Saturday, July 07, 2007

When I first started this blog in September, 2006, I wrote about a very special place called Tapestries of Life Ministries http://www.tapestriesoflife.com/. Pastor Steve, his wife Cathy, and hundreds of volunteers (brought by the hand of God) are building an orphanage in Guadalupe, Mexico: brick by brick; tile by tile.

The story behind The House of Gems is truly amazing; it is a story of God's love and faithfulness. Pastor Steve and Cathy have been working for the Lord for 20 years in a barren desert, where poor families line up for hours to receive one orange (this is all Pastor Steve could afford to give away in the beginning). Missionaries have come and gone, but Pastor Steve and Cathy could not leave the children.

Shacks made of tires or just plain garbage are often built over generations here, and the people take so much pride in the fact that they have a home. It is a place so desperately poor that a little boy is afraid to take off his shoes for fear someone will steal them, and when at last he takes them off, his little toes are bent and curled from wearing his shoes for so long.

Wonderful miracles are happening in this desert, though. God is at work to bring the orphans home:

"The Biblical mandate to take care of the widows and orphans is in the process of being fulfilled in the orphanage that is being built in Guadalupe, MX. This orphanage will house over 250 children and the government promised to fill it within 24 hours of when it's doors open with a small percentage of the over 7000 children that are living on the street in this area alone. This orphanage is being built by churches in America, Canada, and all over the world. May God's name be praised. However there is a lot of work that still needs to be done." --Tapestries of Life Website

It is a story of hope; a place of promise in a land so empty of promise. To give a child a life, a future, and most of all, the chance to meet Jesus. I think the faces of the children will always be with me now. They've found a permanent home in my heart. Someday soon, I hope to be able to see The House of Gems and help Mercy Ministries as they distribute large bags of food to families that would surely starve without them.

Please keep them in your prayers and if you feel led, open your hearts to them, too. "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home