Last month, a team of twenty-one people from Pathway joined the full-time missionaries at Dulce Refugio in Aguascalientes, Mexico to impact the lives of 54 kids. In addition to a lot of hard construction and maintenance work, our youth ran four days of VBS lessons and crafts, and showed these kids that while they may feel forgotten by their own culture, God has not forgotten them.
Every one of the kids at Dulce Refugio is here for a reason and every one of them has a story. Jose was found as an infant and nearly died. He has had many medical problems, and the doctors said he may never speak or walk, but now he is beginning to do both.
Francisco was abandoned by his mother at the age of three. He ran away from Dulce Refugio a few months ago and everyone feared for him. Months passed before the Director found him living in an abandoned car near the park that we visited, and brought him back to Dulce Refugio. Less then two weeks later, his mother came looking for him at Dulce Refugio, and the family was reunited.
Melina's mother died when she was 11 and she felt adrift with no hope until she came to Dulce Refugio and found a place to call home and people who showed her that she is valuable and loved. She is 19 now, and she continues to stay at Dulce Refugio, helping care for the kids.
Without Dulce Refugio, these kids would have very different and tragic stories. God is working in amazing ways here, but the needs require His people to step in and be His hands and feet. Food, utilities, and clothing don't cost much less in Mexico, but incomes are dramatically lower than in the United States, and it takes approximately $120 per month per child for food, clothing, and shelter to care for these kids.
Through the Orphanos Foundation and Children of Hope, our family is now sponsoring four children that we met at Dulce Refugio. We receive photos and regular updates from the program, and we can connect personally with our sponsored kids through letters, sharing encouragement and hope. Information on the sponsorship program can be found here.
(Please note that Children of Hope is based in Canada...donations made directly to them are not tax deductible for US residents and may also be subject to currency exchange fees. US donations may be made by mail or online through the Orphanos Foundation, with a note to direct your funds to Dulce Refugio; Orphanos also offers an automatic debit program for ongoing sponsorship.)
