On February 28, 2008, Mark and Kristin Coté held little Victoria Grace for the first time, believing she would be a testimony of both God’s victory and His grace. The Cotés had learned early in Kristin’s pregnancy that Victoria’s life would be brief because of a severe medical condition, but through His grace they were able to share six days with her as part of their earthly family. Painfully—but only temporarily—separated from her parents and siblings, she now rests in the arms of the One who created her in His perfect image.

But something else beautiful was born in 2008. In answer to the Coté family’s prayers that God would use Victoria’s life for His redemptive purposes, Victoria’s Little Lamb’s Fund was born as a way to minister to the medical needs of sick children in Peru and beyond.

In the eleven years since Victoria’s birth, hundreds and hundreds of children have received the blessing of treatment for parasites and intestinal viruses, snake and spider bites, respiratory infections, typhoid and Dengue fevers, and many other illnesses. Most of these children who have been helped live in remote communities of Mexico, Peru, and Ethiopia, where even a simple bout of diarrhea can be life-threatening without the medicines Victoria’s Little Lamb’s Fund has provided.

In this way, Victoria’s life has become a beautiful picture of God’s victory by His grace.

And God’s plans for the legacy of His tiny servant continue to unfold. As of August 2020, the fund, now known simply as Victoria’s Fund, has become part of the ministry of Duneland Community Church, with special focus on Peru and Haiti. The mission is the same: to help with the medical needs of poor and marginalized children, all with the ultimate purpose of loving these little ones and their families with the love of the Father, Son, and Comforter.

From the words of the beautiful song written in Victoria Grace’s memory by her aunt:

O daughter of Mine,

whose legacy you leave

will speak to generations to come

of the love of a heavenly Father who offers the Victory:

The victory of life, through the saving power of My everlasting grace

Victoria, you show the world a glimpse of My face.

 

Gifts to Victoria’s Fund can be made by check to Duneland Community Church, noting its designation to “Victoria’s Fund:”

Duneland Community Church
1552 Pioneer Trail
Chesterton, IN 46304

Online giving: https://dunelandchurch.org/give (select “Victoria’s Fund” in the list of “Give To” options)

 

 

Isaiah 41:8-10 (NASB)

8 “But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of Abraham My friend,
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”