Beginning with their arrival on April 15 at DFW Airport in Texas and ending with their departure on May 2, Juan Francisco and Silvia visited eleven churches that support Casa Hogar La Familia.

The turnout was terrific. Missioners and soon-to-be missioners came to hear Juan Francisco and Silvia sing songs of praise to our Lord and tell some extremely interesting stories about how the Lord used them to serve the children of Casa Hogar La Familia.

Selected Portions of Juan Francisco’s and Silvia’s Joint Presentation

“We have pastor friends who were familiar with Palmarito and they told us not to go there. They told us that many of the people there had hard hearts and had no desire to know the Lord. So we prayed and prayed and the more we prayed, the more we realized that although we would rather not be faced with the challenges going to Palmarito presented, we knew that this is where God was leading us. We decided to be obedient to the Lord’s wishes.

“One of the ways God let us know what He wanted us to do had to do with real estate. Land is very expensive in Mexico and we could not find land we could afford, but one day the grandmother of two of the children in the Casa Hogar told us that she had spoken with the mayor of Palmarito and he had agreed to gift us two acres of land where we eventually built the new children’s home.

“When we began construction, people would walk by the building and tell us to leave. A few actually picked up rocks and threw them at us. Each night we would call all of the children together and pray for the townspeople. We prayed that their hearts would soften.

“When the ground floor was completed, we bought chairs and used the living room area of the Casa Hogar to hold worship services each Sunday. Only a handful of people from the community came at first, but after a few weeks passed, more and more came. Today, we have average attendance of over 160 people who initially did not want us to be a part of their community. God answered our prayers.

“Today, many of those who threw rocks at us and told us to get out of their community are our friends and attend worship services regularly. These people have apologized to us and asked for our forgiveness. We did not make this miracle happen; God made it happen. He answered our prayers.”

See Below for Photographs from Juan Francisco’s and Silvia’s US Tour
 
Photographs from Juan Francisco’s and Silvia’s US Visit that Covered over 3,000 Miles
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pastor Eric Joppa and eight members of his congregation formed the initial mission team to visit Casa Hogar La Familia from the Federated Church located in Kingfisher, OK.

The team members were a big hit with the children of La Familia, but also accomplished the goals of their mission trip:

The Federated Church mission team purchased new pillows and pillowcases for all of the children and staff. The women of the Federated Church also hand made quilts for each.

The children sent the photograph below to Lighthouse UMC as a thank-you for the money they donated that made it possible for them to have gifts under their tree on Christmas morning.