Thank You So Very Much,
You’re receiving this letter because at some point you’ve financially supported the work of Siempre Para Los Niños. Children have found safety, food, received an education, experienced family life and have been protected from the dangers waiting on kids abandoned into poverty in Tijuana. They’ve lived in The Promise of Siempre. May God richly bless you and yours for giving to lift up those who are all too often left out.
The Great News is that Siempre Para Los Niños is ready to receive children once again. Praise God! New directors are in place. Work groups have been serving diligently almost every week to get the household in order. Simple things – like beds – that we’d come to take for granted, are now ready for children. God is too good!
The past year has been one of heartbreak. Some is chronicled at Siempre’s Facebook page and at www.siemprekids.org. Leadership and visiting volunteers that had been loved and trusted to join us in the work of Siempre broke away – taking staff, children and property. They wanted everything. Their motivation is impossible to understand. We can only assume that those involved saw Siempre as easy pickings and laid the groundwork to take what they could. None had purchased property, built the buildings or continued the work as they came and went as they pleased. It’s an impossible way to raise children. None of them came to speak to us honestly. Not one. Details were difficult to secure in the beginning. A Biblical Truth came to the front immediately after the children were moved: “Behind every betrayal is always 30 pieces of silver.” In the aftermath of their actions every donation, check and deposit across the past three years has been scrutinized. It quickly became obvious that problems were deeper and had gone on longer than the actions of a few people moving in one week.
A decision loomed over us: do we surrender everything to take legal action, in Mexico and the U.S., or do we move forward. A number of you stepped up offering to pay for legal expenses – thanks so much. After seeking wise counsel, including some of you, moving forward seemed the only thing we should do. A pastor who’s loved Siempre from the beginning said: “Let’s start rebuilding – one room at a time.” Rebuilding – not looking back but moving forward with anticipation – one room at a time, has become our driving purpose these past three months. God has blessed the decision to not look back.
Thanks so much to those of you who’ve made a special gift during this challenging time in the household. Appliances and so many other “big ticket” items needed immediate replacement. Kitchen utensils, pots and pans, flatware, everything one needs to run a household of 50 people is gone. We’re replacing it, one room at a time. Cloth diapers, hundreds of them, tables and chairs for the dining hall, waiting to be replaced along with the computers and every bed in RileyHouse@Siempre – built to shelter abandoned teens – gone. So I’m also writing to invite you back to the promise and vision of Siempre and let you know that we need your financial support, now, more than ever.
In the first week the children were taken, one of Siempre’s kids who had nowhere else to go, messaged me to say: “I’m sorry Pastor Eric. Thanks so much for everything.” Sitting alone, looking at my phone, couldn’t help but weep. We miss and keep each child in our prayers and forever in our hearts. They’re part of the first generation of Siempre and they’re always welcome home. Silently I responded: “Gracias a Dios” Thanks be to God. And let them know they would always be remembered.
Thousands more children are waiting across Tijuana. The crisis at the border that’s occupying the news each night as tens of thousands of children try to cross into the United States leaves out the stories of the many, many more who never make it to the border. Children vulnerable to the sex trade, human trafficking and too often left to wander the streets of Tijuana begging for anything within miles of San Diego. We have 21 open beds, 2 cribs and 4 day beds ready to shelter them. With your help we can fill Beginnings@Siempre with cribs and cast off babies again. Your gift can fill RileyHouse@Siempre with beds for teens – waiting for rescue. Your gift can complete the immediate task at Siempre, insuring that the 2nd generation of Siempre’s kids continue to receive the promise of hope, love, security and a future that Siempre offers.
You’re Invited to share in this great work. God’s hit the BIG reset button for us and we’re returning to our original mission of rescuing children that need us most. Our new directors are fluent in English and Spanish and ready to work with you. Pastor Aldo continues to lead the church at Siempre and oversee the work in love. Missionaries move in to the mission’s house at the end of August and are incredibly excited. If you feel called to the mission field we have 4 open rooms – they’re small – but ready for workers to live and work with abandoned children. God’s doing a great thing at Siempre and we’re looking forward. I hope you’ll choose to share in this great work as we enter our second decade of service together. Wow! Through it all – I can’t wait!
Siempre,
Eric M. Denton, pastor
Central Community
founding church of Siempre
PS.
I realize this may seem like information overload. Please don’t hesitate to call me with your questions and concerns. Remember to “like” us on Facebook & check out our new webpage www.siemprekids.org