Ricardo and Jenifer: Oti's two oldest kids

Ricardo (15)

Ricardo is 15 yrs old, and has never been in school. When I first met Ricardo in November 2010, he seemed hard and aloof. Sometimes when I sense this from other kids we work with, it frustrates me. But then I remember that, just like me, their story effects how they respond to life. And sadly, Ricardo's story has been plagued with difficulty. Ricardo lost his father and has, by default, become responsible for part of his family's income, which means he's often on the streets.

On a recent visit with Oti, we prayed over her and her kids, as we often do. I was standing behind Ricardo and put my hand on him as we prayed. During that prayer, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about how and why I need to pray for Ricardo. As the father of a 15 yr old son, I was struck by how vulnerable Ricardo is. Although his mother loves him, he is often out on the street trying to make money and being exposed to many temptations and a lot of people looking for an easy target. I believe he probably has very mixed feelings, because on one hand he feels responsible to provide for his family, however that looks. But he's probably also tired of being responsible and just wants to find some friends to fit in with....however that looks.

So I pray for Ricardo. That he will hang on to his family. And that God will protect his young life and soul from the enemies that tempt him in ways my 15 yr. old son will probably never know. Pls pray with me for Ricardo.



Jenifer - 11

Jenifer-the-Joyful, that is what I'll call her. I rarely see her without a smile and yet, as the oldest daugther (11 yrs), she often carries many motherly responsibilities, helping take care of her younger siblings. Jenifer is one of Oti's four girls who started first grade this year. She is working very hard and enjoys learning. (I wonder how far she would be now if she had started school when she was younger.) I believe in Jenifer. And I believe God has a plan for her life, despite how far behind she is. And I believe we get the privilege of serving Jenifer so God can show us just how special she is to Him. Everyone of His children has the the promise of hope.

The last two times we visited Oti's family, Jenifer went and found her homework and quickly brought it to me...she was looking for some "fatherly" approval. I hugged her, and told her how proud I was of her. More importantly I want Jenifer to know how proud her heavenly Father is of her and how much He loves her. You know what else she did? She asked us for a Bible.

Please pray for Jenifer...that she will keep her joyful view of life even in the midst of her circumstances. Pray that she will continue to enjoy school and serve as an example to her brothers and sisters. And most importantly, that she will come to understand just how much Jesus loves her and what that means to her life on earth and to her eternity.

ORPHAN PREVENTION: Oti and her 8 kids

Oti's Family

Wow! We've been here about six weeks, and already our hearts have experienced so many emotions. Being called to love and care for the orphans and impoverished here in Mexico is both heartbreaking and rewarding. 

Here in Cancun we work with two children's homes - San Jose & Esperanza. We also partner with a government organization (DIF-CAT), where the kids - from babies to teenagers - were removed from bad/abusive home situations. As I was holding a baby there today, it broke my heart to think about what she has already been through and how sad it is that her primary care-giver is a gov't nurse. Nonetheless, this is a safe place for these kids to stay when they have no where else to go. The children's homes and the DIF-CAT are reactive responses to kids who desparately need someone to take care of them. For various reasons the parent(s) have decided that they can't or won't take care of their children.

We are also working proactively with impoverished families, with mothers who desparately want to keep their children. Think of it as orphan-prevention. (We believe, and research would support it, that the best place for a child to be is with his/her family. Ideally mom, dad and siblings.) So for the next several blog posts, we want to introduce you to Oti, who is trying to keep her family together. We will show you pictures of Oti's kids and give a little info about each. It is our hope that many of you will pray for this family and each child as you get to know them.

 Oti is a 36 yr old single mother of eight children, ages 1-15 yrs. Her husband died of AIDS about a year ago.Until last year when Back2Back (B2B) started working with them, none of the kids had gone to school, because they couldn't afford the school supplies, uniforms, etc. Needless to say, they are very far behind, but Oti loves her kids and wants to keep them together...under her roof. Despite a poor housing situation, little food, and health issues, including a protruding hernia (not sure if that's the official term), Oti isn't willing to give up.



This is where Oti would launder clothes. We're hoping
to be to able to provide a new washer and dryer for her.

Currently Oti and Ricardo, her oldest son, make a little money by selling fruit and candy on the street. But Oti has a dream. She wants to make money by starting a laundering service.We this family weekly, pray for them often and have purchased school clothes, supplies and are paying a tutor to help her kids. We've done work on her house; provided food and other needs as well.

Today Jenny the oldest daughter (11) showed me her 1st grade homework. I hugged her and told her how proud I was of her. She smiled BIG and hugged me back.

We hope the story of Oti and her kids will give you a glimpse into the lives of some of the people God called us to serve. Thanks for ALL your support. We couldn't be here helping without your involvement in our ministry.

12 days in.......

So we arrived in MX on Sept 8 after a week of travelling. Julie said it felt a little strange having one-way tickets to MX. But this is our new home. And it's great to be here. We have our apt and have bought most of our appliances, but since the container with all of our "stuff" in it has not arrived, we're still living with our generous friends and co-laborers, the Matt and Julie Cooper. We've already had a full 12 days. Much of our time has been spent either taking care of visa/residency stuff, getting our apt, and most importantly, serving with two teams, at Casa Hogar San Jose, Cass Hogar Esperanza, the DIF (an emergency shelter for kids) and a small rural community called Tres Reyes.

When we talked about a story for this blog post, we struggled to keep it to just one. We have been so blessed, but also so challenged by the work to be done, as our hearts break for these kids and families. But we landed on one story told by the picture below of Edgar.

Edgar is 20 years old. He is one of seven teens plus five others who are visiting us from our Monterrey campus. Edgar came to Cancun on his first mission trip to serve the orphans at San Jose and Esperanza. But the BEAUTY here is that he himself is an orphan. He lived in Casa Hogar Galena, outside Monterrey and then moved onto the Back2Back campus in Monterrey so he could finish high school and then go on to college where he's now studying sports science. He is here this week serving the orphans and impoverished because he too has a heart for and clearly understands what these kids are up against. So with Mari (5 yrs old) on his back he is giving back by loving and serving those in need, in much the same way that he was and is being loved so well by the Back2Back staff in Monterrey. Edgar's redemption story is the fruit of many investments made by so many others before us. That's what we're about! And I believe this is exactly what God has called our family to here in Cancun, Quintana Roo, MX. We're feel so privileged to be serving with Back2Back. Thanks to all who are helping make this possible, by partnering with us and supporting us.



These are three of the kids who live in the rural community called Tres Reyes. Back2Back has been able help a couple families in Tres Reyes; working on one home and building another. Gloria has six kids. Lucy, her oldest, is 16 and has a 11 month old baby named Ruth.

 
This is Gloria in her home. We delivered food, diapers, and other supplies that she desparately needed. And then we prayed over her and her family.





Nick was the life of the party as the kids at San Jose got horseback rides from him. It's sooo cool to see him laughing and playing with them and the joy on their faces as this big Americano gets down on the ground to give them a ride. Nick is doing awesome and has had a lot of fun both working and playing with the kids we serve. I'm so glad God is using him. The nuns at San Jose wanted to thank us so they served us an amazing meal of empanadas and tostadas.

Pastor Victor (the one in the white shirt) allowed us to serve him and his family and friends a meal. And then he told us his story of how God miraculously rescued him from a life of crime. After spending several years in prison for drugs and stealing, God invaded his life and made it clear that He had another plan for Victor. We are in awe of where he came from and how God is now using him. Victor has planted four other churches, and now pastors this church in Tres Reyes. B2B partnered with him to complete the roof on his church and provide a feeding program for the people in this community once per week this summer.  

Prayer for courage & strength

It was our last Sunday at Journey Church before we move and we are so blessed to be part of such an amazing community of believers. We have been asked several times over the past several weeks, "Isn't it going to be hard to leave all that's familiar and comfortable, to drop off Eliza at college, and move so far away?" Yes, it will be hard. It is hard, especially on days like yesterday when we say good bye to our Journey family, and many other close friends and our family. BUT, God has not called us to do the "easy" thing. And for us, His call is to GO. Go to Mexico and advocate for the orphans and the impoverished. And it is our belief, based on what we KNOW of God..."that He who has begun a good work [not an easy work] in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Please continue to pray for our final preparations.

Commisioning service at Journey Church 8-28-2011





Servanthood....a quote from Maxie Dunham

"The way most of us serve keeps us in control. 

We choose whom, when, where and how we will serve. 

We stay in charge. 

Jesus is calling for something else.  He is calling us to be servants. 

When we make this choice, we give up the right to be in charge. 

The amazing thing is that when we make this choice we experience great freedom. 

We become available and vulnerable, and we lose our fear of being stepped on, or manipulated, or taken advantage of.  Are not these our basic fears? 

We do not want to be in a position of weakness."

Creative Thinking!

On our recent trip to Chicago to get our Visa's we stopped by Lyon & Healy Harp factory to pick up a BIG shipping carton & foam padding to ship my harp to Mexico.  When we arrived they laughed when they heard we were going to try to fit the box & foam into our mini van....but we made it work.  We tied the box to the top of the van, securing it with rope through the windows.  The guys from L & H were so helpful!  Notice the top right corner of the picture...Erick had to hold the rope the entire way back from Chicago to Grand Rapids!   

Are we freakin out yet......? Nawwwww...

Many of our friends and family are asking us how we're doing now that we're three weeks away from departure. We thought it may be helpful to give you a "freak-o-meter" rating.....
A little about the last several weeks....

• Went to Indiana Wesleyan Univ for Eliza to compete in a photography competition for a scholarship. (she won first place!)
• Successfully completed a "mock-pack." We packed all our stuff up in boxes and bins, borrowed our church truck, got 10 friends to help, and loaded, then unloaded all our stuff. It went incredibly well...only took 1.5 hrs to pack and unpack and we had spare room on the truck. The mock-pack allowed us to see exactly how much we'll be able to fit on the 20' container in Miami.
• Shared our story (Julie & I) at Amway with 40-50 of my co-workers. It was blatantly Christian and the response from them was incredibly receptive. Many of them talked with me afterward and took a prayer card.
• Ended my time working at Amway, as of Friday, Aug 5. Whew, was that surreal. But the group I work with most closely with in HR threw me a little party and generously supported our work in MX. Thanks GTD team!!
• Went to east Michigan to attend a graduation open house for Eliza at Flint First Wesleyan Church. They have been so gracious and kind to our family. We feel like part of their church.
• Spoke at Whiteford Wesleyan Church in east Michigan to share our story. They are interested in sending teams down to work with us in MX. Thanks, Whiteford!!!
• Some of our long-time camping friends threw us a good-by (for now) party and blessed us with a special prayer book. We have many memories with these families as we have been friends for 10-15 years. Thanks ya'll. We love you!

Over the next few weeks before we leave we will......

• Send Nick off for the last year to Camp Barakel in northern Michigan. He's gone to this camp for the last five years with his best friend Grant.
• Drive to Dayton, OH with a small moving truck to a storage unit, to store anything that is not going to MX with us. We will also go to the Back2Back offices in Mason, OH for the first time to see the home office and staff.
• Drive to Chicago to the Mexican consulate to try to finalize our visa work. We pray that this trip will mean we don't have to go to Monterrey before we go to Quintana Roo. We will also pick up a packing container for Julie's harp.
• Have a few more mtgs with families to share our story.
• Attend two commissioning services (Kentwood Community Church and Journey).
• Say many good-byes and shed many more tears.

So, are we freakin out...not too much....okay, maybe a little. But we're trusting God all the more. And he has been soooo faithful and gracious throughout this transition; we know He is trustworthy. Thanks for all your prayers and blessings.