“For in You the orphan finds mercy”. (Hosea 14:3)

 

This is Hernan, Giovani, and Jonathan playing Matchbox cars at Casa de Ninos.  Giovani is making snow (more impressive on video than a still shot!)   I look at this picture and long to go all the way back there just to see and hug these boys again.  In July, Emily Armstrong, Christin Henry, and I stayed at Casa De Ninos, an Orphanage in Tepic, Mexico.  The trip was long and hard and expensive and the food beans, beans, and more beans, but the payoff was the children there – wonderful, delightful, and charming.  Hernan and Jonathan especially hungered for hugs and attention, delighting in us just being there. 

 

Perhaps most amazing is the peace and joy so abundant at the Casa.  Peace and joy, laughter and happiness, are not words one would naturally use to describe an Orphanage.  However, the Spirit of God is generously poured out on the staff and children here.  Even though we had expected this because of reports from those who have gone before us, to experience it in person was astounding nonetheless.  I continue to be so humbly grateful for all I saw the Lord doing there that it continues to renew and deepen my love and trust in Him.

 

We accomplished important things there – rehabbing an old classroom into a new Library and beginning to transform an unused space into what will immediately be a Prayer Room, and possibly a Church eventually.  While these things were valuable to us task-oriented Americans, I learned that playing cars in the dirt or just sitting and talking with the Staff to be most important.  As “not everything that counts can be counted”, it is hard to quantify the impact of our brief visit to the Casa where we loved the children and came alongside the amazing staff. 

 

The Casa has a Website (www.casadeninos.org) that includes pictures and a link to a brief video that will give you a good idea of what Casa de Ninos is all about.  If you feel the Lord calling you, “arise my beloved and come away”, consider Casa De Ninos in Tepic, Mexico.  Another trip is being planned for February.  Maybe I’ll see you there.