Love has never been lacking at Dorie’s Promise Guatemala. The children, the special moms, and the rest of the staff all share a deep bond with one another. This is what has made Dorie’s Promise one of the best places for an orphaned child to grow up in Guatemala.

One of the amazing things about love is that the more you give, the bigger it gets. And when your love grows like the love at Dorie’s Promise has, you find creative ways to show it! That is exactly what happened when Heather, Naomi, and others began to notice a small problem around the orphanage.

When Dorie’s Promise Guatemala opened, each room was decorated with attention and love. But fourteen years and 650 children later, the children’s’ rooms were beginning to look old and tired. The décor was simply worn out. Additionally, many of the children had come to the orphanage as toddlers and had outgrown their old beds!

“We have always wanted to have a home that represented what we would give our own kids,” Heather said. Since that was becoming harder and harder with the older decorations, a major overhaul was in order. Over the next year the Dorie’s Promise team planned, designed, and bought new items for each of the children’s rooms. Several generous donors showed their love by covering the cost of the entire project, and mission teams were able to participate by bringing the bedding, carpet, and decorations with them as they traveled to Guatemala.

Each bedroom was decorated according to a theme inspired by the kids who would soon fill the bunks inside. The older girls received a beautiful room filled with bright colors and inspirational wall decorations. The older boys, on the other hand, were given a pirate-themed room, which perfectly matched their spirit of fun and energy.

Once the new decorations arrived, it was time for the team to get to work.

The excited children left their rooms and slept in the guest quarters while everything was being done (though many of them could not resist trying take a peek at their new rooms). Still, the wait was worth it. Nothing compared to the unveiling of their new rooms. The children joyfully inspected every detail as they settled into their new rooms, quite pleased with the new look.

Not only were the children pleased, but the adults who worked on the project were pleased as well.

“Color and life were brought back to the rooms,” said Heather. “Everything looks as good as it did the day we opened fourteen years ago.”

The rooms truly look just as good as they did back then, but the redecoration project revealed something else: At Dorie’s Promise Guatemala, the love keeps getting bigger.

See the pictures on our Facebook page…