May 2020 Newsletter

Greetings to all! 

Hope you all are staying safe and walking wisely in these crazy days that we are living in! 

I’m writing this letter in quarantine!  I have been restricted since April 21st along with Alex and His wife Anahi. I have been feeling extremely fatigued and not able to perceive things clearly. But now I finally have new strength, thanks to God for sustaining me!  I am so proud of my wife!  As she has done an excellent job of taking care of me, and our family including all the responsibilities with being in ministry! 

I wished I could have started writing earlier, but my mind has not been able to focus. As hard as it might be, I look back on the decisions we have had to make and am glad we made them! 

We started closing the Orphanage to all outsiders! It was a tear jerker for me as I shared in last month’s letter!, When I finished speaking to the children and staff, a boy named Hector came to me and gave me a bracelet made by him! It was hard to hold my composure! It is something I will never forget!

But Thanks to God, all the staff and especially each one of you; all the children are doing well and have lacked nothing!

Second we had close the ranch to receiving new men for recovery! It is not easy saying no to people in need. But it had to be done for the protection of our existing staff.  We have on site at the ranch, Pastor Enoc, his wife Elizabeth and their 2 year old daughter name Emily. In addition to 24 interns who are committed to staying the course and finishing their program! Thanks to God for keeping them all safe! 

Finally, the shelter has been the toughest one!  We started limiting the hours of entry as many of our men that worked, starting losing their jobs little by little! So we started providing 3 meals per day for those who were with us 24 hours! Our feeding expenses went through the roof as we had less money coming in but had more food to buy with additional expenses! 

Since this crises began, 3 of our senior citizens have died, but the reason for their deaths has not been diagnosed! 

Most men decided to leave because we had to lock down the doors completely. We went from almost 200 people per night to 98 people. Sadly, we have not received necessary guidelines or help from our local government! We made the decisions as best as we could! Again, not easy! 

Many have come to our doors, asking for help! A terrible feeling having to turn people away in days like these! But we need to protect those who are still with us including our remaining senior citizens! 

At the dump, we are still busy making oat meal for the workers of the dump! That is one business that does not stop for anybody of anything! We still have few children still coming to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner! 

We also have been busy meeting the needs of people around our three campuses! Many have lost jobs and have run out of money.  La Roca is trying to fill in the gap with food and in a few cases, helping with rent! 

In Sonora the paths into the local communities have been closed to all outsiders! So we have had to put on hold the sending out of our missionaries! We will have to wait until the doors re-open! But our on-site team is doing well!

We are all very busy! I am very proud of our staff for their commitment and dedication to serving our Lord! 

Please keep us in your prayers!   Your help is needed more than ever! We are blessed to know that we are covered through all your prayers and support! 

I can’t wait till all this passes by! But until then, we will have to wait to be able to see each other! We love you all for being our friends and co-labors!

In His Love, Carlos and Rossy and the rest of La Roca team!