Casa Viva Steps Out

What an adventure it has been! As you know, just a few months ago Kristin and I moved to begin serving full time in the Casa Viva program.

Casa Viva is responding to God’s specific directive to care for orphans in their need (James 1:27) by creating family-based orphan care in Costa Rica.

For years America has known that caring for children in surrogate families, rather than orphanages, is the next best option to children living with their biological families. Unfortunately, developing countries continue to rely on internationally funded, overcrowded orphanages to care for children separated from their biological family.

Casa Viva is partnering with the Costa Rican government, Costa Rican churches and families to create a system of care that:
.: does not rely on international funds for operational costs,
.: places children in families, and
.: when possible, returns the child to their biological family.

In the next year we will begin taking this unique model and equipping nationals in Bolivia and other countries to care for children in the same way.

The real strength of this program is that children who have been separated from their families are not placed in large institutions, but rather are loved and cared for in Christian homes!

When we originally made the transition to Casa Viva, it was a program of LeaderTreks. However, it is with great joy that we are announcing the formation of Casa Viva as its own non-profit. This move allows us to have a board that specifically focuses on the needs of international childcare and lowers costs to Casa Viva.

As we make this transition we continue to need your prayers to guide us, your words of encouragement to support us, and your financial gifts to sustain us.

Please prayerfully continue your support of our work at Casa Viva by sending gifts to:
Casa Viva . PO Box 120 . Wheaton, IL 60189-0120

Or by giving online starting July 1st by visiting:
http://www.casaviva.org

Additionally, you can use the enclosed form to transfer your Electronic Funds Transfer to Casa Viva.


Caring for Children in Need,



Matt for Kristin, and Joshua Schulte

PS - Thank you for your continued financial and prayer support as we now serve at Casa Viva, offering the best possible solution for children in need.

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

Happy 1st Birthday, Joshua!  We love you and thank God for this first year with you!

Nana, Uncle Paul, Grammy and Grampa, and Matt and Gladys celebrated Joshua's 1st birthday with us on Saturday, June 28th.  Joshua had a very special day with family and friends.  Here are (lots of) pics from his special day! 

 

 

I'm almost one! (Joshua's one-year pics)

Hi family and friends,

This past week we had a friend of ours from LeaderTreks take Joshua's one-year pictures at Cantigny Park down the road from us. Thought you'd enjoy seeing them, too! We can't believe that he'll turn ONE on June 28th. . . .time really has flown by, but we're loving every minute with him!

Love,

M, K, and JT

Joshua Crawling

As you can see Joshua has picked up some speed in the crawling category.

Joshua's trip to Chicago Museums

Joshua took his first ride on the Metra last Saturday, June 7th, to go to the Shedd Aquarium and the Planetarium. He was wide eyed to see all of the sights and sounds on the train and in the city, and so by the time we made it to the Shedd Aquarium, he was pretty tuckered out as you can see from the first picture! The clapping at the end of the dolphin show woke him up, and then he enjoyed seeing the wild reef, beluga whales, sharks (mommy and daddy had conflicting stories as to whether or not you should actually swim with the sharks!), sea turtles, and brightly colored fish. We finished the day at the Planetarium. . . .Joshua especially liked touching the meteorite which was bigger than him. Chicago is definitely a fun and windy city!

The Story of Stuff

Everyone should check out this video.
I have no doubt you’ll appreciate the message and the grace in which it is shared.
Not condemning or in an angry way:

http://www.storyofstuff.com


What’s the topic?: Consumerism

Splash Time!

As you can see, Joshua thoroughly enjoyed splashing in his new baby pool. You could tell he was VERY excited--he made little squeals of delight while tensing his entire body, clenching his fists while pumping his arms up and down, and along with his arms, his legs, too! In fact, I had my chair pulled up right next to the baby pool and had to "rescue" him from almost falling backwards or forwards due to his excitement. Thanks, Grammy and Grampa, for his baby pool!!! We are going to enjoy it this summer :) .