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As most everyone receiving this knows, Anna and I have had a calling to minister to abandoned, abused, and orphaned children. We believed we were called to come to Mexico so we moved to Mexico City two years ago. We were connected with a great pastor there who wanted us to work with him and his church to develop an orphanage. He had to make several attempts to get an orphanage license from the Mexican version of the Texas Child Protective Services, called DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia). After many months of making repeated attempts to receive a license from DIF, he was unsuccessful. Because of his church’s type of corporate charter, DIF demanded that he have at least one full year of operating capital in his bank account before they would issue the license. He simply could not comply. We had to then seek the Lord on how to proceed with our vision.

Through a series of events we met a man and his wife who were the directors of an orphanage here in Ciudad Acuña called Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila. The Lord impressed upon our hearts to move here from Mexico City and start helping this family. Immediately after moving into the one-room cottage behind the Home, we began to see some major problems in the way in which the Home was operated. The couple was having severe marital problems and they had no experience in operating a children’s home, so the Home was in a very bad state. The owner of the property is a retired pastor who lives about six hours away from Acuña and he has serious health problems so his oversight of this couple was extremely limited. We had several confrontations with the director over the way in which the children were treated and after just three weeks, we were told to leave. We didn’t even have a chance to speak to the owner and never even got his contact details to speak to him.

Once again we had to seek the Lord for His plan for our lives and ministry. For several months we seemed to be in a spiritual (as well as a literal) desert. We simply could not hear anything from the Lord. We were prepared to do whatever He asked…we just needed to know for sure what His will was. We remained in Acuña as the Lord did not open any other doors, so we had to wait upon Him…sometimes patiently…sometimes not. We only knew that He sent us here and He would not leave us nor forsake us and he would direct our path if we stayed in faith and remained open to His direction.

In the first week of March, we got a call from some folks who were loosely connected to Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila; the home where we had tried to help. The caller told us that there had been a terrible breakdown at the Home and the owner desperately needed to find someone to take over the Home immediately. When the owner found out that we were still in living in Acuña, he contacted us and wanted to know if we would be willing to speak with him, which we did. He explained that the condition in the Home had worsened terribly over the previous few months as the directors had been going through terrible problems. The school that the children attended had reported the directors to the DIF office because of suspected physical abuse to some of the children. It was discovered that there had indeed been abuse and the DIF office removed some of the children and also refused to send anymore children to the Home. The physical condition of the Home was atrocious as well. So the directors were dismissed. All in all, the Home had deteriorated into such a state of disrepair and filthiness that is was no longer fit to house children.

After praying and discussing options, we reached an agreement with the owner of the property that our ministry, White Stone Ministries, would take over the full operation of Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila. We believe that God had sent us to this place originally and He was now putting us back in, so it was now time for us to roll up our sleeves and dig in. We would be responsible for all aspects of running the Home including caring for the children, raising the finances, as well as developing the huge potential of the Home. We also are responsible for rebuilding the relationship with DIF and the community as the reputation had been greatly damaged by the previous directors.

There were seven children still in Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila at the time we took over. DIF had only removed a few children. The physical conditions in the Home were so bad that we decided to bring the children into our own little home while some of the initial cleanup was done. When we walked into the house for the first time, we were completely overwhelmed. We were greeted with the overpowering stench of feces and urine, mixed with rotting trash and mildewing clothing. We found piles of clothes, many of which were covered in urine. Trash was literally scattered throughout every room in the house. All the toilets were full of human waste and even diaper pails were still full.

In the first week we were in the Home, a youth group from East Texas showed up at our gate. They had scheduled many months earlier to come and do some work projects at the Home. Wow…did we have a project for them! They worked for three days helping us to clean the place. As much as they did, we were still a very long way from having a livable house. The next week, a second group from Arkansas came to help. This group helped us to continue to clean and organize and paint. They worked for three days as well. Then the third week a large youth group from here in Acuña came to help. More cleaning, more painting and more repairing.

The total number of people that came to help in those first three weeks was approximately 60. Every group worked for three days each, so you can imagine how bad things were if it took 60 people 9 days to get this house into a livable condition. If Anna and I had been the only ones doing the work, it would have taken us months to do what these groups did in 9 days.

When they were told to leave, the directors developed a very vindictive attitude. Since their departure was not supervised, they spitefully took almost every asset from the Home when they left, including the Christmas presents given to the children. They took all the living room furniture, the large-screen TV and DVD player. They took most of the useable toys, all the tools, the electric generator, most of the pots, pans and kitchen utensils. They even took the Suburban that belonged to the Home. As a result, the only furniture in the home was the children’s bedroom furniture, a few folding tables, some folding chairs and a few odds and ends of kitchen supplies. The Home is almost void of furniture, but it is clean and becoming more and more like a home everyday. We still have a lot of plumbing problems, electrical problems and general disrepair to the building, but little by little we are addressing these challenges as the Lord provides.

The children are doing wonderful. They have developed a sense of pride in keeping their Home clean and tidy. They are now involved with a youth group from a local church and are anxious to get to church every Sunday. We had one little girl looking through the kitchen trash can before bedtime for food. We found she had hidden old tortillas under her pillow. She and her little brother have experienced so much hunger in their young lives that she is used to searching trash cans for her food. Now she knows that she doesn’t have to be afraid that she will go hungry in our Home.

We have now begun to re-establish a relationship with DIF. They have shown us favor in several situations, so we are already seeing God’s blessings going before us. Here in Acuña God has blessed us with some amazing connections…connections only God could setup. We have become friends with one of the best doctors in Acuña who is also a minister. He has committed to take care of any medical needs our children have. The doctor introduced us to one of the top dentists here who is also a Christian. The dentist has also committed to care for our children. We have made friends with several great attorneys that are willing to help with legal affairs. We have become friends with a wonderful Christian lady whose husband is a District Judge and who is close friends with the Governor of the State of Coahuila (which is the State that Acuña is situated in). There are many more associations that God has helped us establish. We are so amazed at His protection, provision and favor.

When I started White Stone Ministries in 1989, I found the hardest thing for me to do was ask for financial help. Our ministry operated three children’s homes for over 7 years. During that time we took in over 350 children and saw the Lord bring over 220 to salvation, all the while depending on various government entities to provide our finances. Of the annual budget of $350,000, less than 2% came from donations. I now realize that no one gave because I never presented the needs of the children to people. I actually felt as though people would be offended by my request for them to sow into the lives of these children. I have come to understand that that is simply a false humility on my part.

In the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, the Word clearly says that the Lord told Elijah that He had already prepared a widow to provide for him, ”…behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee…,” but when Elijah presented himself to the widow, she did not say “Oh yes, you are the one I have been waiting on.” In fact, she rejected his request at first, but then recanted and obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. The Lord had prepared her heart to respond affirmatively to the request of the prophet, but that meant that a request had to come first. She did not go out seeking Elijah…he had to go to her and present his need.

In that same spirit, I am coming to you to ask you to pray for God’s guidance to determine if He is put upon your heart, the leading to partner with us in providing a Home for these lonely, abandoned children in Mexico. We need people to partner with White Stone Ministries and Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila to pray for this ministry and to assist with financial gifts of any amount. Please consider making a commitment on a monthly basis. I believe that God has already prepared many hearts to join us in this mission to reach some lost and forgotten children.

Deut. 15:10, “Thou shalt surely give him, 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.”

These innocent children, who are facing a life without any promise of hope, can be saved; but it takes action. Obviously we can’t save all of them, but we can save some.

I ask you to search your heart to see if you are one that God has prepared to respond to this need. I can assure you on the authority of God’s Word, that if He is telling you to partner with us in this ministry to orphans, He will bless your life and finances as you obey. Not only that, but I believe that you will reap a reward in heaven for every child that comes to the Lord through this ministry. You will be rewarded as if you were there preaching to the children yourself as Paul told the Church at Philippi who were supporters of his “…ye all are partakers of my grace” {Phil 1:7}.

P.S.: The children’s home, Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila, is operated by White Stone Ministries. White Stone is a U.S. ministry recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization so your financial gifts are tax deductible.

P.S.S.: If you or your church group would like to come and spend some time at the Home, we have need of some strong backs & experienced hands. We need plumbers, electricians, carpenters, welders and folks that just have a desire to help with whatever they can such as painting, cleaning, etc.

P.S.S.S.: We decided to make a list of the things that we need in and around the Home in the event that folks might like to donate certain items. We have found that people may have things in their home they don’t use any longer or maybe have put away in storage that they would like to donate if they knew the specific items we needed. So below we have itemized a few of the things that we have need of as well as a few of the ongoing items that we continually need.

Household Furnishings:
Couches
Bookshelves
Large chairs
Bean bag chairs (preferably vinyl)
Large TV
DVD player
Chest of drawers
Plastic mattress covers (twin size)
Ceiling fans
Light kits for ceiling fans
Sewing machine
A/C window units/evaporative coolers

Toys: (PLEASE…no stuffed toys…we have plenty)
Legos
Duplos (Legos for small children)
Bicycles
Educational toys/books
Children’s Books (Spanish)

Outside:
Outside chairs (Please no plastic. It’s very windy here. Plastic chairs blow away)
Picnic tables
Various lawn & gardening tools
      Shovels           weed eater
      Picks                hoe
       Rakes              water hoses
Various hand tools
Cordless drill
Sander
Carpentry tools
Electric generator
Wet/dry vacuum

Office equipment:
Computer
Printer/scanner
Filing cabinets (lockable)
Laminating machine

Consumable Items:
Toilet paperPaper towels
Feminine napkinsPaper plates/bowls
Large trash bagsNapkins
Tall kitchen trash bagsPine Sol
Clothes detergentBleach
ShampooBody wash/soap
ConditionerDeodorant
Hand/Body lotion                Hair clips, elastics etc.

Four of our girls are becoming ladies so perfume, moisturizers etc. (what teenagers like to pamper themselves with) would be such a blessing.