A Long Time Coming...

It is way past our usual 3 month update mark. Time flies when you are having fun! We have been meaning to write this since October, but finally had the chance. We hope that you enjoy hearing a little bit of what has been going on in Memphis.

This was a picture from our recent outing to the Singing Christmas Tree! Don't worry! We don't have extra kids at home...just some of our kids' friends.

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Ending the Summer:

Orphanos Retreat

At the very end of the summer, we were able to spend it at the biennial Orphanos Retreat and Missionary Kids Camp!!! This was a week-long event that Richard used to be in charge of planning, but now is able to sit back and enjoy. Our biggest joy is the MK Camp, where are our kids are able to connect especially with their friends from Mexico and Romania...and be around other missionary kids who get what it is like to be raised in multiple countries that you call home. The retreat and MK camp is always such a blessing for our family!

After the retreat and camp, Richard's dad, the VanBeelens, who we have known for over 20 years, and Santi's friends from Romania stayed at our house for a few days. Our house had 16 people!!! It was a lot of cooking with all of the hungry teenagers, very loud at times, and we had mattresses everywhere, but it was so much fun. We especially enjoyed getting to spend that extra time with old friends.

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Trip to Queretaro

Ximena has been dreaming for a few years to take a team from our church in Memphis to the orphanage we used to work at in Mexico. Last November, we went to Queretaro to visit Gustavo and to talk with Augustin and Geno about bringing a team down. As soon as we got back to the US, Ximena spoke with our youth pastor about taking a team and it happened!!! We spent the spring and summer training the high schoolers in the youth group about the purpose of a short-term mission trip, how to raise support, how to serve, and how to adapt to a different culture and language.

We left in October for Esperanza Para Ti to help anyway that we could! We spent our time there finishing the concrete walls on the 4th floor of the dorm, painting a mural in one of the bedrooms, and helping sort through donations. It was a beautiful time to reconnect with everyone that we used to work with 20 years ago! A cool side note is that the current director of the orphanage, Elizabeth, was Richard’s student in his high school English class. She is one of the only ones who speaks English, so we joked around that at least one of his students was paying attention!

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Isaiah 117 House

One of the main projects that Richard has been working on over the past 3 years is bringing an Isaiah 117 House to Memphis. Like many other cities, when children are removed from their homes, they are taken to the Department of Children’s Services offices downtown until they are placed with a foster family. Many times, that means that they will sleep on a conference room floor, eat snacks out of a vending machine, and take a “bath” in a public restroom. Isaiah 117 House is a home in the community that offers a true home where there are volunteers to receive them, a warm meal, private baths to shower, and bedrooms to sleep until they are placed.

And now we have one in Memphis!!! We had the Ribbon Cutting right before Thanksgiving and have been busy receiving kids ever since. It has been beautiful to see how each child goes from being fearful and anxious when they first arrive to being talkative and playful within just about 30 minutes.

It really changes the way foster care begins!!!

In the middle of that process, a few of the previous employees left for other opportunities. Since Richard serves on the Local Advisory Team for the Isaiah House, he stepped in to fill an interim role while they were in the hiring process. This meant him working 60-70 hours a week at times over the past few months, but the last position was filled this week! He is excited to be able to rest a bit when the new employee starts in January.

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Visiting Julian

In the middle of the semester, we were able to drive to Knoxville to visit Julian. He had been settled into school for a bit and was doing really good! It had been a few difficult months of adjustment, but his parents/guardians are doing such an amazing job. It was great to see and experience the patience that they have with him and the different strategies that they are using to connect with him. We didn’t know how the visit would go, but we ended up staying for a few hours and playing with Julian. It was a really sweet time and was great to see how well he is doing!

Ximena has been connecting more with Marelyn since the incident in May. She has been trying to reach out more often and restore the relationship.

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One Year and Going Strong

Richard has continued to invest in B* over these past few months. In October, they actually just hit their one year “friend-versary” since Richard first started mentoring him. B* has continued to open up more about life and the struggles of living at a large group home with other teenage boys his same age. It means a lot of fights, so we have been talking a lot about how he can be protective of the boys in his cottage that he is closest to, while also not jumping in on every fight that happens. It’s a learning experience!

Sadly, since his family is undocumented and lives in North Carolina, they are unable to continue to do monthly visits for fear of being deported while driving. So it has meant even more to B* to have our regular outings. These past few months we were able to do a few cool things together, evening going to Top Golf! He especially liked the Angry Birds game and we played that one over and over. But my favorite was going hiking in Shelby Forest and talking about my fear of what could happen in his life, but also how amazing I think it could be if he allows God in and starts a relationship with Him.

Praying that seeds are planted!

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Supercaligrafilisticexpialidocious

We have to brag about being band parents a bit! Santiago and Leilani both play in the band at Bartlett High School. It has one of the best band programs in the US and we have been blessed for our kids to have this opportunity. Santi plays the trumpet and Lani plays the tenor saxophone. Ximena is really involved helping with the band uniforms and

Richard helps out with the props. This year they were performing a

few different songs from Mary Poppins!

It is amazing to see the dedication and effort of our kids, starting to practice in May each year and working throughout the summer and fall semester. We went to the Band of America Grand Nationals in Indianapolis again this year. Each year we have been improving some and this year we placed 16th out of the high school bands

in all of the US and 2nd from Tennessee!

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Red Tub

Red Tub is an event that we have been partnering with the past 3 years that provides Christmas gifts and a Christmas party to the foster kids in Memphis. This was their 15th year and so they made the goal to fill 1,500 Red Tubs (rubbermaid tubs filled with Christmas gifts) for foster and at-risk kids. This year, we helped get our church involved and our congregation filled over 150 tubs!!!

We also sponsored two tables at their Christmas party, which is a kind of “Trunk-or-treat” Christmas style. Both The Orchard Church and Isaiah 117 House sponsored tables, doing freshly popped popcorn and hot chocolate! It was a really fun time to serve around 700 foster parents and foster kids who were coming to pick up their Red Tubs.

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Needs, Prayer Requests, and Praises

We appreciate all of the love and support from each of you. We are needing additional monthly support for our ministry expenses. These expenses include tangible needs for foster kids and families who need a little extra help (clothing, furniture, etc.), events that support the foster community (like Red Tub), and loving on those who are serving in foster care (like Isaiah 117 House). If God places that on your heart, please click on the link below!

Ministry Expenses Support: CLICK HERE!  

Family Support: CLICK HERE! 

Prayer Requests:

1. Ximena: The end of the year is the busiest time of the year for her, as the majority of donations for our missionaries and ministries around the world come in during the month of December. Please pray for patience, attention to detail, and amazing problem solving skills, as she tries to make sure that each donation goes to the missionary/ministry that it is meant for.

2. Richard: As a part of the interim role, he has to be on call at the Isaiah House, which basically means a rotating 72-96 hour period to cover all meals and welcoming new children as they come into the home. Please pray for grace to hopefully not miss too many events over the Christmas season and for each one of our foster kids who are coming to the home and not able to be with their families during the holidays.

3. Marathon Fundraiser: Our Uncle Mark puts on the Texas Marathon Kingwood every year to help raise funds for our ministry and other great charities as well. As we head to Texas at the end of the year, please pray for great weather and a lot of runners to sign up for the marathon on January 1st!

Praises:

1. Inti: He is coming home for Christmas! It’s been a year since he moved to Canada, so we are excited to be able to have him home for a week.

2. Santi: He is now our full-time driver and it has been such a blessing to have him drive himself and Leilani everywhere. He also took a job at a retirement community and is enjoying the fruits of his labor!

3. God’s provision: We have had a lot of big expenses, like our furnace going out, our refrigerator going out, a big tree in the backyard that had to be cut down, and vehicles breaking down. But it seems like each major event was followed by God providing in really sweet ways!