Update Summer 2007

Greetings from sunny, and I mean sunny, Mexico!
Much is in the works during the hot summer months here in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert.

Joe is continuing to gather all the information he needs in order to submit his application for an FM-3 Visa in Mexico which will help a great deal when we go to make final application for the civil association in Mexico.

Speaking of the civil association, you may or may not know that it is the Mexican equivalent on a corporation. Non-Mexicans are not permitted to own property in Mexico. Therefore, because we are not citizens of Mexico, any property that we would want to own must be either in some kind of trust or in the name of a corporation. This is why we want to establish the corporation. We have seen the difficulties that can arise if you try and get around these laws.

By the way, you really need an FM-3 visa just to rent a house!

There are many, many properties available all over town. If you remember, with the help of Rich Barcelona and a few local brothers, we investigated a property that consisted of a 4 bedroom house and 12 motel rooms. The owner was asking US$200,000 for all. However, we discovered that only 4 of the twelve motel rooms air conditioners worked. Five of the motel rooms had extensive water damage to the ceilings. The electrical for both the house and motel would need to be completely overhauled. The house a/c could not be tested because of the condition of the wiring. To top it off, the roof for the house would most likely need replaced. It just wasn’t worth it.

Another property was brought to our attention that has 13 3-room apartments and a 2 bedroom house, all situated around a center courtyard. It has been vacant for 3 years. As with anything that is vacant for more than a few months, everything has been gutted—no windows, no doors, no plumbing, no electrical wiring or even conduit! The ceilings would all have to come down as well. The good thing is that the walls are all in good shape. All the plumbing and electrical could be dropped down from the ceiling and then the ceilings insulated before the drywall is replaced. They are asking US$125,000 for the property.

It is amazing to me, the kind of price they are asking for property here. Not too far from here, there is a house for sale for US$380,000! Incredible! The owners of these properties will let them sit for years as well, refusing to lower the price. We continue to watch and wait. If we’ve learned anything during our stay in Mexico, it is to wait, to relax in the Lord’s presence and move when He moves!

A Look Forward to 2007

When Joe took his first trip to Mexico in the summer of 1978, he was overwhelmed by the needs that he saw on the bus ride from McAllen, TX to Uruapan, Michoacan. We have just had several nights of below freezing temperatures. They say it is the coldest it has been in 16 years. Our kitchen has been around 58° each morning. Joe turns on the oven to take off the chill while the coffee is brewing. (Decaf only!) It could easily be overwhelming to think of how cold it must be for most of the Mexicans whose houses have no insulation. We cannot keep everybody warm, so we do what we can. Legacy Church and Pastor Erik Rangel in Yuma collected some blankets the first cold spell we had. Acts Community Church and Pastor John Bennett send down jackets, sweaters and more blankets. We took them over to Ricardo and the guys at “Eliacim”, a rehab center for men. They were much appreciated.

San Luis is a paradox. There are some places that receive many times over what they can actually use while there are other areas and peoples that go virtually unnoticed. There is great abundance and yet incredible need. It was in recognizing one of these needs that gave birth to the vision for Hope House – a place of hope and refuge for single moms and teen girls. As an example of the needs, I would like to introduce you to a few folks.

Patti, age 20 and Carla, age 16 are the daughters of crystal meth addicts. They have both developed a skin disorder that is very common in Mexico where their skin loses its pigmentation. They were examined by a doctor from Mexico City this fall and told that the cause of their physical aliment was emotional stress – the stress of living in a house with methamphetamine-addicted parents. The doctor told them to get out of the house. We would like to invite them to Hope House!

Lupita was 15 years old when she got pregnant by a married man who was in his forties. Both she and the father of now her two children want to serve the Lord and do what is right but that would mean going back home to her parents (she ran away from home, originally) and being separated from her children's father until he can divorce his former wife (he has children older that Lupita) and legitimately marry Lupita and raise these two children. We hope that we can establish Hope House quickly enough so that Lupita and her children can come stay with us, receiving the help and training she needs.

These stories are repeated dozens if not hundreds of times throughout the city.

The Lord recently opened the door for us to one of the few remaining and functioning women's rehab centers. They can house up to 30 women and have a special room just for young girls and those who come to the center while pregnant. This is a wide open and ripe harvest field. It is our hope that some of these women and girls will join us at Hope House after they are clean and sober so that we can introduce them to He who sets the captives free.

Each Friday, Joe is up and in the line to cross the border by 5:30am to be at a food bank in Yuma by 8:00am. He has been carrying food across for Ricardo and the guys at the center, another program that feeds 100 kids breakfast every morning and now for the women's rehab center. This food opened the door to the women's center. Recently, he was turned back at the border and told by the Mexican officials that he could only bring a little bread and a few canned goods across and only on Saturday. However, God provided a contact in the Human Rights Agency in Mexico who spoke with the Aduana (Customs) and now Joe can bring as much as he can carry! Praise God!!

A Look Back at 2006

Our adventures and travels of 2006 were the seeds planted for what it is that the Lord has planned for our 2007 – a litany of the miraculous and examples of God's grace.

• We established a non-profit corporation in Arizona called “Hope House International.”

• God supplied the funds through the quick sale of some land by Erica's great aunt Rachel McKinney and her generosity for the purchase of a 34 ft motor home.

  

• Memphis, TN - 22 meetings in 14 days – renew friendships, relationships with pastors and churches.

• Pittsburgh, PA from mid-June to end of September – much grace is evidenced as we work with Joe's Dad and Mom to send them out from the church they've been pastoring for 20 years. We had a chance to renew old friendships, establish some new ones and visit with family. Two trips to Bedford, PA and the family of God at Acts Community church, sharing and encouraging.

• Myrtle Beach, SC – thanking God for the on going work with the Latino community and sharing with more old friends!

• Orlando, FL – meeting up with Erica's Uncle John and Aunt Marty at Disney World where they present us with 4 2-day passes to all the Disney Parks. Thanks Nikki for your help with the camp site!

• Memphis, TN - Four more weeks and the gracious hospitality of the Richard family – churches visited, communing with friends.

• Back in Mexico by mid-November after 6 months on the road, 18 states visited and 8,000 miles traveled.

We cannot say thank you enough to the pastors and churches who opened their doors and hearts to us allowing us to share about Hope House and the challenge for the bride to be prepared! Also, a big thank you to friends and family who took us in or simply fellowshipped with us over a meal! Thanks to all for your kindness and generosity.

Our Burden

Over the four past years in ministry in San Luis Rio Colorado, we have seen many things. We have seen Americans and Canadians by the hundreds flock to the city for missions trips, reaching out to a desperately needy people . We have seen three or four rehab centers for women open just this past year in SLRC but then close within several months.

There are many families in this city that are without fathers in the home or those men who are there are not the father of the children nor are they married to the mother. I know of one lady who has eleven children by five different men. Her youngest daughter is younger than her grand daughter. The daughters in these families have little hope of higher education. The street life is easy money but leads to a life of tragedy.

Many times, the father of the house travels across to “the other side”, as they refer to the United States, either legally or illegally to find work with the intention of sending home money to support the family. This works for a while, then the man finds the American lifestyle too appealing.

The money is under the table. He pays no taxes. He lives with 7 or 8 other Latinos in a dilapidated house trailer or crowded apartment or rented house, drinks heavily at night and soon forgets his “wife” and children in Mexico.

This leaves the mother with 2, 3 or more kids and no means of support. Her options are limited in that few Mexican women have any education above the junior high level. She can try to find a job in a store or in a factory but this pays an average of $50US per week. Too often she will have to supplement this income by working the street and bars or dancing in one of the clubs which operate in SLRC.

In each of these scenarios, the children are the ones lost in the chaos. The mothers and their children are paying an incredible price in San Luis Rio Colorado. Abandoned by their husbands and fathers, a single bare bulb burning overhead, huddled together to keep warm in their cardboard house on a cold winter’s night, or sweltering in the 100° heat of a desert night, these lost sheep are praying and hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.

You can help! You can go!

You can make a difference!

We are looking for people to live on site, full time, to teach and nurture. Short term missions teams are needed to help build the facilities and reach out to the community. Materials must be purchased. Staff must be paid. Food, clothing and utilities will need to be provided for.
Pray and ask the Father what is to be your part in saving these families!

Our Vision

We have received the following as a burden from the Father for these innocents, lost in SLRC.

1. Establish a Christ-centered safe haven for women and teen girls beginning in SLRC which includes a discipleship training program to teach the Word and Biblical principles for a victorious life in Christ.
   
   
2. Establish a center for the rescue of women caught in the web of the sex industry.
   
   
3. Establish a day care to assist those mothers who have jobs to better care for their families.
   
   
4. Establish a safe house for teen girls in crisis who have no other hope or opportunity to receive skills training or who need to be removed from an abusive situation.
   
   
5. Establish a training program for women and teen girls that will teach literacy in Spanish and math, English as a Second Language, basic and advanced computers including word-processing, data entry and worksheets, fundamental life skills including parenting and money management and other abilities such as cooking and sewing.