Emanuel “Manny” was born and raised in both Mayagüez and Bayamon, Puerto Rico until he moved to Indiana in 2001. Shannon was born and raised in Connersville, IN. In 2004, he and Shannon met, married, and began their lives in Indianapolis.
In 2006, they began fostering and were quickly placed with 3 siblings. In 2009, they were able to adopt TJ, Izzy, and Milly. In 2010, they were able to adopt Abigail and Anaiah. Several other children came and were reunified during that time, always to hold a special place in their hearts.
Emanuel “Manny” and Shannon met, married and began their lives in Indianapolis.
They began fostering and were quickly placed with 3 siblings.
TJ, Izzy & Milly were adopted into the Alvarez family.
Abigail & Anaiah were adopted into the Alvarez family. Several other children came and were reunified during that time, always to hold a special place in their hearts.
The family moved to Puerto Rico to help care for Manny’s grandfather and give assistance to his parents. It was a hard move, but one that benefited the family and ultimately made their move to Guatemala a bit easier.
They moved back to the mainland and ended up in Auburndale, FL. Manny got his dream job of working for Disney. The two years spent there were wonderful, but they felt God calling them to more. After much prayer, the family decided to move back to Indiana to begin the process of moving full time into international ministry.
They made their way to Connersville, IN, with the plan to move to Guatemala soon after. God had other plans however and it took until the summer of 2018 to make that final leap! In that time God opened many doors and built many relationships. The Alvarez family felt God calling them specifically to Guatemala and working with special needs children in the child welfare system.
In two waves, Manny and Milly in June, and Shannon, TJ, Izzy, Abbie, and Anaiah in August, the family was on the ground in Guatemala. In October of 2019, the children’s home was officially licensed and open to welcome children.
Manny was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
He’s had 8 surgeries over these past years and several different types of treatment. This has taken a huge toll on our family in every aspect of life, but he continues to fight and we pray for remission soon! We do not have insurance here or in the US, but we’ve been blessed with medical trials to help cover some of the costs of medications and doctors willing to work at reduced rates.
The family has gone through some changes as their children have grown. TJ and Milly are currently in Indiana. TJ recently finished nursing school and Milly is currently in nursing school. Their love for medical services came in part to many international medical teams coming to Guatemala and getting to work alongside them.
Izzy has a son named Santiago and has been in training for doula services. She has a heart for working with young mothers and will continue to grow this passion.
Abbie and Anaiah are finishing school and helping with running the home. Abbie has taken over as the head cook for the home and has really been developing her culinary skills. The family all works together to run the children’s home.
We have big plans for the future of our ministry, and we will continue to share them on this website. If you'd like to be a part of them, join our growing list of supporters!
