I assure you it is not a trivial cliché when I say that I simply do not know how people handle life without Jesus to guide them and strengthen them. On our own, we would be completely overwhelmed and consumed with the challenges that we face on a daily basis here in the children’s home. People often ask us after hearing about bad things happening here in Mexico: “How do you guys handle it?” The absolute truth is that that the Spirit of God living in us, carries us through…and not just “getting by” either but seeing victories, big and small, all along the way. We praise God for His ever-present strength, grace, favor and especially His love. We simply could not exist without Him in our lives.
Fall is usually such a busy time of the year for us, but this year seems to be much busier than usual. However, God has blessed us with some wonderful staff ladies that have made our workload much lighter, and God has also given us the grace and patience to handle all the pressing issues. One of our biggest challenges is our children’s school schedules. We have children in SIX different schools and every school has a different schedule. The first set of kids leave at 6:40am and then the rest leave staggered throughout the day, with the last ones leaving for evening classes at 6:00pm. It is a crazy schedule and keeps us moving all day.
When coming to Mexico, we always heard that the public schools were free so we could not understand why so many children were not in school. Well, we found out why in short order. Even though there is no tuition expense, there is a huge cost to the families that send their children to school. Children are required to bring a load of supplies for the school…not just normal school supplies like, notebooks, pencils, erasers, etc., but actual supplies for the school itself. Things like several bottles of cleaning solution (like 409, Windex, etc), bottles of Clorox, a large     
We want to introduce you to a wonderful young girl. This is Karin. She is 15.This picture of Karin is not posed…in other words, what you see in this photo is what we see all the time. She is one big smile! However, she didn’t come to us that way. Karin was living in a horrible situation. Some of her story is a bit sketchy, but not her recent past. Sometime ago, her mother abandoned her and she was taken in by her aunt and uncle. They are not nice people. She was basically held captive and her uncle began using her as a sex slave. He repeatedly raped her without any intervention from her aunt. She was living a hellish nightmare. She had little or no outside contact and she was afraid to cry out as she had no where else to live, so day after day she was forced to endure the abuse. Finally she escaped and made her way to the DIF office (Mexico’s child protective services) and sought refuge.
We had several groups visit us recently. Alcoa has a factory here in Acuna and they encourage their employees to get involved in helping out in their community. The Alcoa employee volunteer group chose to come spend the day helping out around our home and we are so thankful to them and their concern for our children.
We were blessed to meet an incredible couple all the way from a small town just outside Paris…Paris, Texas that is…Bill and Janice Cattanach. They found us through a mutual acquaintance and came for a visit. Bill and Janice have been ministering as a couple here in Acuna for over 10 years ministering to the needs of some of the elderly and handicapped who are very isolated and neglected. They were connected this year to a medical missions group led by Ken Bridges from Dallas, who stopped by for a visit and brought some much needed medical and personal care items. They we a huge blessing to us and we look forward to seeing Bill and Janice again soon!
We had another large group come to use their construction talents for the Lord. However, this time our Home was not the recipient of their ministry, but rather we ministered with them to help build a small house for a widow and her grandson. The incredible group of brothers came from Gateway Community Church in Austin. They come to Acuna several times a year and build small houses for widows or other desperately poor people who live in cardboard houses or houses made from discarded shipping pallets. This was the first time we met these men and we were honored to minster to them as they ministered to the little widow and her grandson. Our staff cooked meals for them and washed their clothes for them so that they could spend focused time upon their task at hand. The home they were building was only about 100 yards from our home so this was their “home base” for the week that they were here. They blessed us by donating a toaster and a mixer and they built something called a “gaga pit”. It looks like a eight-sided corral for miniature livestock but it is actually a new twist on an old game called “dodge ball”. Once the kids caught on how to play the game, we have a hard time getting them to come inside to get ready for mealtime or bedtime.  We look forward to helping these wonderful men again in the future as they return to build more houses.
This is one of our newest additions. Josue (for our non-Spanish speaking friends, the name is pronounced “ho sway”). He is just 1 month old, but already he is learning how to run things around here. DIF brought him to us because he had to be removed from a dangerous environment. DIF was called to a location where they found Josue laying on a filthy floor screaming while his mother was passed out from either drugs or alcohol or both since DIF said this mother is a heavy user of both. The mom was covered in her own urine and the baby was in a horrible mess. Now he has bounced back and shows no signs of the abuse and neglect he suffered except for a small hernia, but otherwise he is doing very well.
By the way…I realize that parenting is not supposed to be a competition but I think we can all see who Josue likes the best.

just sayin’...
In September our New Girl’s bathroom was finished. We had a “Grand Opening” Ceremony to celebrate the desperately needed addition to our Home. Cutting the ribbon, was Mike and Kay Figart of the Hand of the Nino Foundation. Hand of the Nino donated all the construction costs for the bathroom, so we express our profound thanks to Mike and Kay for their generosity. Mike has been adopted by our kid’s as Abuelito Mike (Grandpa Mike). He is a regular visitor to our home and he is always blessing our kids…Thank you Mike!
Outside of my love and commitment to Jesus Christ and my love and commitment for my wife and family, my biggest passion is to see children who are orphaned and abandoned find hope in this life through the love and care of a family that can bathe them in the love and nurturance of our Father, God.  Because of this sometimes I get a bit “preachy” to those who will listen so I want to take this opportunity to say a few things that I hope will encourage and inspire those who will take a few minutes to read this “sermon”.

Seven years ago I made my first trip to Africa. I spent time in South Africa and in Zambia. I was shaken to the core of my being by what I saw. Understand that I had operated children’s homes in Texas for a number of years so I had worked with children who had been abandoned, abused and neglected but I can assure you, I had never seen what I saw on the African continent. Those of us who have been blessed to be born and to live in America really have no concept of the way that children have to live in those poverty stricken places.


 
Happy Thanksgiving!
number of rolls of toilet paper, several reams of 8.5 x 11 copy paper and a ream of legal paper, a package of white board markers for the teachers, a package of permanent markers for the teachers, and other various items that the school uses. In addition, every time the teachers give a test, the children have to pay for the test to reimburse the school for the printer ink. The children are also required to send money periodically to pay for the use of air conditioning in the classroom. Furthermore, the children have to purchase their textbooks, which are very expensive, and then they must go to an office supply store and purchase several rolls of colored contact paper which the parents must use to cover the text books so that the books are color-coded. So, many of the poor families that have several children are so burdened with these expenses, they are unable to send their kids to school. We have been blessed to have some supporters that helped us with our supplies, because the initial cost to put the kids in school, not just the private school, can be overwhelming when supplying for 15 school children.
Each one of those trash bags represents about half of what has to be provided to the school for each child.
They immediately brought her to us. From the moment she arrived, her countenance began to change. She said she felt at peace here and she felt protected, even though she didn’t know us. Then just after a few days, she came to both Anna and I asking if she could call us “Mom” and “Dad”. We realize that sometimes children experience such dramatic change in their lives when they come here and they make emotional requests such as this but with this girl we could tell she was serious. She has even asked Anna and me to adopt her. She says she has never experienced love and peace like she has here and when her caseworker asked her if she wanted DIF to locate other family members she immediately and firmly said “NO”…this is my home now…I am NOT leaving here! She has had an experience with the Lord and so this young lady has now started a new life in every way…physically, emotionally and spiritually. We praise God that Karin is now one of the family…and anytime we see Karin she is wearing that huge smile! What a blessing she is.
We even had a celebrity appearance by Spiderman (aka. Gustavo)
The “Gaga Pit”
I want to thank the wonderful partners that God has joined to us. Your faithful support is truly helping change the lives of some amazing kids. We thank God for you and pray that God’s richest blessings are yours.

Until next time…

Blessings,
Dr. Ron & Anna Sherman
God didn’t say that taking care of orphans is His suggestion…
                                                                                  …it is His command!
If you would like a contribution by check you can mail your contribution to the U.S. postal address below;
Or, if you prefer, you can make your donation online by credit or debit card by
clicking the link below.
Email

drron@whitestone.ws

U.S. Telephone

830.488.3928
U.S. Mailing Address
White Stone Ministries
807 B Veterans Blvd.
#151
Del Rio, TX 78840
Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila Children’s Home is operated by White Stone Ministries, Inc.
White Stone Ministries is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization so all contributions are tax-deductible.
To our South African Family & Friends;
If you would like to become a financial partner with us, you can do so by making your donations to our South African bank account. Here are our banking details:
BANK:
ACCOUNT NAME:
ACCOUNT TYPE:
ACCOUNT NUMBER:
BRANCH CODE:
BRANCH:
NEDBANK
A M SHERMAN CHEQUE
1737804670
173742
EASTGATE
You can also give online with a credit or cheque card at our secure website:
“Projects” List
“Needs” List
If you or you church group would like to invest some time, energy & expertise in helping us with our goal to make a functional and beautiful home for the children, then please let us know and we can talk about scheduling a time that is convenient for your group to come.
ØBuild jungle gym
ØLandscaping
ØBuild a carport
ØBuild several closets
ØSecure outside stairs
ØRe-hang several doors
ØComplete 2nd floor
ØInstall video cameras
ØInstall flood light at gate
ØInstall intercom inside
ØInstall intercom on gate
Ø Painting - many places inside and outside
Ø Install burglar bars on new windows upstairs
Ø Tile playroom & girl’s bedroom
Ø Build shelves in computer room
Ø Build a playhouse and sand box
Ø Install kitchen plumbing & cabinets in cottage
Ø Build closets/lockers in girl’s room
Ø Build shelves in workshop
Ø Solve electricity “puzzles”
Ø Finish cottages for groups to stay
Ø Build closets in new school room
Household Items -
Gerber Baby Food
Diapers
Toaster
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Large trash bags
Tall kitchen trash bags
Liquid clothes detergent
Pinesol
Clorox
Hair Conditioner
Deodorant
Hand lotion
Feminine Napkins (var sizes)

Furniture -
Bunk beds
High Chairs
Chest of DrawersSmall DresserSmall dining table/chairs BookshelvesKitchen Counter/SinkKitchen Cabinets
Bean bag chairs

Tools/Maintenance -
Cordless hammer drill
Elec saw
I visited one orphanage in South Africa and as the director was showing me one of the buildings where children were housed, a little girl immediately came and grabbed my leg and began calling me “daddy”. I picked her up and the director told me with a very unemotional tone…”she is going to see Jesus in about 3 months”. It was as if I had been punched in the stomach. He explained that she had AIDS and was dying. I was absolutely overcome. I was almost angry at the man because he seemed so complacent about the impending death of the beautiful little girl…who desperately wanted “daddy”.
I told him I had been reading that if a person is found to be infected with the HIV virus, it is possible to keep the HIV from evolving into AIDS if the person is placed on a very special diet. He agreed that was possible but they were not aware that the child had HIV when she came to them. I asked if it was not standard procedure to test all the kids coming there since HIV/AIDS is so prevalent in his country. He said that they could not afford to give every child a blood test. He said the tests were about $45.00 US, and they simply did not have the funds to test each child. He went on to say that sadly, it was cheaper to build caskets than it was to have blood tests done. I was appalled. $45.00 could have saved this child’s life…not to mention the other 30+ kids in that room called the staff called the “Terminal Ward”. 


About that same time, Time Magazine had written an article about the plight of the orphans in Africa. They estimated that within just a few years, it will take 80,000 Orphanages, each holding 500 children to care for all the orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa!

It is almost as bad in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. Mexico City, according to UNICEF, now has over 1,000,000 children living on the streets. 300,000 are true orphans and the rest are certainly what the Bible calls “fatherless”. 

I simply could not get my mind around how these children seemed to be so forgotten by the world…and more specifically, the Church. At first, I felt angry with God that He was not somehow seeing to the rescue of this multitude of children. I was angry with Christians who lived in such abundance but did so little to help these innocent children. I was angry with churches that spent vast amounts of money on every amenity possible for their church buildings while these babies died alone and in misery.

Suddenly, The Holy Spirit dropped something into my heart. If every person in the U.S. who named the name of Jesus, were to fast a coke or cup of coffee each day, and send the money they would have spent on their drinks to organizations who are caring for orphans, then every orphan on the planet could be rescued. Well, I must say I figured that was just my own mind trying to come up with some answer for all this, but when I got home I looked up how many children worldwide UNICEF estimated to be orphans. Then I found several sites that gave statistics of the number of Christians in the U.S.. Next I applied the dollar amount that I estimated for care for one child per day in a 3rd World country. Finally I took the average cost of a soda and plugged it into the equation and guess what I found…YES…with that small amount of sacrifice by every Christian in the U.S., every orphaned child on the Earth could receive the most basic of care.

So…this is not God’s fault…it is the fault of the Church at large.

This is why in God’s law that was delivered to the Jews thousands of years ago, He directed that every Jew MUST tithe and a portion of that tithe was to care for orphans and widows. In that way the law was seeing to the needs of those who could not care for themselves. However, even though most churches today still teach the tithe, the part about using a portion of everyone’s tithe to care for orphans and widows has somehow been lost. It has been replaced by the “need” to build grander and more elaborate church facilities in order to be “relevant” to today’s society, meanwhile children all over the world are dying in the dirt, forgotten by the church. Certainly this is not all churches, but the statistics say it is the majority of the U. S. churches.

In my research I have found multiple sources that site statistics on how much of the money that comes into churches actually goes to missions outside the US. Close to 83% of church funds stay in the church for salaries, buildings, maintenance, church programs, etc., while only 1.4% to 2% of church income funds missions…and this covers all types of missions including orphans. So ministry to orphans receives a tiny fraction of a percentage of the money that flows into the church today.

God never released His children from taking care of the orphans and widows. The use of the tithe never changed.  God’s economic system is based upon giving. The world system is based upon getting. One minister puts it this way: “get all you can…can all you get…then sit on the can”. God says: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38).  God wants to bless us, but He also wants us to use some of His blessings to care for others. When He can trust us to use His blessings for the right purposes, He will trust us with more. I see so many Christians…not just the people, but the churches as well, in so much debt. It is choking the life out them. I know that they are praying and asking God for help, but many experience a “closed” heaven and they are desperately seeking answers. I am certainly not saying I have THE answer, but Scripture does hold all the answers we could ever need. So I want to point out a couple of scriptures that may help.

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Mat:25: 44-45

So it is obvious that God expects His children to care for these little ones and there are unalterable consequences when we ignore or disobey His Word. However, when we do obey…when we do give out of our blessings, there are unalterable rewards.

He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. Prov 28: 27

Thou shalt surely give him (the orphan, the widow, the poor stranger), and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.  Deut: 15:10

There are many more scriptures that tell us how God will care for us IF we care for the orphan, the widow and the poor stranger.

God doesn’t say that if we have something left over at the end of the month then we are to give, but rather, He says “GIVE and then trust Me to take care of you”. If we can trust God with our eternal destiny, surely we should be able to trust Him with our temporal assets and money.

Please understand that this writing was not in some veiled way, a means to manipulate you to give to our ministry. In my heart, I know that there are many people who will read this that have not made a firm commitment to the Lord to support a ministry on a regular basis that cares for orphans. There are many doctrines in the Bible that are subject to so much debate but providing for orphans and widows is not one of them. God simply says “do it”. So I ask you to please prayerfully consider where the Lord would have you to give. Yes, He may direct you to support our children or He may have put on your heart to support another ministry that is rescuing orphans. The bottom line is not IF you are supposed to, but WHERE you are supposed to give. Then when you do open your hand to the orphans, then watch what God does for you.