August 2013 Newsletter
Warmest greetings from Tijuana Mexico!
I hope you are enjoying summertime wherever you are. In light of your ongoing faithfulness and partnership, much ministry is being done every day.
From taking care of 30 children at our own orphanage,children whose mothers are on drugs or prostitution, teens that go to sleep crying because their mothers never came back for them or have seen them working in the streets!
Record high of men continuing to look for shelter, even in the summer, where usually numbers drop! We continue+ +to house 130 men per night and we only have two showers. We are working on building 2 more and one more restroom.
The ranch has 24 new men who have come seeking a new life! Seeking freedom from all kinds of addictions and coming to know the Lord Jesus as their savior! The ranch is of major importance, where we disciple these new men for the work in ministry. Preparing then to take the place of those who leave back home, God bless us by allowing us to bring these men to His Kingdom.
Our Tuesday’s feeding outreach continues to be a great blessing and also of major importance. This is where I started, in the streets of Tijuana in 1996. We feed 250 people or more and most important tell then in what manner we can help then. In the midst we are reaching, many who have been deported with no place to go. The crime rate has gone up because of the high numbers of deportees, and many others come with drug or alcohol problems.
You could say that every person we help we are making Tijuana a better place and are becoming satisfied being in their own country, meaning less are attempting to return back to the USA. So our work here is benefiting both countries as we take them to Jesus' feet and becoming new citizens of a heavenly kingdom!
Here is one old story of two sisters; Noemi age 19 yrs old and Elvia who is now 16 yrs old. They were coming faithfully to the youth group for months, until one night, they told Rossy that they did not want to go back home. The reason was, they were tired of living in fear of their step father, who has in the past touch and kiss them and their mother would not believe them. Rossy told me that night and we agreed to go and talk to their mother and let her know of this situation.
The mother was not surprised and admitted that her daughter’s have told her of this situation. Once we confirmed the matter, we told the mother that the girls were leaving with us. To our surprise the mother only said, they are big girls and they can do what they want.
In a way we were sad to hear these words, but at the same time relief that she did not give us a fight! Now that we have been working in Tijuana for 18 years we have seen and heard just about everything. Not much surprises us!
The story above is two years old, but the good news is that both teens are now with their grandmother and with their two cousins’. They are both doing well and are in school. Now all 6 of them are faithfully coming to church and very much involved. It’s wonderful that God gives use the privilege to rebuild and rejoin families!
Important update! The church and shelter building fund raising is coming along, we now have 127,000.00 dollars with a remaining balance of 91,000.00 dollars. Praise God for His faithfulness and for His people who live by faith!
Thanks for your prayers and support that give us wisdom and strength to endure the hard work of ministry in the city as Tijuana. But we rejoice in what has been accomplished and look expectantly to what God has in store for us in the future!
Our Deepest thanks for standing strong beside us and allowing us to do what we love most, proclaiming the Good News of His Salvation and the good works of His people. Both are essential to God’s Kingdom!