Our family has had the opportunity over the past 4 years to make a relationship with a small independent orphanage in Juarez. The name of the orphanage is Integral de Juarez Asociacion Civil. It is run by Gerzon Perez, his mother Guadalupe, and three of his sisters, Cecia, Elliam, and Libney. Gerzon and his family are originally from Mexico City, but when their father died they felt God’s leading to head toward to border to do ministry. What they would do they weren’t sure when they started out, but they knew they had to be true to God’s calling. Arriving in Juarez and working in the prisons (providing a meal along with a worship service) it soon became clear that God was leading them to the work of an orphanage. They started the orphanage around 6 years ago with 6 children (all kids of inmates). Today they have 29 children living there full time. In 2008 Mount Pleasant Christian Church came and built three CpC projects (2 doubles and a “church”) on a piece of property they owned on the far south west part of Juarez. Since the building of those houses, our family has had a growing relationship with the Orphanage and it has been exciting to see God use them to reach out to kids in need. Through Casas we have been able to connect many groups with this wonderful family and their ministry. The Orphanage operates totally on what little money they can raise doing odd jobs or from the kindness of groups or the few ministry connections that they have that give them donations from time to time. Please keep this special ministry in your prayers as they struggle monthly to provide for the children they take care of, and pray that God would continue to bring teams to the city of Juarez to build homes so that we might introduce more teams to this wonderful ministry.

Lessons of the Road

It's hard for me to believe that it is June already. It seems like Spring Break season just finished up. I have intended to post here more than I have and promise to do better.

So I was traveling to Acuna back in the beginning of March on a Sunday in order to get there in time to build with a team on Monday. I headed out of my house around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and met up with Mikell and Lindsey West from CpC so we could all travel together. I was pulling my trailer full of tools so I would have them in Acuna for the next several weeks. The trip started off fine, I heard a clicking sound coming from somewhere on my truck or trailer, but couldn't pin point it so we pressed on. I led the way and Mikell followed in his truck. About 10 minutes out of town the sound had stopped and I didn't think anymore about it. We traveled on east toward Del Rio, TX. and Acuna. About 45 minutes to an hour outside of El Paso I heard a loud pop which I thought was a tire blowing on my trailer, I should mention here the speed limit on I-10 is 80 miles an hour and I was going every bit of it. The loud pop was not the tire blowing but the tire coming off my trailer. I finally got stopped and pulled off into the median. What I found was that all of the lugs on that trailer tire had sheared off, the trailer tire had passed me in the middle of the interstate as I got stopped going about 80. I was fine, the trailer a little banged up from the drag was fine, all I needed was 5 new lugs and lug nuts and I would be good to go. However the kicker was I was out in the middle of the desert. After several hours of returning to El Paso for parts and repairs on the trailer, which could be a story all its own, we got back on the road and made it to Del Rio, TX. 11.5 hours after we started that day. It normally takes about 6 hours to get there. The lesson learned was that you always should check your lug nuts before taking off on a trip, and never let weird sounds on your vehicle go unchecked. You would have thought that by the age of 38 I would have had that one figured out. It was also another great reminder that I'm not in complete control of my life. I may have the ability to make choices and change my course, but ultimately it is God who is in control. He was watching over me that day, as He is everyday. He kept me safe when it could have been really nasty and even tough my schedule didn't work out, He helped me see that His plan is more important than my plan.

Crazy Life

Blogging is something new for me. It is my hope that our family can use this page to keep you up to date on what is going on in both our personal lives and our Ministry lives.....

Its hard for me to believe that Mason is turning 7 tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my chair in Illinois and he was asleep on my lap. Time flies. We were out washing the car together this weekend and in all the maturity he has at 7 said, "Dad I'm glad we are spending time together this way." I'm happy he appreciates it as much as I do. I feel fortunate and blessed to have a great family that loves and supports me the way they do.

We are blessed. I always think about how fortunate I am when I travel across the border to work. My heart constantly breaks for the families of Juarez and Acuna, Mexico. Their struggles just to stay warm and dry this time of year, to keep shelter over their families heads and to keep food on the table. Please keep the families we are striving to serve in your prayers.

Check out my friends blog to see a great video of an Orphanage I have fallen in love with.

justinandjuliemissions.blogspot.com

Check in often as we will be updating what is going on here along the U.S. Mexico border.