Yesterday, Gary sat down with Juan to say, “Juan, you know how the other children have family visits and how sometimes we go out to visit their families….well today, we are going to visit your family.” Juan began to cry, and then he said, “I have family!”
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¡Tengo familia!
El día de ayer, Gary se reunió con Juan para darle una noticia: “Juan, tú sabes que los otros niños reciben visitas de sus familiares y tú has visto como ellos salen a visitar a sus familias también…bueno, este día quiero decirte que tú también tienes familia y vamos a ir a visitarlos! Juan comenzó a llorar de emoción y luego dijo: “¡Tengo familia!”
Gary said, “I want you to understand that we are going to visit your family today, and they will visit you in the future.”
Gary le dijo a Juan: “Este día vamos a ir a visitar a tu familia y ellos te visitarán a ti en el futuro.”
Sandra (house mother for the boy’s home) approached him and said, “Yes sweetheart, you have five cousins, an uncle and an aunt. God is answering your prayers!”
Sandra (Madre del Hogar de la casa de varones), se acercó a él y le dijó: Sí mi amor; tú tienes cinco primos, un tío y una tía ¡Dios está contestando tus oraciones!”
Juan was very happy, and he couldn’t wait for the moment to meet his family. He asked, “How much longer?” every 5 minutes along the 1.5 hour drive.
Juan estaba tan feliz que no podía esperar el momento para conocer a sus familiares. Durante la hora y media de camino, Juan preguntaba a cada cinco minutos:”¿Ya vamos a llegar?”
When we arrived, Juan was the first to jump out of the car and run up to meet his family.
Al llegar, Juan fue el primero en saltar del carro y corrió a conocer a su familia.
Immediately, Juan was sharing with some of his cousins.
Inmediatamente, Juan estaba ya compartiendo con sus primos.
Juan’s uncle was out collecting firewood but soon arrived to meet Juan.
El tío de Juan estaba recolectando leña, pero llegó justo a tiempo para conocer a Juan.
Uncle Benigno shared, “I was adopted by a family when I was four years old. I know how hard it is to not spend time with your own family. I will be happy to have Juan in my home if he would like to spend vacation time here; we are his family.”
El tío Benigno nos compartió: “A mí me crio una familia desde que yo tenía cuatro años de edad. Yo sé lo difícil que es no compartir tiempo con tu propia familia. Yo estoy muy contento de recibir a Juan en mi casa durante sus vacaciones porque nosotros somos su familia.”
Juan enjoyed posing for the camera to take pictures with his cousins. He could not wipe the smile off his face.
Juan disfrutó posar para la cámara junto con sus primos, no dejó de sonreír.
Juan discovered that he is an uncle to a pretty little girl and quickly offered to teach her how to walk.
También Juan descubrió que es tío de una linda niña y rápidamente se ofreció a enseñarle a caminar.
He had fun grinding the corn with the “Piedra de Moler”, the old fashion way!
Se divirtió mucho moliendo el maíz en la piedra de moler, a la forma antigua.
And he also made tortillas.
También hizo tortillas.
At the end of the visit, Juan wanted to pray for his family and say thanks for receiving him in their home. He was very grateful for this eventful day in his life, a day he discovered he has family!
Al final de la visita, Juan tomó la iniciativa de orar por su familia y dar las gracias por habernos recibido en su casa. ¡Juan estaba muy agradecido por haber encontrado a su familia, fue un día memorable en su vida!
Let’s take a nap after a great adventure!
¡A descansar después de una gran aventura!
By Diana de Rodriguez, Director of Communications Edited by Sharon Powell
This is the most beautiful story!!! I know God is so pleased with you and your love for Juan!!!! Claudia and I pray each time we are in church to Mary, Mother of Jesus, that all kids in the orphanages have Moms and Dads of their own and a warm loving place to live….
Thank you for read our story and support La Casa with your prayers! God Bless you!
We are so very happy for Juan and thank the Lord for answering his prayers and bringing family into his life. No doubt he is overwhelmed with emotions – we’ll pray he continues to improve in his studies and language and that he will have family visit him on family days too! Much love and prayer to all our La Casa family!!
Thank you for your prayers and love for our children at La Casa! God bless you!