Houses of Happiness Orphanage just outside Quito, Ecuador, began with an old tumble down shack which we rented for $7.50 a month. After we had cleaned up after the cows and chickens that had lived there, repaired the roof and built plywood beds, we took 36 children who were living with relatives in the prison and moved them into this new “home.”
For one year they cooked over an open fire. The children went to bed early on Saturday night so their clothes could be washed and mended for another week. Only one of the 36 children had a pair of shoes, but at least they had hot meals and a warm blanket, things they did not have in prison.
This ministry came to the attention of the wife of the President of Ecuador and my husband, Henry , was made administrator over her social work in the country. One day she said to Henry, “You will not let us pay you, so we have decided to honor you in a way you cannot refuse.”
The President decorated Henry with a medal of honor and gave him the title deed of 50 acres of beautiful land in a valley on the outskirts of Quito. It is on this very same land that the Houses of Happiness Orphanage was eventually built.
Today it houses many orphans who need to be loved and cared for. Praise be to God, who provides even the fertile ground to plant the seeds for The Kingdom!
Dorothy Davis
Former [Foursquare] Missionary to Ecuador