El Sauzal News

Stove installers Ken, Richard and Loren

Did you ever have an old appliance that was just too expensive to replace? Maybe you needed to make do with a piece of equipment that wasn’t doing it’s job, but it was all you had.  The Orphanage has been in need of a new commercial sized cooking stove for a very long time.  The old stove, used to cook for the entire Orphanage, had only 2 of the 12 burners working.  Replacing it was going to cost thousands of dollars…and so the staff made do.  Can you imagine cooking for forty children per meal with only two working burners?

The First Baptist Church of Ashland, Oregon committed to purchasing and installing a new stove.  First Baptist has been visiting and helping the Orphanage for many years.  We received exciting news yesterday, from First Baptist member Loren:

The stoves are in.  [We] went down and just got back.  What a trip!  Lots of stories.  We got kicked out of Mexico!  OK  just temporary.  We had to go from Tecate to Otay Mesa to take the stoves in.  They do work and boy do they put out heat.  We had all 12 burners going and the griddle and WOW.  God is good. 

Thank you so much, First Baptist, for raising the funds for this much needed equipment.  We are so grateful for the entire church’s support.  Thank you, Loren, Ken and Richard for your exciting trip delivering the stove and installing it.  There will be countless tortillas, pans of beans, rice and so much more cooked on it.  Thank you for looking “after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27).  Many warm, filled tummies thank you!

We are so grateful for our shiny hot new stove!

Josue and Lilia are excited to adopt!

The following story was written today, by Roy Ketring, the Orphanage’s American liaison. 

At the end of October 2005 DIF, the Mexican Social Service, brought two new born baby boys to the Orphanage each less than a week old.  One baby was abandoned in the hospital by his prostitute mother and the other baby was found in an Ensenada Catholic Church’s bathroom.

Josue Espinoza, Lilia his wife, and his two daughters Keila and Karen who live with them made the decision to not put the babies in the Orphanage’s Nursery where all other babies have been placed.  Rather they took the two infants up to the Director’s Apartment where the family lives and began raising the boys.  They named the boys “Josuecito” and “Ruffito” after Josue and his son in law Ruffo, Erika’s husband.

Shortly after the babies arrived Keila began to call Josuecito her child and took care of him and Lilia chose Ruffito as her little boy.  It wasn’t long and the entire Espinoza family had fallen in love with the babies and considered them as part of their family.  They then began a quest to adopt them.  They were aware that DIF has a policy prohibiting someone from hand picking a child for adoption.  Yet they tried anyway but were denied even though their track record for taking care of abandoned, abused, and needy children was impeccable.  Even the local DIF Supervisor tried to get the DIF Board to make an exception for Josue and Lilia. 

Then in May 2006 DIF came and took the children and gave them to other adoptive parents.  This ripped the hearts out of this family all of them including Ruffo and Erika.  (We wrote about this in Baby Josue and Baby Ruffo leave the Orphanage and Saying Goodbye.)  I was advised by an Ensenada attorney that they could fight DIF and win the boys back but Lilia said, “No” to my suggestion.  She said they did not want to jeopardize the lives of the children that they were already caring for or perhaps cause DIF not to bring other needy children to the Orphanage resulting in a hardship on the kids.  While they were still experiencing the pain of loosing their boys they put the Orphanage children and any future Orphanage children’s needs above theirs with their decision not to fight DIF. 

Josue and Lilia then decided that they wanted to adopt one or perhaps two baby boys to fill the void in their lives.  This decision brought back joy to this family.  They have been attending mandatory classes, had their apartment inspected and have been completely scrutinized by DIF’s adoption authorities.  Josue told of stories of Lilia asking for exotic foods like someone pregnant.  She would smile ear to ear every time he would say this in front of her.

Even Ruffo was smitten by the baby boys.

God has honored their obedience as Josue told me today, on this day of LOVE, February 14th, that they have been approved to adopt and the woman who gave them this news also said, “you are going to be the first to receive a child” and then pointed her finger towards the sky and continued saying, “because you have a lot of help from up there.”  Another woman who with her husband were also approved for adoption said, “remember me because you are going to be first to receive a child.”

Yes there is a lot of help from up there and joy abounds in the Espinoza home tonight.  Thank you Jesus for answering their prayers.  (To be continued when the baby boy or boys arrive…)

The trip down is part of the excitement of visiting the Orphanage!

This is the third part in a series of driving in Mexico.  In the first, we described why and how to get Mexican auto insurance.  In the second, we talked about what to expect as you cross the border into Mexico.  In this post, we’ll talk about toll roads and toll booths in Mexico.

After you cross the border, you will want to get on the toll road toward Ensenada; see our directions.  The toll road is the best and quickest way to travel toward Ensenada and the Orphanage.  These roads are better maintained and safer to travel on.  Mexperience.com describes the difference between free and toll roads, and the signs that you’ll look for:

LIBRE = Free Road. Free roads are less well maintained, single carriageways that will take you longer to travel across. However, to see some of the ‘off the beaten track’ places, you’ll need to avoid Toll Roads, as they often double as “by-passes”. It’s recommended that you don’t take the free roads after dark.

CUOTA = Toll Road. Follow this sign if you want to take the toll road to the destination you are traveling to. Note that the highway numbers are often the same, so you can be on the right highway number, heading in the right direction, but on a free (slower) road than you’d like to be. For toll roads, follow the signs that read “CUOTA”. 

On your trip to Ensenada, you’ll pass through three toll booths: at Playas de Tijuana, Rosarito and before Ensenada.  At the booths, you will see signs that let you know the toll in pesos for your vehicle. The toll prices will be around $3 (each toll booth) for a passenger car.  A van or truck can expect to pay more. 

Frequently you may see Mexican military soldiers near the booths.  They don’t collect the tolls, but they are often onsite.  (I am not sure why.)  Dressed in green khaki and touting large weapons, they are impressive.  Here is a tip that I was once told:  Do not take photos of them.  (I don’t know the reason for this either, but I’ve never questioned it!)

After you’ve crossed through the last toll booth, it is only a short distance before you head east towards the small town of San Antonio de Las Minas, the home of El Sauzal Orphanage.  In the next post in this series, I’ll share some tips on Mexican rules of the road.  Vaya con Dios!

Crossing the border at a busy time.

If you haven’t crossed the border into Mexico before, it can be intimidating.  As a native of the Pacific Northwest, I only cross into Mexico a couple of times a year.  Even with many years of visiting the Orphanage, I still have a sense of excitement as I near the border.  It always surprises me how different everything looks and feels as I enter Tijuana. 

This post is the second in a series about driving in Mexico.  The first article, Driving in Mexico, part I, dealt with the hows and whys of getting Mexico automobile insurance.  In this post we’ll discuss what to expect as you cross the border.  The San Ysidro crossing is about 20 miles south of downtown San Diego.  According to Tijuana.com it is “the world’s busiest port of entry “.  You can get to the crossing by heading south on either I-5 or I-805.  Bajabound.com describes what to expect as you cross the border:

If you don’t need to declare anything, you may cross in any lane that says “Nothing to Declare ~ Nada que Declarar.” But this doesn’t mean that you won’t be questioned or searched by customs officials. When you cross, you will see a traffic light with a red light and a green light. A red means you have been selected for secondary inspection and a green means continue on your way unless an official tells you otherwise. If you are selected for secondary inspection, you must pull over into the customs facility. The main facility is to the right, however sometimes you can get your vehicle checked on the left as well. Here, they will conduct for the most part, a quick search unless they find something that should have been declared. Usually they check the trunk and take a glance inside the vehicle.

Adventure Mexico Insurance also has a great step-by-step description of what to expect when crossing the border. 

Besides the San Ysidro crossing, you can cross at Otay Mesa or Tecate.  Otay Mesa is 5 miles east of San Ysidro, and is primarily for commercial crossings.  Tecate is a town 40 miles east.  (See Border Crossing diagram at Baja California Information Pages.)  These crossings are smaller and more out of the way.  However, they may be handy if you expect heavy traffic at San Ysidro, either crossing into Mexico, or crossing back into the United States.  Please note the hours of the stations and their phone numbers below.

• San Ysidro Station: (619) 639-7100 (open 24 hours)
• Otay Mesa Station: (619) 661-3249 (6AM-10PM)
• Tecate Station: (619) 478-5545 (6AM-Midnight) 

Once you’ve crossed the border, it is only a little over an hour to the Orphanage.  You’re almost there!  In the next part of this series, we’ll talk about toll roads and toll booths and later, some Mexican rules of the road.  Hasta luego!

Janeen with a colorful Sofia

Janeen, of SeaTac Bible Church, Auburn, Washington visited the Orphanage for the first time in January.  Here she shares about her experiences, including the unusually cold weather at the Orphanage. 

I had heard several things about the orphanage before leaving, but I still didn’t know what to expect, so I had a pretty open mind upon arriving there on January 3, 2007. At first I didn’t know what to think, but a couple days into it I started to realize something that God was more then likely trying to teach me. These people and children taught me something about faith.  Here in the U.S. we worry about so much stuff that we shouldn’t.  At the orphanage if they woke up without water or electricity, no big deal, just work around it and keep going. I also noticed that everyone there was cold, since a couple days didn’t get above freezing, and if it did it wasn’t much above freezing, but I really never heard them complaining about it.  They don’t have heat either, which made things a little interesting for my cousin Callie and myself. Also, they have a rather laid back atmosphere that surprised me at first, but when I got the hang of that laid back atmosphere, I started to relax myself.  Perhaps God is still working in that area in my life, and not to be so rigid on things, and just to relax in Christ.

The most important things that I have shared with several people, is that the El Sauzal Orphanage isn’t really an orphanage.  Sure they take care of orphan kids, but they are a big family. The way everyone takes care of each other, and how they look out for each other is totally amazing.  It really reminded me of how the church family should act towards each other. It surprised me how hard it was to leave, as I made the decision for my cousin Callie and me to leave 10 days early due to illness.  Even when I wasn’t feeling so well, I still had a hard time leaving. I would like to return again, when it is warmer. Looking at my pictures and the ones on the website makes me a little homesick for them.

Erika bundled up for her unheated office work