Friday finally came, and it was time to move the boys into the new home. My day started early at 6:00 am, with a Bible study and accountability time with a group of guys from various ministries in the city. It is a fun time, and a great mix of guys. Afterwards, I headed home to pick up Michelle and head down to the Renacer home. The plan was to have a short "goodbye" to the house, then the kids could pack and clean, and we would move there stuff at 1:00 in the afternoon. Since the new home is already furnished at this point, it is mostly the belongings of the kids, and a few things we need to borrow from the old home until we can buy the new ones. We arrive at the home at 9:30, and the boys are already packed, house already clean, and everything ready to go. The counselor said that they have been so excited to move that they started getting things ready at 5:00 AM the day before the move, so I guess there is no need to worry that things won't be ready by the afternoon!
The "goodbye" to the house was a very touching moment, as each of the kids said something that they were thankful for and something that has changed in their lives since they moved into the home. The boys said that they got their childhood back while they lived there, they got a new family, and they got a second chance on life. They thanked everyone for the love and patience that they have been shown, and how much they have been taught. The counselors encouraged the boys in this new stage in their lives, encouraging them to try to leave some of their bad habits in the old home, and think of it as a time to get a fresh start. We are so proud of all of our staff and especially of the children for having made it so far. The change in some of these kids is so dramatic, that one of our new staff members who worked for another organization for almost 10 years, and knew many of these kids on the streets, said that they are almost unrecognizable compared to the child he knew in the streets. It is hard to describe how much these boys change, but amazing to experience.
After the "goodbye" to the house, we headed off for a couple of different activities and to finish preparing a few things at the new home for the boys. While I was working in the new home, the Barnabas boys were busy preparing a special welcome for their new neighbors. In Bolivia there is a tradition to do a "Baptism" for special things like moving into a new home, end of the school year, etc. The process can basically be summed up as an attempt to get the other boys as dirty as possible. There was a lot of crawling that was going to happen, through a lot of dirt, but it was great to see the Barnabas boys so excited to greet their neighbors.
The afternoon passed quickly, and we were back again at the home, and it was time to go meet the truck that was going to help us move. No big surprise, that the person didn't show up (that happens frequently here), so we had to go look for someone else to do it. A little while later, we had a truck and were headed to the home, ready to load up their stuff. With 4 adults and the kids, the loading went quickly, and we were on our way to the new home. The boys in the minibus with some of their stuff, and a few of us in the big truck (mostly to be sure the guy goes where we tell him!) We made the 30 minute drive up to the new home, and unloaded mostly everything into one room. Once things got unloaded it looked like the boys had a lot of work before there was any possibility of sleeping in a bed, but the staff wanted the boys to be able to setup their own home, so they felt like it was theirs. After getting everything unloaded Tuny, the house dad, had a short Bible study and prayer time to welcome the kids into the new home, and talk about what it means to be a family together.
On the other side of the wall the Barnabas boys were busy preparing for their part of the welcome. The basic plan was to be waiting outside for the Bethany home boys, and each of the Barnabas boys was going to trap one of the boys, and then they would all go down to the soccer field, and each boy would have to come up one at a time to do the obstacle course.
The obstacle course involved crawling under things, through tires, and getting really, really dirty. All of the kids had tons of fun together and it was a great way to welcome the kids into their new home.
After everyone had finished the obstacle course, they all got together so that Gonzalo, the house dad at Barnabas, could give an official welcome to the new boys and their parents. Besides the obstacle course, the Barnabas family also welcomed the new home with a nice surprise dinner that they were preparing for them for later on in the night. It is great to see these two families coming together, and we are sure they are bound to have lots of fun activities together. Today (Saturday) we are doing an "Olympics" with both of the homes, to celebrate the end of a journey preparing the boys to come together and play some of the same games they have been playing for a couple of months to get to know each other better.
We encourage you to click on any of the pictures on our blog, which will take you into the photo album and you can see many more pictures of the move. We thank everyone who has given us and the ministry support in so many ways, and especially thank the community of Bethany Lutheran who made the dream of this house a reality, and who is an integral part of our Bethany family here in La Paz.
1 Comments:
At 3:17 PM,
Unknown said…
WELCOME TO YOUR NEW BETHANY HOME!! It looks like everyone had a fun move. Wow, what a "friendly" welcome the brothers gave to each other!
Love Mom Eggen
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