Frustration filled my heart. I was already in my second year at the University and still didn’t know what I wanted to study. I had tried accounting, but knew that working with numbers would never fulfill me. I wanted to do something to help children in need. Specifically, kids like me.
My younger siblings and I had grown up in Costa Rica. Because of abuse and neglect, we’d be put under the protection of child services. Then, when our birth mother had showed a bit of improvement, we’d be sent back to live with her. This cycle happened several times before she eventually stopped making any effort for us.
In the children’s home where we were placed, our path crossed with a missionary who became the mom we’d never had. She fought for us, eventually starting her own orphanage, so that sibling groups like ours wouldn’t be separated when they aged out at 12 years old.
After opening the doors of this new children’s home, our dream came true! She started the process of OUR adoption: we were going to be a forever family!
Sadly, it never came to be. In 2018, as we were finalizing the adoption, she was diagnosed with cancer and later passed away. Looking back, I can see God’s hand on us even then, but my heart still aches when I remember the questions, doubt, anger and fear I felt during that time.
Two years ago, I was invited by a visiting mission team to share my story. Still battling with uncertainty about my dreams and future, I began to talk. As I shared, tears clouded my vision while clarity and conviction filled my heart. I suddenly knew the answer to my prayer!
My calling was to walk alongside other girls and young adults who were leaving the walls of a children’s home to venture out into the world. Who could understand their journey better than me?
I developed a program for the girls turning 18 and presented it to both the current president and director of the home that my mom had founded. Since that day, I have been working with girls ages 16-18 as they get ready to leave the home, and even have two graduates living with me! The program is named after my late mother, in honor of her dream.
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