lord has victory and blessing in store for all who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He is a good and faithful God! And so, with confidence we can truly believe for a “Happy New Year” ahead of us all.
The greatest joy we share in this ministry is seeing changed lives. We see hope brought to once-hopeless children, and we witness the powerful transformation that takes place whenever God’s heart is revealed and children learn how good, kind, redeeming, and tender the Father is. It is radically different from what they have experienced in their past or could have ever imagined to be true about God. The newest life being changed at the orphanage is a young boy named Cristian.
Cristian, whom we assume to be around 10 years of age, entered the home after a two-month interim at a police preventative center and a brief stay in a government institute. Abandoned by his mother, he had already spent two years living with a relative, until the relative could no longer care for him. Cristian has no documentation to help us understand his past, his age, or his legal identity. He came through the orphanage doors with tattered clothing, broken sandals, and a broken and frightened soul. A “happy new year” was the farthest thing from this young boy’s expectations or from his reality…had it not been for the open doors and open hearts waiting for him at the orphanage! But these are exactly the stories that YOU are changing, and Cristian’s story is now different because of what you are making possible through your simple, faithful gifts each month. We are very grateful that the children received Cristian well and are teaching him the in’s and out’s of orphanage life. Because of JESUS…and because of the HOPE that you are helping us to spread, Cristian can have a happy and very NEW year ahead of him in 2016! We praise God for this.
Thank you, also, for your giving towards the children’s recent Christmas day celebration. When asked by the director what the children would want for their special Christmas day breakfast and dinner, they replied with the following:
Christmas breakfast:
Fruit salad, yogurt, cereals, chocolate, raisin bread, and ham.
Christmas dinner:
Turkey, with all of the Peruvian side dishes .
We are happy to say that they were able to purchase ALL of the requested items. The children said that they wanted 
to celebrate Jesus’ birth…and my, what a celebration did they have! Thank YOU each; the joy on their faces was a fragrant offering to our King of Kings…the best birthday present Christ would have ever wanted.
2016 is here, and we expect to have a full year ahead of us…but truthfully, we never know what amount of time each one of us has in our future. Let us make the most of each day, each moment, each opportunity given to us to do something eternal. That might be as simple as a smile offered to a stranger, or a helping hand to someone needing a few minutes of your day. Don’t rush through today, or tomorrow. You will never get that time back. Jesus paid an awfully high price to give us the chance to have life. Value it. Rejoice in it. With each sunrise, a gift is awaiting you. Make each day that we get to live in 2016 matter. God’s grace be with you each.
Held in His Love,
Tony and Rosa Rivera
Home of Refuge International, Inc.
