Hogar de Vida - 2014 in Review

We've celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior and welcomed in the New Year. We take a moment to reflect on the many things the Lord has done for Hogar de Vida and through this work He has given unto us. Through your provision and His Blessing, in the past year we have:

• Welcomed children, raised them up in Christ, loved and released them. This past year, through mid-November alone, we welcomed 17 new children, saw 13 reunited with their family of origin and were blessed to see 9 placed with their "heart" mom and dad through adoption. By the time you read this update we will likely have had 4 more adoptions and several new arrivals!
• Completed over 200 on site nursing checkups
• Transported children to over 200 medical appointments
• Installed a new secure entrance gate
• Increased coverage of the central kitchen from part time to full time
• Served over 54,000 meals and over 36,000 snacks for the staff and children
• Hosted 13 short term mission teams with over 160 people who served the home, returning to their homes as changed people, ready to impact the Kingdom of God in their home church
• Held 260 morning devotions in the Rancho, speaking Life through the Word to each child and staff member
• Worked more than 4,500 hours on paperwork and procedures to ensure the safety of the children and follow government requirements
• Seen Tim spend hundreds of hours repairing, rebuilding and maintaining the computer and phone systems around campus
• Spent 200 hours in supervised parent visits and training courses for parents in the process of reunifying with their children
• Done a LOT of laundry, over 3,650 hours of washing, hanging, ironing and folding
• Upgraded the phone system all over campus, repainted all of the playground equipment, cut and recut acres of lawn,
• Welcomed 10-20 troubled young men from a local private high school 2x/month. During this supervised time these men volunteer to do activities with the children and several have been transformed through the power of God as they serve and understand the blessings they have in their own families.
• Prayed over each child to instill blessing, protection and plant seeds of faith innumerable times.
• And possibly most importantly...spent thousands upon thousands of hours rocking babies, comforting hearts, giving and receiving hugs, getting out of bed for midnight bottle feedings, changing diapers, helping with homework, giving baths and PLAYING!

We hope you can see the rich blessings Our Heavenly Father has poured out upon Hogar de Vida through your faithful support of this ministry. Thank you for your hours in prayer, your generous giving and open hearts to the kingdom work He is doing. Have a very blessed New Year!

Major Projects for 2015

1. Complete the front security wall, increasing its height with 2 ½ feet of galvanized steel fence topped off with razor wire.
2. Optimize the new organization featuring the three homes divided by age groups in a way that enhances the stimulation and formation of the children.
3. Grow the Intern Program in which young women volunteer as caregivers for 1 - 12 months. The objective of a larger Intern Program is to increase the capacity to form children.
4. Rewire House #1 to meet current building standards as certified by a Costa Rican electrical engineer. Currently seeking proposals and estimates.
5. Explore the concept of adding more offices and a conference room for possible construction later in 2015.