Where has all the money gone?

       For many years I had told God that, if we could ever afford to, I wanted to go to Mexico to try and help the orphans and extremely poor children there. In November of 2002 my mother passed away leaving us a property in Atascadero, California. God confirmed that it was time to go to Mexico. We had God's direction and His provision. Our church, Berean Bible Fellowship, wanted to support us but that just didn't seem to make sense. We had sold the property and had sufficient provision for at least two years. God had blessed us and we were set. The church prayed for us and sent us on our way.

       Mexico was much more expensive than we had expected. Most everything was the same cost or more than California. By the two year mark we were out of money, or near to it, but God has faithfully provided every day. “Please give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus said. In many ways it has been a joy going through this faith building time.

3D model we did of our church

       At one point we thought God was directing us to start a new business of creating 3D computer models (3dcomputermodels.com) to provide for our ongoing needs. If an architect, contractor, or home owner sends us CAD files and/or pictures we can email them back a 3D model. Though we have not had any paying clients to date, it has been very useful for the construction ministry. It has been invaluable as a tool to estimate costs, manage construction phases, and communicate to volunteers what needs to be done.

       We want to continue in ministry here, serving the poor orphanages and comedores (feeding kitchens for poor children), but the financial realities are limiting. Currently we do not have the funds to continue. Please pray that we would clearly understand what God would have us do.

       You can view photos of our some of our models at thefruins.shutterfly.com.

The Langley Immanuel Youth Group

       We were privileged to work with the group of Dutch high schoolers from Langley Immanuel Christian Reformed church again this year. They have become our favorite group and we look forward to their coming all year long. They are a focused, hard working, fun crew. 

       This year we took part of the group to insulate and drywall the house of a man named Lamberto. Lamberto's testimony is one of persecution and forgiveness. He used to work for the railroad but after being injured on the job the railroad compensated him with a small piece of land adjoining the railroad tracks in an undeveloped area east of Tijuana. A few years ago he offered his land to be used for a church plant to minister to the surrounding, extremely poor, neighborhood. Two years later, the church was thriving and Lamberto had a small house built for himself and his family.

       A woman who was attending the church was the wife of a drug addict. Her husband did not like that she was attending church, yet the woman continued coming. One day, as Lamberto was walking down the street, her husband attacked him from behind. He beat him almost to death with a baseball bat. His skull was fractured and the resulting brain injury left him mostly paralyzed and unable to speak clearly. He was housebound and his house was not insulated or drywalled and it gets very hot in the desert where they live.

       To insulate and drywall the house would be a big job, especially since the group was made up of high school students. It was made more difficult by someone starting the job and doing such a poor job that we needed to redo their work. We only had three to four days so, all things considered, this was going to be a real challenge.

       Work, however, progressed quickly and we finished before our deadline so that we were able to add an awning onto the front of the house to provide a shaded porch. We were also able to build some much needed shelves in the kitchen.

       By God's grace Lamberto has been healing and is now able to speak clearly and use a wheel chair. He is slowly regaining control of hands. He has forgiven his attackeer and prays for him that he, too, may know the grace of Jesus Christ.

       Another project we were privileged to help them with was replacing a dilapidated fence at the Alcanzando laVision orphanage. This is an orphanage of about fifty children in a very dangerous area of Tijuana. The existing fence was falling down but the wire was still usable. Our task was to dig eleven holes in rocky ground to support new fence posts, cement the posts in, and rehang the cyclone fence wire. No one but the locals were prepared for how difficult the digging phase would be. The ground was like baked clay filled with large rocks. This was truly a labor of love. It turned out to be a real test of endurance and perseverance. God blessed our efforts and in the end there stood a beautiful and secure fence. It had taken the whole team but we were all able to enjoy a great sense of accomplishment.


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