Greetings From Mexico!
It’s been quite a while since we have sent out an update on our ministry efforts here in Mexico so I need to catch you up on the latest developments.
The Lord is so good! Anna and I moved here to the town of Ciudad Acuńa in the Summer of last year. We believed that the Lord sent us here to work with an orphanage called Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila. The couple that was in charge was under a lot of stress and were ill-equipped to handle the Home for many reasons. In fact, upon our first visit to the Home, within five minutes the Lord spoke to my heart telling me that unless these folks got help immediately, their marriage was going to be in serious trouble. After praying for the Lord’s will and timing, and after talking to the head of the ministry which owns the property and the administrators of the Home, we agreed to move onto the property and begin helping with all aspects of the Home.
You must understand, the couple who were the directors, were basically the only people caring for the children. They were “on duty” 24/7. They had a bit of help with tending to the children’s clothing and some help with the meals from 2 ladies from the neighborhood, but they had no relief staff who could care for the children and the Home itself.
I spent four weeks and most of the money we had at the time, preparing a little bare cottage situated behind the main house, for our new home. We moved in and immediately, the director’s wife moved out and across the border into Del Rio (that’s in the U.S., for our South African family). She was pregnant and was due very soon. They wanted their baby to be born on the U.S. side to take advantage of the medical facilities and also the child would automatically be a U.S. citizen. Upon her absence, we began to have problems with the husband/director. He left us alone for several days at a time, and we had no way to reach him if we needed him. Anna did an excellent job of caring for the children and they bonded with us very quickly. Many problems in the director’s marriage had surfaced and we tried to minister to them but to no avail. We stayed focused upon the children and tried to do the best with them in these adverse circumstances.
One week, there was a volunteer group working at a small private school next door to the Home. They wanted to bless the children and us with lunch meals so they arranged for the noon meal to be cooked at the Home’s kitchen and then the children, the group and us ate lunch each day. Anna connected with two of the ladies in the group and looked forward each day to the lunch-time fellowship with her new friends. On the last day, the ladies wanted our business card but we did not have cards with our current contact details. So I went back to our little cottage to fire up the computer and print out new cards. I had a bit of trouble with the computer and it took longer than it should. Suddenly, Anna came into the cottage and told me we had been “evicted”. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, but in about 5 seconds, there was violent banging on the door. I opened the door to find an extremely irate director, yelling at me and accusing my wife of trying get money from the volunteer women. I was dumb-struck! He was ranting and raving about how we had come there to use the orphanage to make money for ourselves and so we had to be out of the cottage by 8:00am the next morning. I could not get this man to calm down and I decided that we need to leave the property for a while and so we went to the ministry headquarters of friends here in Acuńa. They offered for us to spend the night with them so I went back to the Home to pick up some fresh clothes and toiletries, but was shocked to find that we had been locked out! This man was completely out of control. We had been in the cottage for about 3 weeks and we knew that there was no repairing this relationship as we had also observed him losing control with some of the children. Anna witnessed the director shaking and screaming at a little girl who was simply crying for her Mommy. We knew that God was going to have to do something about this couple because the children in that Home were in an abusive situation, but if we tried to tell anyone, we were met with apprehension since no one here really knew us. We had to trust the Lord to correct these terrible circumstances.
We managed to rent a little house in Acuna so that we could spend time in seeking the Lord for our next assignment. We visited other homes in the area, taking donations and seeking a place we could plug-in and start ministering to the children but we never made a good connection. We have been teaching in a small home-school for some ministers in the area and were in the process of setting up an English Language School in Acuna because we simply received no instructions from the Lord on moving out of the area. We just tried to develop more patience and do all we could do that was set before us and remain open to instruction and the leading of the Lord.
Last week I received a call from the owners of the first Home…Manto Coahuila. He asked if we could meet with him as he was in town to take care of a serious breakdown in the marriage of the directors. I found out that the marriage of the director and his wife had been progressively getting worse since we left and he finally snapped. He abandoned his wife, their three children and the children in care at the Home. The owners were in a terrible state. The owner got my side of the story concerning our sudden departure from the Home months earlier, and he profusely apologized for not looking into the situation at that time.
He asked us to consider taking over the Home. I told him we would pray and I would send him a proposal outlining what we would consider doing. I proposed that our ministry, White Stone Ministries, and their ministry, New Hope Ministries of Navasota, Texas, would work together to put the Home back together and build it into a Home of excellence. We offered to be take charge of all operating responsibilities and they would provide the physical property.
Two days ago, I received a call from the owners, telling us that their Board had agreed 100% to our proposal and so now, Anna & I are now the Administrators of Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila. We will be in full control of all operating responsibilities.
There is still one issue remaining from the fallout of the breakdown of the previous directors. The man returned several days ago, and made it clear that he would not leave the Home for at least one month. There are 5 girls in the Home at this moment, and it would be untenable for the children to remain in this couple’s presence. So the owners have given him an ultimatum, demanding that he leave ASAP, and the owners also knew that they need to protect the children from this couple, so we have brought them into our little home to “hide” them until the fire is out and the couple is completely gone. We received word today that the couple is indeed separating. She is staying with family here in Acuna and he has stated that he would be out by this weekend, so we should be in physical control of the Home by the middle of next week.
We are having an amazing time with the children in our Home. Four of the girls are sisters and they are in the process of being adopted by a great couple from New Jersey. This couple was terribly distraught when they received the news that the Home was breaking down, so the Father, Scott, made a sudden trip here to try to protect the children. He and his wife, Chris, have been working for 2 years to adopt these beautiful girls and they are now very close. We are blessed to provide a home for the girls until the process is completed.
We need your prayers at this time. We have a very big job ahead of us in trying to rebuild the orphanage and it’s reputation and we must have the strength and the wisdom of the Lord to accomplish what we need to do. The governmental department (DIF) that is the Mexican equivalent of our Child Protective Services in the U.S., has stopped sending children to this Home because of the problems in the Home. Two children were removed from the Home by DIF after their school teacher reported that she suspected abuse, which was indeed founded. The Lord has already brought several people to us that have connections inside this office and they are willing and even excited to help us re-establish a working relationship with the DIF staff. We ask you to agree with us in prayer for great favor to be shown to us and the Home.
We also have an immediate need for a strong Godly Spanish speaking couple to come on board with us to live at the Home as the Houseparents. Anna and I will be wearing many different hats in this beginning stage, but we will definitely need assistance ASAP.
We will also need some folks to help with repairs of all sorts to make this Home a decent place to live for the children. There are plumbing problems, and issues that need the attention of some anointed carpenters. We need help with paint…paint…and more paint. Also, the hygiene in that Home is horrible so we need help with LOTS & LOTS OF CLEANING!!!
We are responsible for all operational expenses so as you can imagine, we will need funds to pay staff, buy food, pay for utilities and all the other issues connected with running a Home. We are not begging and we know that The Lord will supply every need…He just needs people to channel the support through. I learned a long time ago, that the Lord has already put the desire in people that He has chosen, to be a help to us when the time came for us to run an orphanage. He didn’t tell me to beg, twist anyone’s arm, or build up some “sob-story” to manipulate people into giving. He simply told me to let people know that we are here and there are needs…the Holy Spirit will do the rest. So if the Lord has spoken to you to partner with us in this ministry, please obey Him. But if He hasn’t, they obey that as well. We will still love you! One other thing we definitely need is PRAYER!!!! This is an important job and it has eternal consequences so we need God’s wisdom, timing, favor and provision, so everyone can partner with us in prayer for these needs.
So until next newsletter…be Blessed!
Ron & Anna Sherman
PS: if you have been one of our supporters. Please make a note of our new mailing address.
White Stone Ministries
807B Veterans Blvd
#151
Del Rio, TX 78840
It’s been quite a while since we have sent out an update on our ministry efforts here in Mexico so I need to catch you up on the latest developments.
The Lord is so good! Anna and I moved here to the town of Ciudad Acuńa in the Summer of last year. We believed that the Lord sent us here to work with an orphanage called Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila. The couple that was in charge was under a lot of stress and were ill-equipped to handle the Home for many reasons. In fact, upon our first visit to the Home, within five minutes the Lord spoke to my heart telling me that unless these folks got help immediately, their marriage was going to be in serious trouble. After praying for the Lord’s will and timing, and after talking to the head of the ministry which owns the property and the administrators of the Home, we agreed to move onto the property and begin helping with all aspects of the Home.
You must understand, the couple who were the directors, were basically the only people caring for the children. They were “on duty” 24/7. They had a bit of help with tending to the children’s clothing and some help with the meals from 2 ladies from the neighborhood, but they had no relief staff who could care for the children and the Home itself.
I spent four weeks and most of the money we had at the time, preparing a little bare cottage situated behind the main house, for our new home. We moved in and immediately, the director’s wife moved out and across the border into Del Rio (that’s in the U.S., for our South African family). She was pregnant and was due very soon. They wanted their baby to be born on the U.S. side to take advantage of the medical facilities and also the child would automatically be a U.S. citizen. Upon her absence, we began to have problems with the husband/director. He left us alone for several days at a time, and we had no way to reach him if we needed him. Anna did an excellent job of caring for the children and they bonded with us very quickly. Many problems in the director’s marriage had surfaced and we tried to minister to them but to no avail. We stayed focused upon the children and tried to do the best with them in these adverse circumstances.
One week, there was a volunteer group working at a small private school next door to the Home. They wanted to bless the children and us with lunch meals so they arranged for the noon meal to be cooked at the Home’s kitchen and then the children, the group and us ate lunch each day. Anna connected with two of the ladies in the group and looked forward each day to the lunch-time fellowship with her new friends. On the last day, the ladies wanted our business card but we did not have cards with our current contact details. So I went back to our little cottage to fire up the computer and print out new cards. I had a bit of trouble with the computer and it took longer than it should. Suddenly, Anna came into the cottage and told me we had been “evicted”. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, but in about 5 seconds, there was violent banging on the door. I opened the door to find an extremely irate director, yelling at me and accusing my wife of trying get money from the volunteer women. I was dumb-struck! He was ranting and raving about how we had come there to use the orphanage to make money for ourselves and so we had to be out of the cottage by 8:00am the next morning. I could not get this man to calm down and I decided that we need to leave the property for a while and so we went to the ministry headquarters of friends here in Acuńa. They offered for us to spend the night with them so I went back to the Home to pick up some fresh clothes and toiletries, but was shocked to find that we had been locked out! This man was completely out of control. We had been in the cottage for about 3 weeks and we knew that there was no repairing this relationship as we had also observed him losing control with some of the children. Anna witnessed the director shaking and screaming at a little girl who was simply crying for her Mommy. We knew that God was going to have to do something about this couple because the children in that Home were in an abusive situation, but if we tried to tell anyone, we were met with apprehension since no one here really knew us. We had to trust the Lord to correct these terrible circumstances.
We managed to rent a little house in Acuna so that we could spend time in seeking the Lord for our next assignment. We visited other homes in the area, taking donations and seeking a place we could plug-in and start ministering to the children but we never made a good connection. We have been teaching in a small home-school for some ministers in the area and were in the process of setting up an English Language School in Acuna because we simply received no instructions from the Lord on moving out of the area. We just tried to develop more patience and do all we could do that was set before us and remain open to instruction and the leading of the Lord.
Last week I received a call from the owners of the first Home…Manto Coahuila. He asked if we could meet with him as he was in town to take care of a serious breakdown in the marriage of the directors. I found out that the marriage of the director and his wife had been progressively getting worse since we left and he finally snapped. He abandoned his wife, their three children and the children in care at the Home. The owners were in a terrible state. The owner got my side of the story concerning our sudden departure from the Home months earlier, and he profusely apologized for not looking into the situation at that time.
He asked us to consider taking over the Home. I told him we would pray and I would send him a proposal outlining what we would consider doing. I proposed that our ministry, White Stone Ministries, and their ministry, New Hope Ministries of Navasota, Texas, would work together to put the Home back together and build it into a Home of excellence. We offered to be take charge of all operating responsibilities and they would provide the physical property.
Two days ago, I received a call from the owners, telling us that their Board had agreed 100% to our proposal and so now, Anna & I are now the Administrators of Casa Hogar Manto Coahuila. We will be in full control of all operating responsibilities.
There is still one issue remaining from the fallout of the breakdown of the previous directors. The man returned several days ago, and made it clear that he would not leave the Home for at least one month. There are 5 girls in the Home at this moment, and it would be untenable for the children to remain in this couple’s presence. So the owners have given him an ultimatum, demanding that he leave ASAP, and the owners also knew that they need to protect the children from this couple, so we have brought them into our little home to “hide” them until the fire is out and the couple is completely gone. We received word today that the couple is indeed separating. She is staying with family here in Acuna and he has stated that he would be out by this weekend, so we should be in physical control of the Home by the middle of next week.
We are having an amazing time with the children in our Home. Four of the girls are sisters and they are in the process of being adopted by a great couple from New Jersey. This couple was terribly distraught when they received the news that the Home was breaking down, so the Father, Scott, made a sudden trip here to try to protect the children. He and his wife, Chris, have been working for 2 years to adopt these beautiful girls and they are now very close. We are blessed to provide a home for the girls until the process is completed.
We need your prayers at this time. We have a very big job ahead of us in trying to rebuild the orphanage and it’s reputation and we must have the strength and the wisdom of the Lord to accomplish what we need to do. The governmental department (DIF) that is the Mexican equivalent of our Child Protective Services in the U.S., has stopped sending children to this Home because of the problems in the Home. Two children were removed from the Home by DIF after their school teacher reported that she suspected abuse, which was indeed founded. The Lord has already brought several people to us that have connections inside this office and they are willing and even excited to help us re-establish a working relationship with the DIF staff. We ask you to agree with us in prayer for great favor to be shown to us and the Home.
We also have an immediate need for a strong Godly Spanish speaking couple to come on board with us to live at the Home as the Houseparents. Anna and I will be wearing many different hats in this beginning stage, but we will definitely need assistance ASAP.
We will also need some folks to help with repairs of all sorts to make this Home a decent place to live for the children. There are plumbing problems, and issues that need the attention of some anointed carpenters. We need help with paint…paint…and more paint. Also, the hygiene in that Home is horrible so we need help with LOTS & LOTS OF CLEANING!!!
We are responsible for all operational expenses so as you can imagine, we will need funds to pay staff, buy food, pay for utilities and all the other issues connected with running a Home. We are not begging and we know that The Lord will supply every need…He just needs people to channel the support through. I learned a long time ago, that the Lord has already put the desire in people that He has chosen, to be a help to us when the time came for us to run an orphanage. He didn’t tell me to beg, twist anyone’s arm, or build up some “sob-story” to manipulate people into giving. He simply told me to let people know that we are here and there are needs…the Holy Spirit will do the rest. So if the Lord has spoken to you to partner with us in this ministry, please obey Him. But if He hasn’t, they obey that as well. We will still love you! One other thing we definitely need is PRAYER!!!! This is an important job and it has eternal consequences so we need God’s wisdom, timing, favor and provision, so everyone can partner with us in prayer for these needs.
So until next newsletter…be Blessed!
Ron & Anna Sherman
PS: if you have been one of our supporters. Please make a note of our new mailing address.
White Stone Ministries
807B Veterans Blvd
#151
Del Rio, TX 78840
