Summer Happenings...

Memories…I came across this picture in Facebook “memories” this week and was absolutely amazed.  It was 6 years ago, this month, when we first came down to Bachiniva to start the orphanage.  Not having a clue of what we were doing, in those first 3 months we purchased 40 acres and began building the 7,300 square foot facility.  It’s a bit hard to comprehend all that has taken place since then.  Our compound keeps growing, children keep coming, mission teams from all over the U.S. keep serving, churches and donors continue giving, and we are able to provide more jobs within the community.  I am very exited to see what the next 6 years are like.  To God be the glory!

Schooling…We are only 10 days away from our children starting another school year.  We were very proud of our kids who ALL finished well and strong this past year.  All of them passed with above average grades and will be moving on to the next grade.  We were especially excited for Juan and Luis (who will be going into 10th grade).  These two young men are our true orphans and have worked very hard in their schooling.  Luis is in the special education program and had classes in this program for an hour a day, 3 days a week.  Juan was enrolled in a special school to help him get caught up with his elementary certificate.  The junior high school administration was very helpful with us, and everyone was excited to see these two young men receive their diplomas under special circumstances.  Please continue to pray for Juan as he has 2 more big exams to pass to receive his elementary certificate.

Back-To-School Drive…Preparations are going well for the 16 children that will be in 4 different schools.  This school year we will have 1 in kindergarten, 8 in elementary, 3 in junior high, and 4 in high school.  We are excited to be launching our back-to-school drive in which we hope to raise $3,000 to help fund all the school uniforms, shoes, supplies, clothes, fees, etc. for the children.  If you would like to help out with a donation, you can check out more info on our website www.thehouseofblessing.org.

Children…Speaking of children, we are very excited to have received two new young boys last week: Julio and Luis Modesto.  They are both from the Sierra Madres, about 7 hours away.  Luis Modesto is the younger brother of Erasmo, Maria Ana, and Carolina.  Julio is their cousin.  They both are transitioning well here at the Casa and are excited to be starting junior high this year.

Earlier this summer, we had to say goodbye to our sweet dear Valeria.  We’ve had the incredible blessing and honor of caring for this little gal for a few years.  Although it is always hard to see children leave, we are excited that she is reconnected with her mom and family.  They are living in a town about an hour away, and she will be attending a school closer to her home.  Please continue to pray for her.

Sanchez Family…Jackie, Ayantu, and I are doing very well.  It is hard to believe we’ve been down here for 6 years now.  We were able to take some vacation time last month, which was much needed and very restful.  We had a wonderful time last month in Florida for our family reunion.  It's not often that my four siblings, spouses, kids, etc. are all together in one place.  In fact, it happens every 2 years.  We had an incredible week hanging out with everyone at the beach.  After Florida, we headed to Washington for our annual Golf Invitational for the House of Blessing.  It was a huge success as we had 100 golfers come out for an incredible day to raise support and awareness for the orphanage.

New Staff Member...We are very excited to have my aunt, Kim Vargas, working with us 3 days a week.  Kim is my administrative assistant and is doing a fantastic job both in the office and with the children and their schooling.  This was a huge blessing as we said goodbye to Cesar, who worked with us for over 2 years.  Cesar was our children's administrator as well as boys dorm steward.  The Lord lead Cesar back to Chihuahua in June to purse a different work path.

Prayer Requests…The rest of this month is incredibly busy with school preparations and 2 more mission teams coming down to serve with us.  We would love and appreciate your prayers for…

•  The children as they begin school on August 20th

• Our back-to-school drive … that we would raise enough money for all our needs

• Mission teams from Washington and Oregon

• Our very hard working staff and volunteers

Times Of Discouragement...

The past 4 months have been some of the most trying months since we’ve lived in Mexico.  There have been both spiritual and personal warfare taking place.  That’s probably part of the reason why this is my first blog post of the new year.

A few weeks ago, as I was preparing for yet another trip, I felt very overwhelmed, discouraged, and exhausted.  As I was in my office frantically trying to get my list of 1,000 things done I received this wonderful text from my wife:

“I read this chapter this morning and was encouraged and it reminded me that God is in control and knows everything that is happening here! I hope this helps you to not be discouraged! I love you!”

She then texted me Isaiah chapter 35.  The chapter only has 10 verses, however, verses 3 and 4 greatly encouraged me….

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Later that day, Ayantu came into my office.  “Daddy, I hear that your sad.”  “Yes, sweetie, Daddy has been having a very hard time lately.”  She then presented me with another one of her pictures she colored.  I think it was the craft they worked on at Bible study.

“Alabare al Señor con todo mi corazon.  Todos tus maravillas contare,"  (Salmos 9:1)                    

“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works,” (Psalm 9:1)

How in the world can we praise the Lord with our WHOLE HEART when at times it feels like we can barely utter a sound?  How can we tell of ALL His marvelous works when it seems that the world around us is caving in?  We can because we serve a God who ”strengthens our weak hands and makes firm our feeble knees,”;  because we have the comfort from the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3);  because when our heart is overwhelmed, we have a good, good Father who leads us to “the Rock that is higher than I,” (Psalm 61).

I pray that anyone reading this who is in a similar place of discouragement might take great comfort in these precious words from our Lord!

Thanks & Prayers...

THANKS…A few weeks ago, the Lord brought us another wonderful young gal named Sarai (Sarah).  She is 7 years old and is in the 2nd grade.  We were contacted by Sarai’s mother who is in a similar situation as many of the other mothers of the children here.  She is single, working, trying to provide, as well as adequately raise Sarai.  She heard about the Casa through her cousin and reached out to us.

Sarai has adjusted very well.  She is pretty behind in school, but very eager to learn.  She is getting along well with the other 10 girls that live here.  (Yes, that indeed is a lot of precious little gals!) We were able to purchase a bike for Sarai this week, and she has already learned how to ride it.  She also loves playing outside, as well as playing with her new doll.  Sarai is quiet and shy, but seems to be coming out of her shell little by little each day. 

We are so thankful to have her with us, and please join us as we pray daily for her.

PRAYERS…The week we received Sarai was so very exciting; however, it was also a very challenging and hard week as one of our boys is no longer living with us.  After much prayer and seeking wisdom from the Lord, as well as discussing options with the board of directors, it was decided that Jesus Miguel (Chewy) should no longer live with us.  The problems we were having with Jesus Miguel continued to grow and grow.  After countless meetings with him, encouraging him to change, giving him chance after chance, and a desire to help him, Jesus Miguel refused.  He told us he no longer wanted to be here with us, attend school, or go to church.  He only wants to go back with his mom.  We discussed this with his mom and shared the same feelings with her.  It was decided that it was in the best interest of the other younger, more impressionable children that Chewy should return to his mother’s care.

Honestly, I hate decisions like this and always feel bad.  There seems to be a recurring thought of, “maybe we should give him one more chance, or maybe we can do something different.”  However, I am learning that you can’t help everyone, especially those who don’t want help.

So, in the midst of difficulty, we are rejoicing in the 2 years that Jesus Miguel was with us. We are praying that at some point the seeds that were planted in this young man’s life will later be watered and bring forth much fruit.  Please continue to pray for Chewy, for the Lord’s hand of protection on his life, and that his heart would be softened and yielded to the grace and love and forgiveness of our sweet Savior.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

THANKS…A HUGE thank you to all who have donated for our back to school drive and our computer lab/resource room project.  We were hoping to raise $2500 for back to school, however, we received over $5000.  WOW!!  Also, the computer lab/resource room project is almost finished.  The workers are laying the tile this week and then we basically just need to paint and furnish.  With your support we have been able to purchase a few chrome books as well as HP computer monitors for the …. drum roll please …. 8 computers that were generously donated by a company in Washington.  Thank you Jesus!

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things" (Psalm 72:18).

PRAYERS…Please be praying for me as I am in the transition of becoming a permanent resident of Mexico.  I have been on my temporal visa for 4 years (which is the maximum) and now need to change it.  It’s hard to believe that we on year 5 of being down here in Bachiniva, Mexico.  Boy does time fly by.

I had my first visa appointment last week and it went well.  I will head back to Chihuahua City in a few weeks for my 2nd appointment and then it will be official.  There are a lot of benefits of becoming a permanent resident.  I can basically do everything from owning land, buying a home, having a bank account, working, etc.  However, unfortunately, I can not have an American vehicle permitted under my name.  This goes for Jackie as well, when she changes her residency in April.

With that being said, come April, we will lose our current minivan.  Please join us in prayer for another vehicle for our family.  There are 2 options.  We can either buy a Mexican car here or we can import a vehicle from the United States.  In order to do this, the vehicle must be a 2009 or 2010 model.  It costs about $2000 to import a vehicle.

When we were in Chihuahua City last week we looked at 7 different vehicles and called about 3 others.  The challenging thing with Mexican vehicles is that a lot of them are salvaged (which have been rebuilt or just made to look nice), they don’t have the legal paperwork, or they are ridiculously expensive with high mileage.  For this reason, we are looking in the States for one as well.  If any of you know of or have a good, reliable 2009 or 2010 minivan or SUV, please let me know via email (jason@thehouseofblessing) or phone call (915-316-9496).  The reason we are wanting a minivan or SUV is because we can transport small missions teams as well as a small group of our children down here. 

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support.  Looking forward to continually sharing with you all the great things that our God is doing AND will do!