Remembering Magda

The picture above is of Magda and her husband, Guillermo. If you have worshiped at the church at Casa Hogar Douglas in the last 2 years, you may have met them. They are an elderly couple who have lived near the children's home for many years. When we rebuilt the chapel and started holding regular worship services each week, they became a part of the church. They enjoyed spending Sundays with the kids. Their faithfulness has been an inspiration to Betty and me. 

On Thursday, Magda went home to be with her Lord. We will miss her. She loved to worship her Heavenly Father along with the fatherless! Nothing fancy. Just 60 or 70 orphans singing love songs to Jesus...sometimes accompanied by American visitors seeking to find a closer relationship with God. 

Thanks Magda for demonstrating that simple joy to all of us. Thank you God for allowing us to know Magda these past 2 years. We are blessed because of it!

Thank you New Life Garage Church

God has been moving and doing great things at Casa Hogar Douglas! In the past 15 months. He has brought 4 new couples to work and serve full-time with the 68 children that currently live in this children's home. Three of those couples have come in the last 3 months! We believe that all of this is nothing more than God's answer to many people's fervent prayers over much time. We rejoice with the angels over God's provision for these kids!

In September, we had a group serve with us from New Life Garage Church near Washington, D.C. They purchased food to stock the food pantry for 2 MONTHS! The pictures above are of the kids eating in the dining hall. They have been eating like kings! We are so blessed to be able to have the many supporters that we do and be able to provide for the needs of these kids! We want to send a big "thank you" out to New Life Garage Church for your faithfulness! And thank you God for using people like this to care for the needs of these kids!

Family Day at Casa Hogar Douglas

A couple of weeks ago, we had a special day at Casa Hogar Douglas. Sundays are typically visitation days for any relatives to visit the kids. It can be a very difficult day for everyone. We have been wanting to do more to minister to the families as well as the kids. So we decided to have what we called Family Day. We invited the visiting family members to come to church with us, eat dinner together afterwards and play some games where there were even prizes awarded. We had a visiting group that made it even better!

During the church service, we asked the family members to come forward and we prayed for them. During this time of prayer, many broke down in tears. It was a very moving time. I believe that many of these families love their children but they bring them to the children's home because they cannot properly care for them. We know that this decision is painful for everyone. We want to share the love of Christ with all of them.

At the end of the day, one young mom asked Betty if she had a Bible to give her. We were thrilled to be able to give her one. 

Modern Mexico

I wanted to offer a little information about the country of Mexico. My desire is that you will be able to better understand the world in which we live and are called to serve. It is a country of extremes. Half of the country's 107 million people live in poverty. 15% of all Mexican children are orphans. The majority of those don't live in childrens' homes. They live on the streets. Mexico is home to both the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, whose fortune is estimated at about $53.5 billion, and about 20 million Mexicans who live on less than $3 per day. It is those 20 million that we are called to serve. Or, more specifically, the children of those.

Many times, in the news, we hear so much negative about Mexico. And it is true that there is a lot to do here. But I believe it is worth it. We can't just close our borders and forget those that are suffering. I want to thank those of you who support us in prayer and financially. You are helping us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this needy place!

Betty's 2nd grade class

This school year, at Casa Hogar Douglas, we hired Marilin to be our full-time educational aide for the children. Betty has been helping her by tutoring the 2nd graders every afternoon. Above is a picture of Betty with some of her students. There is also a picture of Alexis with his first spelling quiz that he got a 95 on! He was very proud and Betty was very happy.

The program, that we have in place at Casa Hogar Douglas, is made possible because we have supporters. Many of these kids had trouble reading and writing. Without some type of help they would one day never be able to succeed in Back2Back's Hope Program, of higher education.