Bringing Operation Christmas Child Home!

We have decided to host a young man from Latvia over the Christmas break.  He will be staying with us for 4 weeks, and we get to show him the love of a family.  We are hosting through New Horizons for Children.  This all began this summer after a request went out from a popular adoptive mom blog to find an adoptive home for another young man who visited the US during the summer hosting period.  Our hearts were touched by Dzintars and the story that his host family shared.  We (Joshua and I with Matt just nodding his head as Joshua and I talked) talked very seriously about whether or not Dzintars was meant to be part of our family.  A family has been found for him, and they are working on getting all their paperwork ready! 

In the meantime, I started following the New Horizons facebook page in anticipation of the new China hosting program that is starting in January.  Already having a child from China, I am still very interested in this program.  Unfortunately, the dates will not work for us this first round.  As the children started getting listed and put on hold for the Christmas hosting program, I looked through the list, but I didn't see any that jumped out at me.  Then, one day a new picture was added of a young man who had been on hold, but his host family backed out, and they were trying to find a new host family for him.  After I read his bio, I felt that it would be a good match for us.

Here is what it said: This special boy really touched our director Leann when she met him in August, so much so that she posted the following about him that very day:

"Our Latvian interview team has traveled throughout Eastern Latvia today and visited with many kids in both orphanages and foster families. One boy in particular stood out to us. This was the 2nd time we were asked to consider Armands who lives with a foster mom on a rural farm without indoor plumbing or running water, except for the well in the front yard that is hand pumped out. They have an outhouse in the back yard and a cow that provides milk that his foster mom makes cheese from. The last time we met him we couldn't understand why he didnt have any input to our questions. However, God led us back because we had missed a humble and sensitive child who is very "unworldly" with few experiences. Once he understood that this trip could offer to teach him many things he has only read about in books and seen on TV, he began to open up with ideas of things he would like to learn.... "if it's really possible...i would like to learn to ride a bike and learn how to swim since there is a river nearby..." he hasn't ever gone to a movie theater but likes Superman, nor has he gone bowling but his school has taken a field trip to McDonalds once and that was very interesting! Now I will share that Armands is 14 years old and his hobbies consist of helping stack wood, moving the cow so she can be milked, helping his foster mom in the garden and helping his foster mom cook. He is at best, the size of an 11 year old boy and has a heart of gold, and is as harmless as a butterfly. He asked us if there are jobs for people to get in America? And was very surprised to hear that if you get a good education and work hard, a job could be found. Is Armands meant to be a part of your family this Christmas? He said he has heard the story behind Christmas but he hasn't been to church many times. He is open to try many things but needs to be with a very down to earth and patient family withh gentle children who can share with him some of the wonders of a family who lives with access to modern conveniences and love."

I jumped in and started the application process and here we are!  We are expecting to pick him up at the airport on December 16. 

As we watched the promotional video at church for shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, Luke said very excitedly, "we can give our shoebox to Armands!"  I think we'll do something more like a stocking on the fireplace.