And Artoyms Makes Ten

When I set out to host Dzintars last summer I had a few "goals".

First and foremost to love that kid like crazy and do my best to find him a family!

Mission accomplished...his family is in the process of bringing him home and will be hosting him this Christmas in the meantime. If you'd like to follow their journey you can do so on their blog Daily Surrender to Jesus.

Second, I vowed to do my best to spread the word about hosting and more specifically to get more California families to host. We had five kids in California this summer so I set my mind to double that number for winter!

Mission accomplished...today we reached that goal!!

This is Artoyms:

He doesn't know it yet, but he's one lucky kiddo! You see a single mama in California saw his sweet face and fell in love! Despite knowing that she did not have the funds to pay his hosting fees she felt so strongly for this child that she set out on a mission to start a scholarship fund for him! In less than a week she's managed to raise over $800 of approximately $3,000 needed to bring him to California for Christmas. Today she took a leap of faith and placed Artoyms on hold and will continue her quest to raise the remainder of his fees!

Can you help this sweet boy, who at age 14 cannot read and write? Him and his siblings were raised by their grandma for a good portion of their childhood and she never sent them to school. He is now catching up quickly but still struggles with reading and writing and when asked what he would wish for he said he wishes to learn to read and write! It doesn't take much, every single donation counts and will put him one step closer to spending Christmas with a family by his side! To read more about what led his family to choose him check out their blog No Love Greater!

His host mama has set up a donation site at http://www.active.com/donate/winter2012/loveforartoyms . Can you spare $5 or $10 to help them bring Artoyms to America??? I have been deeply moved by her utter determination and love for this boy she has not yet met! All donations are tax deductible.

You can also donate via the PayPal link on the New Horizons for Children website! Just be sure and make a note that your donation is for Artoyms L118!

Together we can change this boy's life! Not everyone can adopt, not everyone can host, but I believe everyone can do something, no matter how small it may seem!