In Kristine's words...

I want to share with you how a small island in the Caribbean changed our life and how we are taking action to change the life of Michael Bruno. In 2004, my husband felt like a failure when he was not accepted into a U.S. medical school. We made the bold decision to move our family out of the country for medical school rather than give up on David’s dream to become a doctor.
Grenada was beautiful. We fell in love with the island right away. What we didn’t anticipate was falling in love with the people even more than the beautiful beaches and tourist attractions. More specifically, there were 5 boys that became a special part of our family: Joshua, Jonathon, Ishma, Mario, and Michael. My husband taught these 5 teenage boys at church every Sunday, week after week, for over a year.

One particular Sunday, it was Father’s Day and David wanted to talk with them about their own fathers and what it means to be a father. This Sunday stands out more than all the others because it was at that moment Dave realized the sad reality of their families. None of them had a father. None of them lived with a father. Most of them hated their father, or had no relationship with him at all. These boys were lost. They had no male examples in their lives. Drugs and alcohol are a large part of the Caribbean lifestyle. Education is minimal and job opportunities are scarce. Most boys stop going to school by their early teenage years either due to drugs, or because their mothers need them to sell food on the streets to help support their younger siblings. It seems as though no one really cared about their education anyway. For example, one of the boys David taught was 16 and he went to school everyday and didn't have a clue how to read or write.

It was at that point in time that I believe Dave decided he was going to be more than merely a friend and role model to these boys. They began thinking of him as a father figure in their lives. Dave took the boys on camp-outs on the weekends in the rain forest, he played basket ball with them often, and they loved to stay the night at our apartment. We truly loved each of them. Each boy had a story. It was a hard story; a story that was nearly impossible for us to relate to.
When we left Grenada, Joshua, Jonathon, Ishma, Mario and Michael were the ones who had changed us more than anything else while living on the little island. David promised those boys that if they remained faithful and strong in attending church and worked hard in their education, he would bring them to the U.S. to complete their education.

I did not have faith or believe that we would ever see those boys again. Every few months, Dave would call the church on Sunday afternoons, and any boy that was there would get to talk to Dave. Most of the time, I chose not to talk to them. It was too painful to know how much they missed Dave and that we had abandoned them. Their lives were so hard with very little to live for. My husband didn’t lose hope. He believed that at least one of them would pull through.

His name is Michael Bruno.

I know that Dave loved all five of those young men. He would find a way for all of them if he could, but Michael is the one who kept his end of the promise. Three of the others have become lost due to drugs, abusive households and absolute poverty. Michael Bruno was a 14 year old boy who knew Dave for the least amount of time, but the connection and the bond was the strongest. His integrity and strength of character made him stand out above the others. He put his trust in Dave and he put his trust in God.

We feel privileged to welcome this 17 year old boy into our home. We feel that he will bless our lives more than we can possibly know. He will be coming into our home this July in preperation to start school at Ivy Tech this fall.
We believe in Michael Bruno. Despite many obstacles we have faced in getting his documents in order, we have no doubt about this decision. We trust that God will help us make this possible. We believe we will be led to the people who want to help sponsor Michael Bruno through his education.

I appreciate the time you took to read my feelings toward these two remarkable men:
David Orme and Michael Bruno.