Another Visit with Samuel and Paola

Samuel, Paola, Itzel, and Joel

Well, I sat down to write a blog about the holidays here at Rivers of Mercy, but it was too overwhelming, because so much happened!  So, I decided to share a heartening update about Samuel and Paola, two dear children who lived at the orphanage for about a year and a half and were adopted by a loving couple about a year ago.  Most of you probably know their story--two very sweet children who lives were transformed by Christ during their time here at Rivers of Mercy and who learned to trust God’s plan for them even when it appeared that their world had been turned upside down.  After learning that they would never be able to return to their original family, they were adopted by a kind Mexican couple here in Juarez.  Well, about a week ago, Emmis couldn’t get Paola and Samuel off his mind and suggested that we go visit them.  Leave it up to God --  just a short while after he’d voiced his thoughts, we got a call from them!  We arranged to go visit them on one of our last weekdays of Christmas break.  We took all of our kids from the orphanage (about 30), and ended up playing with Paola and Samuel at a park near their home all afternoon!  We took them a bicycle as a late Christmas present.  They were thrilled because they hadn’t had one before.

Samuel, Emmis, and Joel

A few days later, Samuel, Paola, and their mother and father showed up here at the orphanage.  Their parents had never seen the orphanage before, so Paola and Samuel enjoyed showing them around and excitedly shared memories of their time here.  As we ate pizza together for dinner, Samuel’s mom turned to us and said, “You must know that Samuel and Paola love you two very much.  You are very special people in their lives.”  I got choked up.  I was touched.  It’s not very often that we get to see just what an effect we have on these kids’ lives.  But even if we are never able to know here on earth, we will someday!  That makes it all worth it.

Previous blog posts about Samuel and Paula: 
http://juarezkids.blogspot.com/2011/07/visiting-with-samuel-and-paola.html
http://juarezkids.blogspot.com/2011/02/samuel-and-paola-new-beginning.html
http://juarezkids.blogspot.com/2010/11/praise-report-on-samuel.html
http://juarezkids.blogspot.com/2010/11/please-pray-for-samuel.html
http://juarezkids.blogspot.com/2009/06/let-little-children-come-to-me.html
http://juarezkids.blogspot.com/2009/05/yesterday-we-welcomed-two-new-children.html