April 2014 Newsletter
Greeting to my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord;
I would like to start by thanking each one of you for your faithful support and prayers! As you can imagine, there is much ministry taking place. At our orphanage where we take care of 30 children, we are working hard to finish their new play ground!
It is a great joy to say that the playground is over 75% done. We have come a long way since we’ve started working the grounds. The children have named it the PARK OF GRACE! I think it’s a perfect name and I couldn’t have chosen a better name myself!
Violeta 15 and Jessica 18, have both gone home to their fathers after having been out of their lives! Violeta has to travel by bus with her oldest sister, Yajaira, because she is still a minor. Remember Yajaira just got back last month from seeing her own father after many years of not knowing anything about him. Violeta was excited for days before her departure, she was so happy just thinking about seeing her father!
In a way it’s a bittersweet occasion. You fall in love with them after treating them as your own, and seeing them leave is not the most delightful experience, but then you remember the reason why you do what you do. We are always praying for reconciliation between the children and their parents, asking God to place love in the fathers or mothers hearts for their children. And when it comes true, it becomes a joy and celebration. Please pray for these two teens, as they go make a new life with their fathers!
At the shelter we continue to grow, now housing up to 170 men plus 7 to 10 women. With that being said we still find ourselves having to say no because we have reached our maximum capacity! We thank God for the funds that came in from a grant and for our partners in ministry that have come along side of us and helped with the expansion.
We now have a free phone line to the USA from Mexico for those who need to contact their loves ones! Also the medical clinic has now been open for 2 months, thanks to our dear partners Healing Hearts Across Boarders, for their leadership in taking on this amazing task.
At the ranch we have restarted our dream of working to establish our family housing project. Our goal is to help the whole family. We plan on doing this by having the wife and children go through counseling and live at the ranch while the husband is in the program. This will kill two birds with one stone. First the family will see the father doing the program, (instead of just believing him once he shows up at their door) and they will be going though counseling at the same time. This will bring healing quicker for all. Here is a picture of the first house we are almost finished with; I can’t wait till it comes to full swing.
At our Tuesday outreach we have started going to the people that stay in the water canal and in the tunnels that go under the freeways. They go to these places to hide from the police because of their problems with all sorts of addictions. While many others do not venture into the tunnels we do!
As you walk into the dark with the light at the end, we see sheets and mattress and to be honest many are too high to go get food so we have stated bring them their meal. But as you walk though, many are mixing heroine and injecting themselves just about everywhere, in the neck, foot, legs and arms. It’s not a pretty sight, especially for the weak at heart. Many struggle with what we do, but I can only see Jesus walking though these tunnels and I teach my team to walk in His footsteps.
For Jesus came to set the captives free, free from sin, including drug addiction. He came to the sick, the unrighteous, and the sinner. So we also go to them, bringing hope where there seems to be none!
Let me challenge you with these words: If we are the church of Christ, and we are called to walk in His footsteps, then let us learn from our master and put to practice that which we know already! It’s easy to talk about love, but let’s show it in our own lives by doing the things that Jesus did!
The church together is Jesus’ hands and feet to so many! I want to thank you personally for joining us in this great journey as we together advance His kingdom in every tunnel, alley, shelter, ranch and in our Orphanage!
One final note,
We now only need $70,000 dollars for the purchase. Many have said how much time do we still have? Well to be honest, the contract has expired and we are waiting for the owners to get all their paperwork in line, according to our lawyers. So that could be 1 week, 1 month or 6 months or more. I don’t know, only God knows! But when that time comes, we will need to have the 218,000 dollars on hand. So thanks for praying with us and giving beyond. We are within reach now, praise God!
Your Missionaries
Carlos, Rossy and the rest of the team