Don't Grow Tired of Doing Good

Roselands
Jul 21
6 min read

Memphis received the "award" for the Most Dangerous City in the US this year again. That is in combination with the Worst Place to Raise a Family, the Worst Drivers in the US, and Worst Foster Care System for Multiple Placements awards over the past few years. That would usually cause most people to look for another place to live, but we truly feel like God has placed us in this city for a specific purpose: to love on the families and children who are hurting the most.

A friend shared the verse from Galations 6:9, "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up." That verse is one that we are holding on to, especially over the past few months!

A Call from the Police

A few weeks after our last update, we received a call from the police that Julian was being taken to our local children’s hospital for suspected child abuse. It’s one of those calls that you never want to receive and is truly heartbreaking in so many ways. It was a shock, as Richard had just been on Julian’s field trip with him 2 days before and everything had been fine. Richard jumped in the car and headed to the hospital to see if he could sit with Julian during this hard day. Hospital protocols due to the intense gang violence in Memphis made it a little more difficult, so it took a few hours and approval from multiple staff and his mom to allow me to be in the room with him.

We sat and played while his caseworker was working on placement. Thankfully, his caseworker was very open to Richard’s input and both Julian and his sister were placed with families that we know. Ximena and Leilani went to get some clothes and a stuffed animal that he carried with him everywhere. A little over a week later, the family where Julian was placed disrupted due to his shutdowns and so he stayed with us for a few weeks. He is currently with another family that has been in his life from the beginning and is doing well…his shutdowns have gotten shorter and they have experience with children from traumatic backgrounds.

It was a hard situation, because it was the death of a dream that was four years in the making: that his mom would be able to parent her children in a healthy environment. She had the necessary resources and had done well for a year, but her mental health and struggles were too much to bear in tandem with parenting. Please be praying for Julian as he adjusts to living with a new family and that he would be able to work through the trauma that he has experienced.

Adoptive/Foster Dads Event

Richard started the Adoptive and Foster Dads of Memphis around 3 years ago and it is still going strong! At the beginning of the summer, they were able to go to an Adventure Museum that had different mental, physical, and skill-based challenges for the dads. The one game that we tried to beat (although we were unsuccessful!) was stealing the treasure from a dragon! It was a great evening to play and talk about the unique challenges that adoptive/foster dads face.

Texas Tour

The Texas Tour went great! One of our biggest blessings was that we had absolutely no vehicle problems during the 3 weeks!!! Our other biggest blessing was getting to see so many of you!!! We were able to visit almost 30 of our supporters and share at one of our supporting churches in Corpus Christi. It was beautiful to be in so many of your living rooms and hear the follow up questions on our updates over these past few years, showing the love and investment in us and our ministry. We appreciate each of you so much, although we forgot to take pictures with y'all!!!

Restoring Hope

One of the new ministries that we have been working with over the past year is called Midsouth Hope Garage. They take donated cars, fix them mechanically and clean them up, and then donate them mainly to single women and moms who need that extra push to be able to thrive. It is a more “upstream” ministry, trying to prevent kids from going into foster care in the first place. A group of ministry leaders here in Memphis banded together last year to come alongside this ministry and raised $10,000 to help them repair additional cars and put on an event.

Restoring Hope Video

The event, called Restoring Hope, was a classic car show in July and over 60 cars showed up to support. As a part of the event, two vehicles were given away to domestic abuse survivors, one who decided to parent twins! Richard had the opportunity to clean and detail her black Jeep the day before. It was beautiful to hear her story, and she shared that she felt so much support from all of the ministries and people encouraging her that she can do this!

Neighborhood Lemonade

This past weekend was the lemonade stand weekend for the Isaiah 117 House. We decided to do a stand on the main road right outside of our neighborhood. It was a success!!! It was definitely a hot one, with temperatures in the 90’s and humidity up to 90%, but we had so many people stop for some lemonade and to learn about the Isaiah house. We even had some of the teens from the neighborhood and from band that came by to help get more people to stop!

What the Kids Are Up To

Gustavo: He has not been in a very good place, after his long-term girlfriend lost her oldest son to a shooting. He felt the distance as she was going through the grieving process, and he started spiraling. Prayers are appreciated!

Erick: He has been doing really good! He is continuing to work, although he did put his bachelor’s degree on the side as it was too much to study and work 60+ hours a week. He kept falling asleep in class!

Mayumi: She just recently found a full-time job and is doing good so far. Judah, our grandson, just turned 3!

Nico: We have had no contact with Nico in almost 2 years…

Inti: He is in the process of applying to the Canadian armed forces. They will cover his last few semesters of college in exchange for a few years served after college. He just recently went to Guatemala to visit his mom at the Bible school where she is studying.

Claudia: She is in Alabama, living with an uncle and his family and working. She did graduate high school in May!

Nathaly: She is living in Memphis and came over a few weeks back. It was fun to sit on the back porch and catch up on life!

Santiago: Band season has started and he is a section leader this year. He just turned 16 last week and got his driver’s license. He had his first solo drive this past Saturday!

Leilani: She is also in band this year and is sweating through her first few weeks of summer band camp. She also has her pet sitting business that has kept her busy!

Julian: He just recently got back from Costa Rica with his new family. We’ve been able to continue to receive messages from him.

Needs and Prayer Requests

We appreciate all of the love and support from each of you. As we shared, 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 the foster/adoptive dad events), and loving on those who are serving in foster care (like encouraging gifts to our DCS workers). If God places that on your heart, please click on the link below!

Ministry Expenses Support: CLICK HERE!

Family Support: CLICK HERE!

Prayer Requests:

Managing time: We have had a lot of extra ministry needs, especially Ximena at the Orphanos office. Please be praying for wisdom in choosing how we can be of most help without getting overwhelmed or overcommitted.
Parenting: Each one of our kids are going through different seasons in life and have different needs. Ximena is the rock star who is constantly keeping in touch with everyone. Please pray for the words and guidance, especially the tough conversations that we need to have regularly.
Physical pain: We have both been in a lot of body pain and stress lately. Ximena has found a chiropractor who is helping, but it takes time, Please be praying for continued healing and that we would put limits in how much we push our bodies.