Update From The Orphanage!

Dear friends, family and supporters.  I wanted to take a moment to update you on what’s going on down here at the orphanage in light of this Global Pandemic.  Like all of you, we are having to change the very way of doing life, our routines, etc.  With so many unknowns and uncertainties, we are VERY thankful for your faithful support and prayers.  We ask that you would please continue to pray for our staff, team, the children and our community. We are definitely praying for you all and the world as well.  Fortunately Mexico has not experienced a high number of cases of COVID-19.  We are praying fervently that this remains this way, especially for very poor and rural areas, like Bachiniva, who don’t have the resources, supplies, etc to handle a massive outbreak.

On March 14th, Mexico announced that they would be closing ALL schools from March 20th until April 20th.  We began receiving calls from some of the mothers of our kiddos as to what the plan was during this time.  Some of them expressed they would rather keep their kids with them rather than have them be here.  This is what we were initially hoping for as we tried to figure out ways to fully run the orphanage during the CONVID-19.   After much prayer and talking as a board, we felt it would be best to give the moms and families of our kids the option of what they would like to do.  They all understood and agreed to keep their children with them as long as they could.

So, we basically “shut down” the orphanage on Monday March 16th.  There are 2 girls, Natalia and Carolina, who have moved into our house.  Natalia’s mom is not able to care for here.  Carolina’s mom and grandparents live in the Sierra Madres, about 6 hours away.  Due to lack of food, money and poor living conditions up in the mountains, Carolina will stay with us.  The other 10 children are currently with their families.

The orphanage has never been more quiet OR clean.

Even though most of the kids are not with us now, we are working closely with their famililes in ways that we can continue to help and support them. This past Monday Kim (our administrator) and her husband, Pastor Luis, took clothes, money, food and school packets to all the families. They had a chance to visit with the moms, check in on the kids and let them know we are praying for them and are here to help in any way that we can. Some of the moms are already worried that they will lose their jobs as the government of Chihuahua has begun to close down restaurants, factories, businesses, etc.  Kim has been doing a fantastic job of staying in touch with these women through calls and text messages to encourage them.  We are praying that this will be an even greater way to show the Love of God to them.

We had a great staff meeting with our team last week as well to give an update of whats going on.  Some of them expressed a concern for their jobs and if they would continue to get paid during this time.  I reassured them that we would continue to pay them for as long as we can during this time.  Unemployment does not exist in a town like this, or really in Mexico … and it would be all the more difficult if we had to start laying off employees.  God has SO FAITHFULLY provided every peso/dollar that we have ever needed AND even more.  We are fully expecting that He will continue to do so.

Please continue to check out our facebook and instagram accounts for updates and pictures as well as look for additional email updates.

Praying for you all!

Jason

Exciting New Chapter...

This week was VERY exciting for the House of Blessing. Sort of a new chapter as we launched two new outreaches both to the community as well as to some of the moms of the children we care for.

For the past 6 months we’ve had a young woman from Oregon, Jenna, who has done a fantastic job giving English classes to our kids.  They are learning very quickly.  Well, word sort of got out about these English classes and people in the community began to express a desire to learn English as well.  After much planning, prepping and posting fliers throughout the community, last night was our first of a 3-week series of classes.  We had 19 people initially sign up and 14 came out and joined us. It was a wonderful time and they are so eager for next weeks class AND are also inviting their friends to come as well.

This week we also launched our new sewing outreach.  One of the visions for the orphanage has been to not only minister to and care for the children, but also to their moms as well.  For a lot of women their children are here because they don’t have the money and resources to adequately care for them. 

For the past few years we have been able to purchase some very beautiful handmade goods from a few of our moms.  Things like bracelets, necklaces, baskets, other types of jewelry, tortilla warmers and even dresses.  Many of you have either purchased or received some of these wonderful items.  Any time I have a trip to the States I try to purchase as much as I can and then take them to sell.  We then are able to use the donated money to continue to help support these women and purchase more items.

As we have wanted to see this opportunity expand and grow, we decided to launch a sewing outreach. This will give a chance for some of these moms to come to the orphanage a few days a week to begin to be trained and learn how to sew with machines.  When we shared the idea and vision with two of our moms they were incredibly excited and eager to start. This past Tuesday was our first official day and Teresa and Mariela had a wonderful time. We have been caring for Sandra (Teresa’s daughter) for 5 years and Berta and Irene (Mariela’s daugher and step-daughter) for 1.5 years. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday, they will take the bus from a town about 30 minutes away and work from 9:30-2:30 PM.  Not only will this begin to provide a steady income for them, but also a chance to invest in their lives. Initially, they will be making tortilla warmers and drawstring back packs for our Golf Tournaments.  Our hope and desire is that there will be enough interest for these items and more, that we can continue to provide a steady job for as long as possible. My wife Jackie and Jenna will rotate taking are of their children so they can focus on the task at hand without any distractions.

Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement AND financial support, which helps make new endeavors like these possible!

Christmas Opportunities At The Orphanage...

I imagine most of you are planning and prepping for Thanksgiving this week and the holiday season. We too are getting excited for Thanksgiving and for Christmas (especially the children).

Our team has also been working hard on preparations for Christmas. Each year we try to do something a little different for both our children and our staff. I am especially excited for this Christmas season because we are doing some new and exciting things.

This Christmas we will be having our first ever Christmas Program here at the orphanage. We will be inviting all the moms and families of our kids to come to the orphanage for an evening of food, desserts, entertainment and gifts. The kids will be working on Christmas songs this week to perform for their families, both in Spanish and English. Jenna Borrelli who is here serving with us from Oregon has been teaching the weekly English classes. She will be coordinating the program.

Also, this will be the first time that all of our kids will be spending Christmas with either their family or a family from our church here in town. One of our focuses this year has been working directly with the parents to help them to be more involved in the lives of their children. One of those ways is by helping the parents be able to spend some of the holidays and vacations with them. This is usually difficult for parents because of finances, getting time off work, transportation or honestly, just a lack of desire.

This year, we are hoping to not only bless our children but also their moms and families. We will be putting together care baskets containing items such as food, toiletries and a few gifts. This will help those who don’t have a lot of money for neither food nor presents. We will also be helping financially for bus fares, transportation, etc for the parents to come for the Christmas program and to get their children for vacation.

We are hoping to raise $1200 over the next 3 weeks to help cover the Christmas costs this year. The money raised will help with the costs of…

- presents and stockings for the kids

- the Christmas Program

- food and present baskets for the families

- transportation costs and other expenses for the children spending time with their families.

If you and your family would like to help us this year and donate, please let me know. You can either email me, jason@thehouseofblessing.org, or text, 915.316.9496. If you would like to purchase a present or stocking stuffers and mail it to our address in El Paso, please let me know as well.

Thank you very much and Happy Holidays!

Jason and the Casa de Bendicion family