99 Books for Christmas

We have been working on creating a "Reading Corner" at House of Hope.  I was beyond excited when this idea came not from me, but from our director, Tia Susi.   

 Tia Susi with Guillermo

So we found a fun rubber carpet (is that what you call them?) and some bean bag chairs that are so comfy!








With the help of some donations from individuals and churches from the States, we have already been able to buy a shelf of brand new, colorful and engaging books!  Books here are extra expensive since for some reason Chile puts a "luxury" tax on them.  Our kids aren't used to seeing new books in their classrooms, and definitely don't have any of their own at home.

 Even our kids that don't know how to read or "don't like to read" loved exploring through these new books!  The day I brought the second load in (of about 30 different books) was one of my most favorite in my 3 years of working here.  We sat on the carpet and just had fun together exploring all the new stories and books on science and countries around the world.   

The last phase of our Reading Corner creation was an idea by a dear friend of mine (who also happens to be our first goEnglish client ever!) who suggested we do a book drive to collect more books.  

When I asked Tracey what he thought our goal should be, he responded, "Well what would be a number that just seems crazy?"

I thought.... "100?"

"Well, there ya go."

Plus, if we make it 99, it makes a nice alliteration in Spanish :) 

So we have 2 more weeks to collect this crazy amount of new and used books!  We have invited all of our IAM Santiago churches to participate, as well as my friend's church and home school community.  We have already met 1/5 of our goal and I have no doubt we'll exceed it.  I love watching God provide in ways we could never do on our own, and I love opportunities to get the Church together to allow Him to work through us.     

 The boss, Coen Tia Susi