Another Fire in the Colony

On New Year's Eve, while were passing out Christmas presents at Dios Me Ve, I was introduced to Griselda.  I was asked to pray for her.  Her house had been intentionally burned down.  It seems that her husband, who struggles with substance abuse, was angry with her and set the house on fire.  When he set the fire, he didn't realize that his son Julian was in the house with his mother.  It was Julian that was able to convince his mother to get out of the house.  His mother, Griselda, thought that it was a trash fire close to the house and wasn't even aware it was her own house that was burning.  Julian convinced her just in time to get out.  Fortunately, no lives were lost in this fire.

Griselda and her four kids (Julian (11), Sarai (10), Ivan (18) and Irvin (21) were staying at a neighbors because they had lost everything.  When I prayed for Griselda,  I asked God to provide for her in such a way that she would know that it was the love of God at work and that only God would be thanked.  We gave her some food dispensas and I asked her for the sizes of everyone in her family after she made it clear that they had no food or clothing.

I went back home to Door of Faith and asked if they could help me out with some clothes.  They were happy to help out and were even able to give us a couple of mattresses to help out Griselda's family.  

I returned with Maribel the next day with two mattresses and bags of clothes.  I wish I would have taken pictures to show you the hike to get to their property.  It's not that it was far, but it was very steep and quite comical to watch us climb the hill with bags of clothes.  When we arrived we found the daughter, Sarai very excited to see us.  Griselda was happy too.  Much to our surprise the neighbors had given up small scraps of wood for them to try and assemble some kind of shelter.  Julian was at the top of their very temporary home, nailing a blue tarp over the top where they had no wood for a roof.

When I saw where they were going to be sleeping that night, I could only think about how cold it had already become in the late afternoon.  Being New Year's Eve, most of the stores were closed.  We were able to find a Calimax grocery store and bought some blankets to take back to them.

You might be thinking at this point that the need is overwhelming.  It is, but.....we have God who owns everything, who has children that He talks to about helping others.  I haven't even got to the other immediate need I'd like help with.  Uniforms for Julian and Sarai are needed to attend school.  Not only that, but it would be a great way to help these two kids get their minds focused back on their education.  

My concern is that the kids will drop out of school to help bring in income.  Uniforms cost a little over $100 per kid.  They are required for school.  Although it's possible the school might look the other way for a time and let the kids attend school, I'm sure that uniforms would help them move forward instead of constantly being reminded of their loss each day they attend school .

So, would you like to contribute towards uniforms for Julian and Sarai?  If this is something you'd like to help with, you can send your check to me here at the orphanage PO Box 6434, Chula Vista, CA 91909, but make the check out to VIDA OUTREACH and write in the memo "uniforms."

You might wonder why I'm asking you to write your checks out to VIDA OUTREACH.  VIDA OUTREACH is a non-profit that helps various ministries like Dios Me Ve that don't have a non-profit status.  They have been such a blessing to us at Dios Me Ve.  VIDA OUTREACH will give you tax credit and 100% of what you send them comes to me at Dios Me Ve.  If you can send the dollars, I'm more than glad to purchase the uniforms for these precious kids.

The End of a Fruitful Year

The end of the year is a great to reflect and give thanks for all that God has done.  This year, I want to thank God for somethings that I've taken for granted in years past.  First of all, I would like to thank God for...not only transportation, but reliable transportation.  Today, as I drove through Ensenada, I saw many families walking from grocery stores, each family member carrying their share of groceries.

Secondly, I like to thank God not only for running water, drinking water and hot water, but water pressure.  My visit to my mother's during Christmas reminded me how much water pressure is a beautiful thing.

I am so thankful for what God has done for Marco Antonio at Door of Faith Orphanage.  It gave me great joy to see a young man dancing and being silly with his dorm buddies at our Christmas gathering.  Praying and fasting for Marco make it through a dangerous surgery, to seeing him laughing it up in a hysterical Christmas routine was simply priceless.

God's faithfulness through groups of people bring supplies to the orphanage has also been a blessing.  Those with the least means have seemed to be the most generous at times.  I've seen from little grandmas to little children being creative or giving their very best to help our kids at Door of Faith and I'm sure it makes God smile.

I've watched God continue to provide for Dios Me Ve Ministries in Ensenada.  I'm still learning and still amazed.  Our Bible and English classes are progressing and it's great to see people learning skills that will improve their future.  It's also great to see the community of the colony becoming more united in helping each other.

Today while I was at Dios Me Ve, helping pass out toys that some dear friends had brought for the kids, I was introduced to Griselda.  I was asked to pray for her.  Her house had been intentionally burned down.  She and her four kids were staying at a neighbors because they had lost everything.  I asked God to provide for her in such a way that she would know that it was the love of God at work and that only God would be thanked.

As we move into this new year, let us all be compelled not just to do good works; good works that make us feel good, good works that bring attention to us, but good works that make other glorify our father in heaven. Lord help all of us to do good works in such a way that we are not noticed and our loving God is. 

Response vs. Reaction

Recently, it was brought to my attention that the toys we were counting on for Christmas were very likely not coming this year.  With Christmas so close I went through a variety of strong emotions.  First, I was angry that I had received such late notice.  Then I contemplated trying to make it happen myself.  When I thought of how the kids of Dios Me Ve had been asking me when they were supposed to come for their Christmas gift, I just wasn't sure what the right thing was to say.  They weren't asking if they would receive gifts.  They were asking me when the gifts were coming to their colony.

Being the great spiritual person that I am (sarcasm), I took matters into my own hands and sent out an email to almost my entire contact list and sent out a notice to most of my Facebook friends.  After I sent the messages, I was feeling pretty proud of myself.  Yes sir, I did the very thing that I had told myself in the beginning of ministry that I wouldn't do.

I'm not even sure how my news came across to friends, but I began to feel like I had really "jumped the gun."  I remember thinking how much I wanted to "do ministry" much like George Muller.  I remember reading how he only would ask God for his needs and count on God to touch peoples hearts to meet needs. 

I thought about how when Dios Me Ve needed property and I just stood on the property and asked God to supply what we needed and for the owner to make his price known to us.  I remember I stepped out in faith and bought it with my own money hoping that I would be reimbursed so that I could use that money again and again to help the people of the colony.  People started coming to me and asking me how much was needed to purchase the property.  People actually would come up to me and put money in my hands and say "We want to bless you and the work that you're doing here."

So, I'm learning again that I need to respond to need first and foremost with prayer.  God first and not after I've already told a bunch of people myself.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's wrong to share the need, but I know that in my heart I had decided how I was going to take care of this problem by contacting everyone I knew first.

The response from friends and family has been great. Already, people have started sending checks and some are even bringing or sending toys down to me!   I hope that I didn't come across as panicked as I was.  I also hope that the next time a need like this presents itself that I will go straight to my heavenly father who already knows what I have need of even before I ask. 

God is amazing.  He is faithful.  If He's in it, then He does it well.  I have to remind myself, that God does things in the way that will bring Him glory.  He's really not interested in sharing His glory.  In fact, I think He gets the most glory when we stay out of His way and let Him speak to the hearts of men and women to meet a need.

Preparing for Christmas

Excitement is in the air at Door of Faith.  Decorations are up!  Kids are on their best behavior and it feels cold enough for snow!  There's nothing quite like Christmas in a family of 100+ members.

Last Saturday we had a full day.  We had visiting optometrists from the Rotary Club come and check all the eyes in the orphanage.  We also had unexpected guests stop by for a tour and Corazon de Vida come with much needed items, fun crafts for the kids and they served us pizza!

In the midst of all this excitement, I am so grateful for the LORD meeting all of our needs.  David continues to work hard in the trade school in Ensenada.  While he's taking welding and machinery classes in the evening, we are investing in the used car business to see if we can generate some family income.  I am blessed with an 18 year old that wants to work.  We're looking for guidance from the LORD as to what type of business David could do during the day while he's in school in the evenings.  For right now, we're investing in cars with some of the money I received from the sale of my house.  We're also praying about a possible car tire business.  Please join us in prayer as we endeavor to be wise stewards of what God has blessed us with.

I can hardly believe it, but Tyler turned15 years old this last Tuesday.  His heart to serve and help wherever he is makes this mom proud and brings a smile to God's face.  Even as I type this blog, he is getting ready to go with me to transfer birthday presents from Casa de Maria into our Christmas room here at the orphanage.

Another point of prayer for us would be how we will celebrate Christmas at Dios Me Ve.  Please pray that God will not only supply more monthly sponsors for our feeding program, but also for this Christmas season.  It would be nice to be able to do something special for the colony at Dios Me Ve for Christmas, but as of now there are no gifts coming as I had thought. It's been hard when I see the children of the colony because they keep asking what day do they come for their Christmas gifts.  They've received gifts for the past two previous years, but I've lost contact with the people that made the donation.

If you or someone you know would like to make a tax deductible donation for the colony families of Dios Me Ve, please make checks payable to:

Vida Outreach
Mail to:
Robin Schmidt
PO Box 6434
Chula Vista, CA 91909
Memo: Dios Me Ve

Thank you and God bless.