El Limon Trip

I had the awesome privileged to go to a children's home that is 5 hours away from Monterrey to serve for a week. We had a hardworking men's group come down so we decided to take them to El Limon to work on a project that B2B has been involved with for years. B2B helped the children's home build a sport court and are now working on the accompanying bleachers. The hope is that this sport court can help bring an income to the children's home. The directors plan to rent out the court for soccer tournaments and also plan to use the court to hose prayer gatherings and revivals. 

Mixed in with all the work was all the play! The children of El Limon are unlike any I have ever met. They are kind, loving, respectful, and have sold out hearts for Jesus. I had a wonderful week living alongside these kids. 

Some of my El Limon friends. These boys were playing their own kind of Nascar (see the video below). One thing that struck me about these boys is how kind they are to one another. The whole week I was in this children's home I never heard anyone fight... amazing when you have 42 kids! They truly cared for one another and helped one another.

Some fresh mangoes growing outside the casa hogar!

These kids LOVE to play games. They taught me a new form of Uno... now one of my favorite games :) The first day I sat down to play boardgames with these kids I was struck by a number of things. First, they had all the pieces to the game we were playing. After working in many children's homes I found this to be amazing! I don't think I have ever seen a boardgame with enough pieces. Next I noticed how all the kids followed the rules to the game. This was also amazing. Lastly, I noticed that when someone made a mistake or went out of turn, the children kindly corrected and helped that person to play!... After my first afternoon in El Limon I knew there was something different about this place.

Here Becca and I are creating a support structure for the bleachers... lots of wire, rebar, and twisting!

Hope with the power tools :)

Our group cooked and served a meal of arrachera to the kids at the home. They loved it! I was also amazed as I sat at a table with middle school boys and they waited for second helpings... the boys told me that it just worked out so much better to wait their turn and let the girls go first...seriously, who are these kids?????

Here is the team with all 42 kids, workers, and directors of El Limon children's home.

Toribio (tall) and Jose (small)! I remember Toribio from years ago when I would go to El Limon with my church mission team. He was about 6 back then. Now Toribio is 14 and much taller :) It was great reconnecting with him.

Me and my friend Jose :) 

This is a quick video I shot of the work going on with the sport court at El Limon, kinda gives you an idea of what we did that week. 

This is a video of the boys playing Nascar! 

Every Wednesday night the children's home has a church service. This video shows how these kids love to worship the Lord. They are not ashamed of dancing and praising Him for who He is. I love how the caretakers are right there with the kids. You can tell that these kids have relationships with Christ because of the wonderful role models they have caring for them. With 42 kids this place really functions like a home.  

One other thing that really impacted me about this home was the way the children seemed so whole. In many of the children's homes we work in the kids are very troubled, angry, hurt, etc because of things that have happened in their past. This place is no different. All of the kids here have a sad story. However, in this place the kids have found healing in Jesus and have been restored. I was stuck as on the last night a teen named Ada stood up to thank the group who had been serving that week. After saying thanks, she then started to preach. She told the men that she wanted to encourage them that God will never leave them nor forsake them. That He is always with them and has a plan and a purpose for their lives. As she was speaking I kept thinking, "this is what we should be telling her... she is the one who was abandoned by her parents!" I felt like the Lord showed me that He had healed Ada so much that she was now whole and able to minister this healing to others. Wow! We have had several teens in our Hope Program in Monterrey who came from this children's home and they all have amazing spiritual lives. 

Thank you God for this place, for the caretakers and the directors who are truly seeking after you and teaching the kids your truths. Thank you for the complete restoration you have done in their lives and the way they pour that healing out on others. Keep it coming! Amen.