Child History 11.0

Each child comes with their own unique story:
heart breaking, tragic, with conflicting details, many unknowns and doubts...or all of the above. Here's the story of a dear little boy at Casa de Amor III.

When Lucas'* mother was 4 years old, her mother died and her father remarried. The four young children were left to wander the streets and make do as they could. During a children's outreach, a missionary couple couldn't help but take pity on the filthy, sick, hungry youngsters. The youngest was admitted to the hospital and passed away from malnutrition and other complications. The oldest three began living in the missionaries' boarding school. Lucas' mom's eye tumor was operated on and since then she has a prosthetic eye.

While still a young teenager, she left the boarding school, quickly falling into life on the street and all its vices. When Lucas was born, it wasn’t long before she was leaving him with her father, far out of the city, for increasingly

longer periods of time. However, in 2008 the grandfather had a stroke which left him partially paralyzed and bedridden. He made the difficult decision to place Lucas in a children’s home where he would have more opportunities and education as he grew. (Just a couple months later he passed away.)

Concerned neighbors brought Lucas to government offices, at which point we were called. And I was called, all the way in Texas! I just happened to be in the US for a brief visit on July 10, 2009, and will always remember saying yes to him while standing in the doctor's office where my sister worked.

Lucas arrived a sweet, quiet, shy 4 year old. Coming directly from the countryside, he understood more Quechua than Spanish, had a fear of toilets (something new for him), and teeth so rotted and decayed he would lose pieces of them when eating crunchy food. During his first months at CDA, Lucas had over 15 teeth removed!

Apart from all the scary “firsts” and doctor/dentist visits, Lucas bonded very quickly with his new family at CDA III and his love for them is obvious! He is an affectionate, bright boy, and he loves to get and give as many hugs during the day as he can. His favorite things to do are ride on the toy cars outside and go places in the car, where he is mesmerized by every scene. The Alseth family and staff are working on teaching him preschool and computer skills, clearer speech, how to be confident, and what God is like.

His mother continues in an unstable lifestyle and has ceased visiting, so Lucas’ papers are currently being processed to provide him with a stable, loving adoptive family.


*Name changed

Pictures from top of post to bottom:
1) Shortly after arriving to us
2) Lucas with facepaint
3) Happy 5th Birthday!

Help provide loving care for Lucas for $25/month through Casa de Amor's new child sponsorship program. Download THIS form to start!