Thanks to your support, Las Palmas Children’s Village is a thriving campus filled with happy and energetic children and youth. Their lives give testimony to God’s blessing and the impact of your support!
Week of Prayer Blesses the Las Palmas Children – Two are Baptized
In the month of November, the first Week of Prayer at the beginning of the school year takes place. The district pastor was working with a group of young missionaries who came from different Adventist universities to carry out an evangelism program. He assigned to Las Palmas a young lady named Felicia, who studies theology and psychology at Southern Adventist University.
Felicia spoke to the students with great love and spirituality. The topics were very powerful. She talked about forgiveness and how it hurts us to hold a grudge against people who have hurt us. We should forgive them, because Satan wants to destroy us by keeping that pain in our hearts. Only God can take that pain away. Felicia told several Bible stories of people who were hurt by others and how God helped them to forgive. This gave them the freedom and the strength to be able to start a new life. It was impactful for Las Palmas children, many of whom have endured deep wounds themselves.
Every day the students wrote their petitions to God and placed them in a little box. On the last day a lovely activity was done with the petitions. They were placed inside balloons filled with helium so that they would rise. As they were launched upwards, they disappeared into the sky. While the students watched the balloons, they prayed asking God to take away all their sadness, lift it far from their hearts, and give them a fresh start every day. It was a very beautiful and meaningful activity for the children.
The children were blessed by Felecia’s ministry to them. And as a result, two of the Las Palmas girls decided to be baptized!
Making an ICC House a Home
Recently, a new set of house parents arrived at Las Palmas to take up the important role of mom and dad to a group of Las Palmas Children. They needed to occupy a home that hadn’t been used for a while. Alas, when the door of the home was opened, it was evident that the home needed some TLC. However, rather than have the maintenance staff do the work, the house mother remarked. “I want to help with it. That way it will feel like my home.” She then busied herself in painting and ironing the curtains. It didn’t take long for the house to become a home.
This is a tiny glimpse into the heart of an ICC house mother. It captures the desire to create a loving and safe environment – a home – for the children. Your support of ICC mothers like this is making a tremendous impact on the lives of orphan and vulnerable children they serve. Since you can’t be there yourself, aren’t you thankful there are house mothers who feel this way?
Holiday Festivities You Made Possible
Thanks to your contributions to the gift fund ICC children like those at Las Palmas can experience a joyous Christmas and New Year Holiday. You’ll also be happy to know that several of ICC’s grown children in the Dominican Republic are paying forward your support as they bless their younger siblings.
On Friday the 13th of December, these older children who had graduated and became independent came as “Magi of the East.” They joined the current Las Palmas family in a musical concert praising God in the Las Palmas church. There were other special activities during the Sabbath hours and into the evening.
On Sunday morning, the children received gifts of toys brought by the “Magi of the East.” This was a very special day for the children. And the grown Las Palmas children were delighted to be able to make their younger brothers and sisters happy. They call them “our little brothers and sisters that we love.”
On Wednesday the 24th, each of the families prepared a beautiful and delicious dinner with many tasty dishes that their mothers prepared. They ate and enjoyed themselves immensely. The celebrations were full of joy and gratitude for all the blessings that God has given to each of these children.
The children received many gifts and enjoyed a beautiful program and end-of-year activity on Wednesday the 31st. Again, they met at the church for a special program to welcome 2025. In the evening, the Las Palmas family prepared a bonfire and enjoyed hot chocolate with bread. One of the graduated brothers surprised the children with a wonderful fireworks display. The children loved seeing all the beautiful colors in the sky. They were very happy.
Samilin Lora, Las Palmas’ administrator, reflected about the holiday by saying, “God touches many hearts so that happiness and smiles are never lacking on the faces of each and every one of the children at Las Palmas. We give many thanks to our loving Father God for touching so many hearts. And many thanks to those who are touched and, with their donations and gifts, bring back a smile and happiness to each child. May God bless all of you greatly.”
