In 1996 the Allan family (at that time with 10 children, later 2 more were added) moved from Canada to Riobamba Ecuador to follow God’s heart in rescuing his children. Over a period of 20 years God placed in their hands over 750 children to love and care for.
The work was 24/7, and the goal was to make a safe and secure home environment for the children who were at risk. Most of the children were abandoned, many of them were babies found in cardboard boxes at the side of the road or left in the hospital. Others had been sexually abused or beaten. A few of them were actual orphans.
Ron, Glenda and their family lived with the children and followed the directions from Deuteronomy 6:7:
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
By 2015 the political pressure on NGOs had built to consume all the resources while ensuring that the Allan’s couldn’t continue with the same impetus as they had hoped. So with God’s guidance they stopped receiving new cases from the courts, police and hospitals, and worked towards resolving the cases of each child in the Ark’s care. God was gracious to provide a place for each child before February of 2016, when the Ark Children’s Home Riobamba finally closed.
The large property is now for sale, but the Ark’s legal status remains the same so that if one day the Allan’s need to move back and begin to work again in Riobamba the path is already laid.
In the meantime, Ron and Glenda are always in contact with kids that they raised there and are excited see some who are following their footsteps and going into missions for the sake of the gospel.