For such a time as this...

It seems strange that I have been down in Mexico for over a month now.  How fast the time has flown by.  It was just back in April that we were down here for our vacation and the Lord began to change our world and everything we know of...for the better.  He began to open our eyes for a need and opportunity to care for HIS children down in Bachiniva.  Watching how He has worked things out and continues too, has been one of the biggest blessings in my life.  And now, the day has come, to meet the orphans that we will be caring for in the coming months.  Tomorrow we head up to Creel to meet Ray Wilson, current director of Black Buffalo Ministries...which has been ministering to the orphans of Creel.  We will be meeting him for lunch at the hotel to talk, pray and seek the Lord in how to share and convey all the exciting things that GOD has done and will continue to do in the lives of these children.  Yesterday morning, I was drawn to Psalm 27, and the Lord reminded me of one of my favorite verses... "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me" (Ps 27:10).

Its actually the LORD who has been caring for these children all along.  He has simply just allowed Ray and company...and now us...to share in that blessing and opportunity.  How good it is to know that even in times when we fail, mess up or things change...the Lord remains faithful and He will be the ultimate One who will watch for, care, protect, provide and minister to these precious lambs!

Here is the tentative schedule for the next few days...

Wednesday - lunch with Ray and then heading to the orphanage.  Pastor Luis will be translating as Ray shares the plan and future for the children.  Jackie and I may or may not be there, depending on how the Lord leads.  We are not sure how the children and overseers will take the news.  We want to be sensitive and lead of the Lord!  When the time is right, we will meet the children, either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

Thursday - spend the day at the orphanage...meeting the children, spending time with them, getting to know and playing with them...AND...start loving on them!

Friday - We will be getting all the information of the kids, names and photos of ones we don't have yet.  We will also take inventory of all that they have and that will be coming with them.  Praise the Lord that everything, beds, dressers, tools, equipment, etc...has been given to us....WOW!  We will drive Ray back to Chihuahua to catch his flight and then head back home Saturday AM.

Saints, PLEASE be in prayer over the next few days.  We know that this is completely and totally of the Lord and his leading.  He has opened every single door and led our every step thus far.  He has confirmed on Ray's heart, his family as well as his board of directors that this is a God ordained change.  We have been praying and praying for this moment.  We have been praying for Leno and Lupe, the onsite overseers who have faithfully cared for these children.  Please pray that their hearts would be opened and ministered to as they see and hear what God is doing.  We have been praying for all the children, young and old.  We have asked that God too would prepare their hearts for the upcoming transition.  There is a sense that some of the older ones may choose to stay....which if that is what the Lord wills, we desire that too.  Praise God a number of them have acquired and maintained jobs...something we have also prayed for.

"Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward your holy sanctuary" (Ps 28:2).

Here are the names of the children....

Victor Luna, Javier Willochi, Annabelle Gonzalez, Rojelio Cobos, Anna Guillermina, Mary Cobos, Suzanna Batista, Alma Franco, Gabriella Nunez, Jaunita Cobos, Marie Isabel Willochi, Cesar Castillo, Marta Batista, Rosa Willochi, Betia Ramirez, Viri Ramirez, Gabriella Franco, Valaria Martinez, Rosa ester Franco, Jesus Nunez, Juanita Batista, Gerardo Cruz, Blanca Jil, Carali Jil, Jose Valancia, Lili Cobo, Luis Cadena, Saul Cadena, Juan Safiro, Rey Batista.

Thank you for your heartfelt prayers and petitions...!

Building Project...Phase 2

We had a great first week of working on the building project.  We have broken the whole project down into 5 phases.  The first phase consisted of purchasing the land and filing all the paperwork.  Praise the Lord that is almost finished.  We started phase 2 on Wednesday.  We hired a gentleman named Horatio to come out and survey the land. This enables us to have the correct measurements to help us put up fencing to separate our land from others and wild animals.

We also hired Tony and his backhoe...or as they call it here "mano de chango" (monkey claw)...to clear the trees where we will building the orphanage!

The land before the clearing...

Tony and his monkey claw doing its thing...

The end result...AMEN!

We had two of our workers, Eloy and Alejo help us on Thursday to square the land and mark it off so we can begin to dig the footings and pour cement.  One of the requirements for the hired workers is 20-30 minutes of devotional and prayer before starting work.

Pastor Luis praying for the day with Eloy and Alejo

Squaring the land...

Digging the footings...

So, after 2 full working days, a lot was accomplished.  Next week the whole crew will start on Monday at 7:30 AM.  We will begin laying rebar and castillos and then pouring the cement.  Lord willing, it will only take 2-3 days and then we can begin the monstrous task of laying over 8,000 cement blocks for the shell of the orphanage.

Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming....!

Let the work begin...

“Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening” (Psalm 104:23). We are officially off and running with this massive building project.  The land has been purchased, the plans are finished and the work has begun.  As many of you were praying, our desire has been to hire locals to help build the orphanage. We feel this is the best way for two reasons.  First of all, it enables the building to continue and not rely on only American teams coming down. Second...which is the most exciting part, is to bless men with jobs.  Work is incredibly scarce down here.  The apple season was horrible and the majority of people have been with out work for months.  Many do anything and everything they can just to buy food to survive.  Someone who has a decent job makes about 150 pesos a day (12 USD).  I still can’t believe that.  How in the world can you survive off of 12 dollars A DAY?  This is usually just enough for some food and maybe propane to cook with.  We prayed on what would be a good wage to pay the workers and Luis said 200 pesos (15 USD) for laborers and 250 pesos (19 USD) for block layers.

Pastor Luis and Nieves put the word out that we were looking for workers and invited them to a meeting last night after church.  Seven brothers showed up...eager to hear what’s going on..some of them believers, some non-believers.  Pastor Luis shared his heart and desire for his fellow Bachinivites and then I was able to share the overall vision for the Orphanage and project.  As I sat back and observed my heart raced with excitement.  All these years we have brought down teams to do the bulk of building projects...but now...these brothers are going to play a huge role in one of the biggest projects we have done yet.  They love the thought of joining those from the states to accomplish this orphanage building.

By the end of the meeting all of these brothers were anxious, excited and eager to get started.  By the looks on their faces and questions they were asking, I realized that they weren’t just here for the money, but also, they loved the thought of being apart of something that helps others in need.  This amazed me because most of them are in need themselves.  Brothers who are in need helping children who are in need...wow that is the heart of the Lord!  After explaining the rules, requirements AND most importantly that this whole project is to honor and glorify the Lord, all seven of them quickly raised their hands to start working.

Our work day will start at 7:30 AM with 20-30 minutes of prayer and a little devotional.  There was no hesitation from the men when we shared that this was a requirement.  We will work 8-9 hour days throughout the week and then a 4 hour day on Saturday.  On saturday to seal our work week, we’ll provide a big lunch and cokes for the brothers to break bread together and thank the Lord for all that was accomplished that week

Please pray for these men...Carlos, Chayo, Eloy, Alejo, Jorge, Lico and Florentino.  Pray for those who don’t know the Lord, that their hearts will be softened and they would come to know Jesus is the WAY, TRUTH and LIFE.  Pray for safety during the work day.  Also, please pray that those who struggle with alcohol will be able to stay sober and know that Jesus can give them victory over their addictions.  It is going to be so exciting to watch what the Lord does in the lives of these men and the project over the next 6-8 weeks.

I will be posting pictures throughout the process to give you a glance at all tha God does!

Thank you Jesus...You are an amazing God!