A Story of Orphans, Part 2

Location: Mexico
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350 D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 200 • f 5.6 • 1/125o sec

What would you do to keep a child out of jail? As described in my last post, my group in Mexico was faced with the situation of an orphanage running out of money and space. What would it take to keep them in business? Enter Casas por Cristo! The Texas-based housing ministry specializes in building homes in Mexico families that can’t afford them. Each home is built in one week by a team of volunteers from various places around the USA. Up until this time, they had never built an orphanage, but they were up for the challenge. So were three teams of workers from Mount Pleasant Christian Church. It’s Extreme Home Makeover, Mexico style!

During one blisteringly hot week in early July, the teams started construction on three houses that would form the orphanage – two bunk houses with a kitchen, and one large empty building for recreation and meetings. The buildings were simple – unfinished drywall inside and stucco outside, but they provided shelter and room for all the kids to live and play. Other people who heard of the project donated materials to build eight furnished bunk-beds, as well as curtains, toys, stuffed animals, kitchen appliances, and a large tank of clean drinking water. The kids were amazed, as many had not been able to sleep in a bed by themselves since they arrived at the orphanage. In fact, at the dedication party, one little girl (I would guess her about 6-7 years old) told us that she had been praying for God to help them, and our work teams were the answer. 🙂

The three buildings and all the workers

The orphanage moved into those buildings in 2008. By now, they have outgrown them, so a new team is forming to go to Mexico this summer and add on some extra houses. They will allow the host family to have their own place (they had been sharing with the kids until now) and provide more room for additional kids. Yay!

There now, wasn’t that a nice ending to this story? 😉