Diana has been with us for two weeks now and we are so very happy.
The moment was everything I had hoped for and more. In what has been an announcement a year and a half in the making, we are beyond thrilled to announce that Rocsana’s Hope has finally received the very first young lady and accepted her into our program. Her name is Diana.
Diana has spent the last 8 years in an orphanage approximately two hours from our ministry headquarters in San Lucas. She actually left her orphanage after her 18th birthday hoping to find relatives who might help her. What she found instead were people who were trying to exploit her. After two months of hard living and having nowhere else to go, she reached out to her original orphanage for help. They were simply unable to take her back because of the possible risks it might bring to the other children, so they began searching for some place where she might be able to live but also have hope for a future. Again, there are no ministries like ours that are designed solely to help these precious girls once they turn 18. Somehow they heard about Rocsana’s Hope and reached out to me personally through Facebook and asked if there was any way we could take her.
The funny thing is this: I told Jeff and Esther as we prepared to return to the United States “I’ll bet you we will most likely receive our first girl while we are in the states.” Sure enough we were presented with Diana’s need. After some quick praying and assessing the situation the decision was made and I messaged the ladies from the other orphanage and told them to bring her to Rocsana’s Hope. I then contacted our Guatemalan staff and instructed them to prepare the first bed.
Diana arrived at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5th. I was in the US but my heart ached to be there not just greet Diana and make her feel welcome but also for our staff who were a little nervous accepting the very first girl without us being there. God touched a precious lady at the First Baptist Church of Ark City, Kansas on Sunday the 7th and they purchased a plane ticket for me to return to Guatemala the very next day, which I have. I will only be here for three days but I have had the amazing privilege of being here to get to know Diana, help make her feel welcome, do some shopping for her, and also to provide leadership and encouragement to our staff. They were all grateful to see me and all greeted me so warmly. Finally Diana came out from the house and she just came right up to me and hugged me. We both cried and it was truly one of the most exciting and precious moments of my life.
Now of course the REAL work begins. We have to begin the process of assessing her needs, aptitudes, goals, dreams, abilities, and desires for her future, and then construct and implement a plan that will help her achieve her goals and provide her the opportunity to have a bright and shining future. We also need to address her past from a psychological and emotional standpoint and help her overcome any residual issues she is dealing with from being an orphan. We will gather as much information on her as possible to help us ascertain where she is educationally and see what we can do to get her moving forward in that area. Then we will work in conjunction with her to devise a plan for her future that will help her be successful and happy. In order to do that, we will introduce her to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because He alone can transform a person’s life.
So now we need your prayers more than ever before, and so does Diana. Pray for her that she will thrive in our program and for us that we will be able to provide her with a future of real hope.
