Hope House Update

It has been a while since we have sent out a newsletter, and we wanted to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on what has been happening here in Mexico.

A few weeks ago, we had an official opening of Hope House with a dedication and time of prayer and fellowship at the house. It was a very nice time and there were about 35-40 folks there from the church of our director, Maria Meza. Many of these women are helping out and working at Hope House and have provided many things for our resident family. Maria and her husband, Pastor Mariano, have been blessed and excited to see the fruition of their vision to minister to and help single moms and teen girls. They have taken on this project with all their hearts and energy, even though they were already busy pastoring their congregation and feeding about 100 children each morning Monday through Friday at a local school.

I would like to introduce you to our current resident family. The mom is Diana and she is 20 years old. She has two sons - Arturo who is almost 2 years old, and another baby boy (no name yet) who is about 3 months old. She came to Hope House from a very violent situation and is very timid. She has been hurt a lot and hasn't learned things we take for granted like basic personal hygiene for her and her children. The wonderful ladies at Hope House have been encouraging her and demonstrating proper care for her children, assuring that she feels safe and is learning and growing during her stay there.

Ricardo and the guys at Eliacim (men's rehab center) are doing well. We hope to get some blankets to give to them real soon since it is starting to get a little chilly here at night. We are hoping to begin supporting them financially on a regular basis real soon.Back in the summer, we felt God was releasing us from living in Mexico and bringing about a new season in our lives. After seeking His direction and discussing what He had laid on our hearts, we made the decision to move to the Phoenix area. Well, the time has come and we are making that move the beginning of December. Now that Hope House is up and running, we are only needed for oversight, direction and funding. We will be making monthly trips down here to do just that, as well as trouble shoot any issues that arise. We are hoping to be able to spend some time in the next year fundraising for Hope House in order to get a regular budget established that will cover all the costs as well as be able to pay some of the staff salaries. Right now, everyone is working there voluntarily!

We will also be working with Freedom Gate International Missions with Rick and Susan Bennett in Phoenix, helping in whatever ways we can be of assistance to them at their mission base. We will also be able to offer our assistance in outreaches to the Latino community in the Phoenix area, as well as begin to build relationships in other border towns where we can establish Hope Houses in the future.

We, as a family, are really looking forward to being part of Freedom Gate Church and participating in many areas of their ministry. We have lived in Mexico for the last 5 1/2 years, and the things we missed the most were being part of a vibrant church family and being able to host friends and family at our home on a regular basis. We also felt a great burden for our children. They have sacrificed many things during our time in Mexico, and we feel it is time for them to live in the states and have some of the opportunities that they have missed out on these past 5 1/2 years. They are entering their teen years, and being part of a great church family is very important to us for them.

Last weekend, God led us to a great house to rent in northwest Mesa and Joe is going to be able to transfer to Phoenix with WalMart, thus giving a continuity of income for our family. Then, when we get settled, he will find a better job with more income and consistent hours. Joe has worked at WalMart since January, riding his bicycle 6 miles each way to work in order to free up more monies to support Hope House as it was getting established. His hours have been inconvenient and he has had to work most weekends, but God has provided.

Please keep us in your prayers as we make this move. We are trusting that God will provide all that we have need of and more! He has opened all the doors and provided all that we have needed over the past 5 1/2 years. He has taught us, more than anything, to wait on Him and see His hand at work. And He is in the process of working out all the details for us in this move.

As we approach this holiday season, we are overflowing with thankfulness to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, for always keeping us, providing for us, loving us and growing us! He is truly awesome!