Bacaville

Search for missing parents

Wow, what can I say except WOW.    It is hard to imagine the empty area in lives when kids don't know the other or either parent in their lives.   I had two loving caring and wonderful parents in my life and no other surprises.  Just a normal all American life.   I know most of my aunts and uncles and had a wonderful relationship with my grandparents.  So it is very special when I see the reunion of people's lives.   Even if they missed out on so much due to whatever circumstances. 

Gigi now has the name and town of her birth father.   She had said she would find out before the end of the year.  This was at the beginning of this year.... talk about cutting it close. Well on December 28th, Gigi obtained the necessary information and we have gotten onto the computer and know that someone by that name lives in that town however has an unlisted phone number, so it will require a trip there to look him up.   We would pray that we would have the time  and the money to complete this trip and to unite Gigi and her father.   

That brings me to the next thing and that is this morning Michael landed in New York and will be heading to Mississippi to turn in weapons and such and begin his leave time. I praise God for his safe return and am also anxious to see what the Lord will be doing about Mike's parents and uniting them. 
Just a short blog, but full of thankfulness to the Lord we serve and wait for the next adventure.

Christmas giving

Well, today I went into El Paso and met with Johnson Control who is a twin plant both on the El Paso side and the Juarez side.  I believe they are in other countries also. However, each year they call me and ask to find those who are in need for Christmas giving.   Throughout the year they have raffles, fund raisers and other things that raises money so that they can sponsor many families for Christmas.   Tom McKee is the man who started this tradition with the company since he is a Christian and so no purpose in buying gifts for each other.  Tom is a fellow classmate of Georgia Baca.   He gets others involved in the program and they purchase gifts, food and also a gift card from Walmart for each family that they are giving to.  This year we were able to give to six families.  One family, the mother and father were put into jail and the grandmother had the three grandchildren in her home.  The mother, Guadalupe, was released from jail but they don't even have a car.  They rely on others to get them around, or they walk.   The grandmother just moved into a new apartment in east El Paso along with another son and does not have any money for Christmas.  Guadalupe and her three boys were making tamales when we arrived, a Christmas tradition in this area.  Irene, whose husband was put into jail after he and Irene ran to the store for 20 minutes and their 10 yr old son Angel started a fire that burned their trailer down.   Irene's husband went to jail for that and Angel has a lot of anger and feels responsible for his father being in jail.   His older sister, Cassandra, has begun to translate for the IFM groups that come down.  She has a sweet sweet spirit and she loves the Lord.  She has a little sister Vanessa, and a miracle sister Celeste.  Celeste has many problems and attends therapy but is a miracle baby.  Irene has been walking with the Lord for about a year and she attends many IFM functions on campus at House of Cornelius.  She cannot work fulltime because of the therapy sessions, so she cleans a restaurant in the evenings and does other things to make ends meet.   Another family, whose dad has been out of work for a time was blessed with food, gifts and a gift card also.  The father just lost his mother this week, which adds to the pressure during this time of year.  Another woman, Maria, who lives in San Elizario in a small, small trailer, has two children.  She lives on $140 a month and anything extra she can make.  She picks pecans, and does anything she can to keep her family together.  She has fled an abusive husband and is trying to help her family.  Her 15 yr old son, Ismael, is a talented guitar player and occassionally plays with Praise and Worship at Shalom Christian Church.  All of the ones who received gifts where appreciative and it helps the true meaning of Christmas.

When I had the home with all the children, we would teach that when it is your birthday, you are set apart and it is a day that you receive gifts and celebrate. So when it is the Lord Jesus Christ's birthday, why should you receive a gift.  You need to give a gift to the Lord.  How can you do that!  Can you wrap a gift and throw it in the air and the Lord will catch it... no, so the best thing you can do is to do something for someone else.  That is your gift to the Lord.  We never bought a Christmas present for any of the children at the home.  They were however, greatly blessed by others who gave presents to them.  As they have all become older, they now realize how much they were blessed and what a joy it was.  Praise God!   

Isaiah 54 and Bacaville

When House of Cornelius would be in prayer often times someone would receive the scripture of Isaiah 54: 1-8 It speaks of rejoices, and enlarging your tent, strengthening your tent poles. Well it appears to be happening again. We have left this in the Lord's hands, but it is moving closer. There are four children, 4 yr, 3 yr old, 18 mo. old, 4 mos old children whose mother deserted them and whose father has been sentenced to 7 yrs in prison with having his parental rights removed. Child Protective Agency is requesting a home study to allow the children to go to Bacaville. There are 3 other young children that have simular situations. Just pray as we move into the New Year about God's wonderful plan and that ONLY HIS PLAN comes to be.

Mike's homecoming from Iraq

Mike Englund is due back from Iraq the first of the year. We are doing a video and sending it to his mother-in-law to edit it into one for Mike so when he and his wonderful wife Stephanie get to their apartment, everyone will be welcoming him home. He and Stephanie will come to Fabens to visit, January 12th-17th. His wonderful mother-in-law is also assisting in the researching to locate Mike's birth parents. There seems to be adequate information to move forward with this much desired event. This has been prayed about for several years, but it really seems to be close now.

A Blessed Wedding

We at Bacaville attended a wedding yesterday of a young woman who lives in CDP in Guadalupe Mexico. Her family came to know and SERVE the Lord through the BODY OF CHRIST. It all began when the mother came to dispensa and was distressed because her brother had been run over by a train and had died that morning. We asked her to stay after everyone had gone, so that we as a staff could pray with her. Since she was bilingual, everyone was able to join in the prayer. We met her family and they became close to the ministry. They would occationally translate for the ministry. They had some mormon missionaries coming to their house, so we would visit after them and prove the biblical errors in what they were saying. Georgia then took a niece of this family after having rescuing her from a Cinderella life with another relative that was abusive. She lived at Bacaville for a year. Then she moved into a home from some other Christian friends who had also lived at Bacaville.

Georgia became the madrina for one of the two children in Ofelia's household. A youth pastor from Calvary chapel began to visit weekly and do a bible study with the whole family. All the time this was happening, they were actively involved with several groups in their area. The youth pastor stopped going because God had answered his prayers. He asked God that Gonzalo (father) would become head of his family, that they would find a church to attend (Buen Pastor) and that the pastor would know them by name. Pastor Barraza knows them and they would along side of him. They are also a light in their area for others who are in need. Their daughter Karina who has been sponsored by Harvest Hands in Prepatoria (high school) was the one who got married. As I looked out among the crowd of people, I was overwhelmed with the fact of the large number of people there that had been ministered to by our ministry and/or had lived at Bacaville. What a priviledge and blessing to see so many serving and following God's will in their lives in one place. God is awesome!

Welcome to the Bacaville blog!

I would just like to give a shout out to my Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, Lord of lords. He reigns Amen! So, here we are, coming to 2005's exit and what an awesome year it has been! There's more to that story, but we're on the train, still moving, I've never spoke face to face with God, nor visited in Heaven, yet certain am I of the spot, as if the train tickets are given. Hallelujah!