Day 3 - LOI Puebla Mission Update (Part I)

This turned out to be a very productive day. It was filled with seeing God through answered prayers and conformation for direction. We began our day meeting with David and Angie Pedraza and their friend Alfonzo. They presented their vision for starting an orphanage for the children who are in DIF, the Mexican version of CPS. One stunning statistic they gave was that only 1,000 of the 40,000 children are adopted each year in Mexico. This is mainly due to the complicated and under managed adoption process. Alfonzo and members from his church are currently working in these DIF children's homes. However, they are not able to share the Gospel during their weekly visits due to government regulations. They would like to build a facility where they can provide a nuclear family setting. This would consist of individualized "homes" with in the orphanage where eight to twelve children would be placed under the care and supervision of "foster parents" that are believers. This would allow them to present the Gospel while caring for the children under their supervision. As well as, provide them with an education and job training for when they turn eighteen and are released from DIF. The first step in this process is to apply with the Civil Association to receive permission from the government to start this orphanage. This would allow them to be a non-profit organization in order to receive minimal funding from the government, as well as receive tax deductible donations from individuals and businesses. After our meeting we went to visit the DIF for youth. We were given a tour of the facility and Alfonzo introduced us to a couple of the girls. It was apparent that they feel comfortable with him and he genuinely cares for them. Before leaving we were able to give them a soccer ball and a few members of our team played a quick game of soccer. We were able to give $222 from our mission fundraising for them to apply for the CA. Then received conformation when Kevin returned home from a meeting at the seminary. The person he was meeting with asked what he had done today and when Kevin told him he said that he teaches a class to pastors on how to apply with the Civil Association. So God clearly opened a door through our raised funds and this contact to begin the process.