Our deep desire is that the little ones who will call this their home will discover the love of Jesus as they are cared for here
Since the Vida Children’s Home received official approval, God has been sending us precious, sweet little ones.
Each one has a heart-breaking story. Each one has experienced trauma at such a young age.
The stories that brought them here are all different. They include the ugliness of mental illness, rape, poverty and abandonment. But each child is beautiful, and each is so loved!
We pray that the Vida Children’s Home will be a place of refuge, where love and hope will be offered and where lives will be transformed by the power of Jesus.
Why a Children’s Home?
There are a staggering number of orphaned and abandoned children in Guatemala.
The situation is complicated, as the doors for adoption from Guatemala are not open and there is not a strong culture of adoption or foster care outside of familial ties within Guatemala. To add to this, many existing children’s homes and orphanages are overcrowded, understaffed, institutional, and unable to provide quality care for each child. The need is great for a Christ-centred loving home in Guatemala for these vulnerable children.
For many years, we’ve held some of these children as we’ve done hospital visits, prayed for them, and shed tears over the lack of hope in their future. God has answered our prayers by calling Impact Ministries to a vision for Orphan Care. Through the Vida Children’s Home, Impact Ministries is providing a home and family for children who desperately need to be loved.
What does Orphan Care look like?
At the Vida Children’s Home, children are cared for by loving nannies who are deeply invested in their lives. The children live in the main house, which includes bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen and a play area. A separate administration building allows for visiting specialists, such as our social worker and psychologist, to provide supports for the children without disrupting the rhythms of the home.
Children come into the Vida Children’s Home much like they would come into the foster care system in Canada. Some stay just a short while, while others stay months or even years. The Vida Children’s Home has cared for children from newborn to twelve years of age, although most of our children are preschool age and younger. However long these little ones are with us, we pour love into their lives and pray for their futures.
We look forward to all that God has in store for the children who have called the Vida Children’s Home “home,” and the ones who are yet to come. We know that God has a plan for each one, and His plans are good!
Special thanks to Engineering Ministries International for the original design of the Vida Children’s Home. Plans continue to be adapted to meet evolving needs.
Some Orphan Care Stories
Happy New Year from Guatemala!
What an amazing year it’s been for Impact Ministries! In 2023 we saw: a new junior high open at Agua de Vida Chijulhá team numbers return to near-normal levels, with 30 short-term missions teams coming to Guatemala 16 individuals baptized in Vida churches over 1800 students attending Vida schools over 30 children in the Vida Children’s Home over 2700 patients treated through the Impact Medical Clinic all of our school children sponsored before the end of the school year land purchased in Mestela for the next Vida school Hasn’t 2023 been an exciting year? Thank you for continuing to walk…
This is my home!
Little Will now comes running with a big hug for Ericka whenever the Children’s Home Director visits the Vida Children’s Home. But it wasn’t always that way. Ericka remembers that he used to scream whenever a “stranger” came to visit (even those who would come regularly to care for the children). But the nannies and the others at the Vida Children’s Home kept praying for Will and showing him how much he was loved and cared for. And as time went by, as Ericka says, “He began to open up his little heart.” He began to feel loved and accepted and protected. Today,…
Construction Season
Is it construction season where you’re at? It sure seems to be in Guatemala right now! We’re so excited to share some updates of what you’re building with us at Impact Ministries: Agua de Vida Chijulhá School Three classrooms are going up at our newest school. Agua de Vida Chijulhá is our fastest growing school, and they’re quickly running out of room! This expansion allows for a computer lab and for every grade to have its own classroom. The impact of each classroom may soon double – Impact Ministries is in process of applying to also offer a Junior High…
A ❤ for abandoned babies in Guatemala
We’ve got a brand new video about the Vida Children’s Home, and we’re so excited to share it with you! Meet some of our core staff, take a look inside, and hear the voices of the Vida Children’s Home: https://youtu.be/wcsnKpNg6YU “An abandoned child has nobody advocating for them,” Les says in the video. Will you help us change that? Become an Orphan Care Champion Our orphan care champions are part of the answer to Les’ question: “Who’s going to care for these babies? Who’s going to do that?” As an orphan care champion, you will change the future of orphaned and abandoned children…
Growing up with Impact Ministries
Back in 2007, Impact Ministries was running an afterschool program in San Antonio. One of the children who came was 6-year-old Coralia. Little Coralia wasn’t impressed: “I had to walk so far. Also, it meant a double effort for me, studying at school in the morning and studying in the project in the afternoons.” But that soon changed. Coralia liked meeting team members from the US & Canada, including the Canadian family who would sponsor her for many years, as well as others from her own community. “I received a lot of love from the people who were part of it…
Become an Orphan Care Champion
As we welcome children into the Vida Children’s Home, we invite you to come alongside these little ones as an Orphan Care Champion
Your ongoing support provides:
- loving house parents and nannies to care for the children
- a safe place to call home
- access to medical & professional resources
In short, a refuge where these abandoned children can be given hope and a future!
