30 Days

30 Days...It's only been 30 days. And yet so much has changed in such a short 30 days. 

There are experiences in life that change your life forever. 4 years ago a mission trip to Mexico that I went on simply because my son wanted to changed my life forever. 

30 days ago a leap of faith and a move to Tijuana changed my life forever. 

One walk into a girls prison to share the love of Christ changed my life forever. 

As I walked into that room today prepared to talk about the love of Christ and share verses from John that they too could be free, I had no idea the afternoon would hold so many tears, fears, and thankfully - forgiveness.  Those young girls who know what they've done and whose only hope is forgiveness opened their hearts and lives to us and how can you not leave there changed? 

Such a change from what I'm used to. Normally it takes time to build relationship and trust with people before you even hope they'll open up to you. But these girls...these beautiful girls are so desperate for hope and forgiveness that they open up right away. 

What a privilege to be in that room as they receive Christ in their hearts. What a privilege to be able to hold them and share the peace that comes only from Christ.
What a privilege to offer them Hope. 
What a privilege to be able to go back week after week. 
What a privilege to be part of their lives. 
What a privilege to have a Refuge and offer more help.

It's been 30 days...And moments like these have changed my life forever. 

Our first week!

This past week our team from Las Vegas came to visit. Wow! What a blessing they were. The first couple of days we worked on unpacking and organizing the house and putting together bunk beds for the kids. I cannot tell you how much of a blessing it was to have them here. 

On Thursday we went out to the juvenile prison and were able to have a group with some girls. We talked about Jesus and their wounds and were able to speak life into them. There was one girl in particular that was just emotionally torn and we were able to minister to her. The Holy Spirit was there in a big way and what a privilege it was to be part of it. 

We then went to Revolution Street and handed out food and supplies and the Word of God to some homeless and less fortunate. We were able to pray with several people and to see their hearts receive a blessing from the Lord was amazing. 

  

Finally on Friday we made great progress in officially setting up our organization. We filed step 1 of the paperwork and should have a letter that it's ok to begin operating within a few weeks! 

God is so good! What a privilege it is to minister to homeless, helpless, and hurting people of Mexico. My heart is full. 

Would you like to know more about our ministry and see how you can help? Visit us online at www.BuildTheRefuge.com  

Here we are!

We are finally here! We've arrived on our mission field. Making the move has been very difficult and the first week was spent unpacking (even though there is really, still so much more unpacking to do) and getting settled in. Our team from the states is here now and I'm so excited to get started doing what God called us to do. 

Before we take in any kids we have paperwork to file and approvals from the state to receive. So the question is, what do we do in the meantime? I'm so glad you asked!

This week we are going out to the Juvenile prison. We will go out twice this week. Once to minister to the girls and once to minister to the boys. We're very excited to meet these young people and love them with the llove of Christ.  We also are going to be going out doing a prayer walk and handing out supplies to some people on the streets. 

We may not be able to take kids into our house yet but we can let them know we are here and begin to lay a foundation. 

God is so good and I'm so excited to see how he will work here in Tijuana!

How can you pray for us? Again, I'm so glad you asked! Please pray for us to have wisdom with the paperwork that we need to file, and things that need to be set up, pray for The Lord to soften the hearts of those we meet and to go before us, and please continue to pray for finances as setting up an orphanage and caring for young people is not cheap (the cost for school alone is daunting!). 

Thank you for your prayers and support!