Andres' Family

Andres is about six years old and on Thursday of last week his "Forever Family" arrived to meet him for the first time. They are from Minnesota and the family includes the dad and mom and three children, the youngest of which was adopted from Guatemala. With Andres added to the family they have two boys and two girls. They seem like a very nice family.

The two oldest children have been in a Spanish immersion school since kindergarten and are pretty much fluent. This has been really cool for Andres because he can communicate so readily with them. The Mother speaks some Spanish as well and the Dad is learning.

They spent Thursday afternoon here at the Ark getting to know Andres a little. He loved to be held and carried around by his Dad! Friday his family visited again and on Saturday they took him to spend the night at their apartment in Riobamba. He has stayed with them since then. The Dad, brother, and Andres stopped by today for about an hour to visit but will not be around much more. One of the requirements for Ecuadorian adoption is that the family spend at least four weeks with their child in Ecuador. So they will be in Riobamba for quite some time but will probably not be here at the Ark very much.

It was really amazing to see the meeting of a family brought together by adoption. Even though Andres is "older" and "less adoptable" and from a completely different background and language he seems to have started to bond right into the family without difficulty. The love that his family has for him is evident as is his joy in being with them. He and his brother are going to be very good friends!

This has been a very real and close up look for me at how God just takes us all into His family with a love that will never let us go. We go from being alone, a solitary figure with a dark history and an even darker future, to the glorious light of Christ and inheritance of the sons of God! Pretty incredible!

We will post a picture of him and his family as soon as we can!