Happy holidays from For His Children.

We're thankful for all of the different kinds of relationships created through the ministries of FHC and HPSN: adoption, volunteering, caregiving, donating, prayer, and many more. We are thankful for how those relationships were strengthened in 2013. Among those who blessed the ministry in this year are our international volunteers. They are usually single, mostly women, sometimes families, who travel to Ecuador to help wherever it's needed, spending from a week to six months or more at FHC/HPSN.

In a world that is obsessed with making a profit, to volunteer with a not-for-profit organization just doesn't make sense to a lot of people. Volunteers come with no expectation of financial or other compensation.

Volunteers start the process by contacting Jen Schneider, FHC's International Volunteer Coordinator. After the application and approval process, there is the planning of dozens of details, like dates, flights, arrivals, housing, meals. Upon arriving at FHC/HPSN, volunteers are given an introduction and tour of the ministry. They are briefed on how to stay safe in a big, foreign city. They meet the children, T�as, staff and other volunteers, as they learn the routines and schedules at FHC/HPSN Quito and Latacunga. Volunteers delay their personal needs and wants, while giving their time and energy to helping the T�as and caring for the children.

Volunteering is an experience you'll always remember. The rewards are usually beyond our expectations: the joy of giving to others, a deeper love for God and learning to respond to His leading, being stretched as you learn to adapt and adjust, increased faith that comes from facing challenges, experiencing God's faithfulness, and realizing how you have grown and changed. 

FHC/HPSN was blessed by nearly 30 international volunteers in 2013. A great number more of local Ecuadorian volunteers also have blessed the ministry this past year. Many have been helping out for months, some for years. In this newsletter edition, we will recognize those international volunteers who have served a month or more at FHC/HPSN in 2013. If we overlooked anyone, our apologies and please let us know.

FHC keeps meticulous records of each child's time spent at FHC/HPSN. These include social, medical and psychological reports, testing results, lots of photos, video, and the collecting of monthly anecdotes from the child's caregivers. When a child is adopted or is reunited with their birth family, our staff and volunteers prepare a beautiful Baby Book or Memory Album with photos and stories about the child's life at FHC/HPSN. Adoptive parents frequently mention how precious these albums are to them and their child.

T�a Martha Logro�o and Jen Schneider, FHC's International Volunteer Coordinator, work on a child's Memory Album at FHC-Latacunga.

To  help us create these beautiful memory albums, we are looking for a donation of a quality color printer to print photos (second-hand would be just fine!), as well as scrapbooking supplies. (We're no longer going digital, as we found that we couldn't give the albums the same loving touches - so we're back to using paper and embellishments! We do, however, scan each album to have a digital record.)  If you can help FHC/HPSN with either of these requests, please email Director Melinda Vaughn at  info@forhischildren-ecuador.org.

Benjam�n, age 2, has lived at FHC since he was a few weeks old. Finally, his paperwork was ready for assignment in adoption, and his new parents are Luis and Patricia, from Ibarra, Ecuador. Luis is an Information Technology specialist for the Ecuadorian military and Patricia is a homemaker. Patricia has an adult son from a previous relationship, so Benjam�n will have an "aunt," "uncle" and "cousin" in his brother, his brother's wife and their five-year old son. The two boys are already fast friends.

Patricia and Luis

Benjam�n meets his mom, Patricia, in HPSN's psychologist's office

In addition to celebrating the two new families mentioned above, we're celebrating because in 2013, 22 children's cases were successfully concluded. These children were adopted nationally or internationally (17 children), or were reunited with their birth family (5 children).

The highest number of adoptions, 18, took place in 2010, so 2013 is now the second highest year of adoption at HPSN. These statistics represent hours of meticulous work by our staff - and they are to be commended for their dedication to quality care, and a permanent loving home for every child at FHC/HPSN. We thank God for the wonderful work He has empowered FHC and HPSN to do in 2013!

While we rejoice with every successful reunification and adoption, we still are working diligently to find homes for children who have not been adopted, those who remain in our care usually because of their special needs.

In November 2013, our staff sent updated reports and videos of five children with special needs to all of the adoption agencies that work in Ecuador. All five children are ready to be adopted - and it is our prayer that God will bless them with a forever family of their own in 2014.

As 2013 comes to a close, thank you all so much for such a wonderful year. Some of our accomplishments and milestones in 2013 are:

• New legislation in Ecuador is streamlining the adoption process, which means children spend less time at FHC/HPSN and more time with a Forever Family. FHC advocated strongly for this new legislation, and efforts have already paid off, allowing us to celebrate 17 adoptions in 2013.
• FHC/HPSN celebrated the placement of a child in 2013 with a Forever Family within six months of her arrival - reaching our FHC Vision Statement for the first time. It seemed an unattainable dream back in 2007 when the FHC Board drafted the Vision of a "loving and permanent home for children at FHC within six months' time!"
• Fourteen international teams visited FHC/HPSN in 2013, bringing blessings and encouragement to the ministry;
• We reached out to new and long-time supporters in Europe and the U.S. through Jen and Melinda's travel in 2013; FHC's website now has general information pages in German, with French, Italian and the Scandinavian languages coming soon;
• We launched our T�a Sponsorship Program in May, allowing our supporters to connect with the loving women who are the heart and open arms of the ministry. Our first ever FHC Dream Vacation online auction was held in February, and for the first time, FHC participated in the international day of giving, #GivingTuesday;
• The FHC Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of HPSN in Ecuador are engaged and active as they support and help to guide the ministry.

Due to space limitation, we'll conclude the list - for now! We look forward to remembering more of what God's goodness, inspiration and leading has empowered us to do together this year in our Year End Report coming in February 2014.

We're thankful for all of the different kinds of relationships created through this ministry: adoption, volunteering, caregiving, donating, prayer, and so many more. We pray those relationships are strengthened today and every day in the New Year.

We wish you a happy holiday season and a joyful and healthy 2014.