In Zaachila, on the outskirts of Oaxaca City, Mexico, live many impoverished families who’ve traveled from distant areas in search of more opportunities and a better life…only to find themselves confronted with the same devastating and debilitating effects of poverty: hunger, joblessness, water-borne illness, lack of education, gang violence, drug and alcohol use. Our Mexico children’s program, Trigo y Miel, was placed directly in the middle of this community to be a shining light in the lives of these families.
Owen, Belen, and their two children, Caleb and Hannah, have seen their fair share of struggle, but God has done amazing things in their family through Trigo y Miel and Operation Enduring Homes, our local homebuilding and block-making business/ministry run by missionaries Tom and Wendy Hogan. When they first joined the Trigo y Miel program, the family was in a desperate position. Owen had been disabled from an accident and was unable to work for seven months. At the time, Belen was pregnant and limited in her ability to help provide for the family. They joyfully joined the Trigo y Miel program and God began writing a beautiful story in their family as the years passed.
After Owen recovered, he began working with Tom at Operation Enduring Homes. Their children began to thrive as the family grew holistically through Forward Edge’s programs.
Owen stepped up at work and eventually became Tom’s right-hand man, the one he trusts with the business’ finances and deliveries. Meanwhile, Caleb and Hannah have exceled through the support they receive at the Trigo y Miel program. There they receive nutritious lunches daily to help stretch the family’s finances further, as well as educational support and tutoring to keep them on pace towards graduating. This has been a big challenge for many children in Mexico – and around the world – as COVID-related school closures have set many children back in their education. However, Trigo y Miel staff have worked diligently to make sure children don’t fall behind in their studies.
“Our children have a better future with their studies, and will not lack the opportunity for a profession as we do,” Owen and Belen shared with a deep sense of pride.
For many years, Owen, Belen and their children lived in rented homes made of sheet metal. These homes were too small for the family and didn’t protect them from the weather, often leaking when it rained. In 2021, their prayers were answered when they received the 11th house from Operation Enduring Homes! “We can think of few folks who are so deserving of a new home,” Wendy Hogan remarked.
The transformation of this entire family has been invaluable for Caleb and Hannah as they grow and develop. They’re witnessing a God that does miracles in the lives of those who trust Him, and they’re learning that as they grow, the sky’s the limit.
Another huge milestone for the family happened in the summer of 2021 when, after many years together, Owen and Belen finally made the decision to get married. As part of the Trigo y Miel church, led by program director and pastor Victor Velasco, they had learned the importance of following the word of God. They shared, “Since we are giving our children an example, it made us realize that we need to make good decisions according to what God indicates us to do.”
Everything Trigo y Miel and Operation Enduring Homes have invested in this family will only be magnified in the lives of Caleb and Hannah as they grow up in a completely different reality than their parents experienced. They have every opportunity needed to break the cycle of poverty for generations to come.
This story was shared in our 2021 Annual Report. You can view our full report here >>
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We are so excited to be starting 2019 off with the addition of a brand new Forward Edge ministry location. Our newest Child Sponsorship program, Light A Candle, serves 400 children in some of the most difficult areas of Kampala, Uganda. Kampala comprises 3.5 million people within the city limits,
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This blog, written by our Kosova program directors Nora and Metush, shares the powerful story of Ymer—a boy learning to hold onto Jesus in the middle of cultural and spiritual pressure.
Imagine a child, seven years old, living in a garbage dump and watching both her mother and father die slowly of AIDS-related illnesses. This was reality for Erminia before she joined Forward Edge’s program for at-risk girls in Nicaragua called Village of Hope. If Erminia had continued to grow up
6 yrs. old
Entered the program: March 2023
Rahina lives with her parents, two older siblings, and grandmother in a two-bedroom house built with mud and roofed with thatch. The family has access to electricitybut not potable water. There is a village dam that residents draw water from until it dries up; then, the women and girls of the community have to walk long distances to find other sources. There is no local healthcare facility. Rahina’s village is very poor and lacks many resources.
Rahina’s family is Muslim. Her mother is a housewife and her father is a small-hold farmer who cultivates maize and cassava, but barely harvests enough food to last them throughout the year. The family has had to live on less than a dollar a day and Rahina’s parents struggled to provide the basic needs of Rahina and her siblings. Now since coming to Create Hope, the family has consistent food and Rahina is finally able to go to school every day.
Plus bonus group fundraising ideas!
