Deron and I (Steve) joined the gang from Flipside to head down to Mexico for the day. It just so happened to be a record breaking hot day and quite windy. After crossing the border the 27 of us in 6 vehicles drove down to La Mision beach and took a group photo (to be added soon) caught our breath and prayed before getting back in our vehicles and driving to the Door of Faith Orphanage (DOFO). This group photo was taken by Dan (at Flipside). Thanks Dan!!!
After we arrived, DJ gave us a brief introduction and tour of their premises.
Children are placed into homes based on age and sex, each with a parent. They become a family, in a larger family called Door of Faith.
This is the Junior High boys room. Each home is intentionally placed in a community plan, and decorated in very festive colors.
A soccer game started on a small slab of concrete. The kids are pretty good. Here Deron head butts the ball into the goal.
They are in the process of building a new nursery. When complete this will allow them the space to receive even more children into the orphanage. The location is on the left side of the picture below. 
A little boy named Mickey clung on to Deron and I. He is a special needs child and really struggles to communicate in Spanish. But we still connected and drew pictures with chalk on the ground.
We fixed hamburgers for approximately 100 children.
The kids line up for meals, from the youngest to the oldest.
Everyone joined in this feast. Of course they do this three times everyday!
After the lunch, we served them ice cream. This was a yummy special treat!
Little things can be very special. Since it was such a hot day the hose was brought out and the concrete slab became a water slide.
The orphanage owns quite a bit of land. There is a prayer trail leading up to the cross. It is quite a steep climb. The "Play Doh" cylinder is one of their water tanks.
Door of Faith Orphanage looking down from the cross.
Looking toward the coast from the cross.
Right as we were getting ready to leave the orphanage Deron picked up a rock and threw it casually at a post standing in the bushes. And he hit it with a huge bang! The next thing we knew water was gushing out of a pipe. At first there was a subtle grumbling about what had happened but soon because of the hot day folks from our group were under the cool agua rinsing themselves off. Deron became a hero and this became known as Deron's spring. DJ was not fussed by it at all and was able to quickly shut off the valve. By the way, the stick in the pipe was our addition in trying to stop the water before everyone dove in to get cooled off.
The Door of Faith Orphanage is run by DJ and his wife. DOFO is located in La Mision, Mexico. They have been there for 16 years. Starting with 35 kids they now are the largest orphanage with 115 children. DJ now helps other orphanages as a consultant. DJ and his wife were originally from Orange County, California, and they come out of the Vineyard in Anaheim. DOFO is one big family. Each child gets a cake on his or her birthday. DJ's wife cuts every child's hair. The older ones help with the younger ones. For DJ and his wife they never had kids of their own because they already had a huge family! When children come into this orphanage they truly become part of a family. We did not get to meet DJ's wife as she was away on a mission trip with some of the kids! They love to have youth groups down for the day, or even volunteers who can come for 6 months or more. If you are interested in any information about the Door of Faith Orphanage please check out their website at http://www.dofo.org/. Note DOFO's vision statement "changing the world one kid at a time"! Sounds familiar!!!
After we left DOFO we stopped for a meal at Magana Tacos. Here is a picture of some quesadillas, which were more like what we refer to as burritos. The food was so yummy!
This was an awesome day. Deron drove his truck and did fantastic navigating the border traffic! He drove more miles on this one day than he drove in all his days in Australia!
Flipside looks to be taking four trips down this year. If you are interested in joining us on the next one, please contact me for details.
After we arrived, DJ gave us a brief introduction and tour of their premises.
Children are placed into homes based on age and sex, each with a parent. They become a family, in a larger family called Door of Faith.
This is the Junior High boys room. Each home is intentionally placed in a community plan, and decorated in very festive colors.
A soccer game started on a small slab of concrete. The kids are pretty good. Here Deron head butts the ball into the goal.
They are in the process of building a new nursery. When complete this will allow them the space to receive even more children into the orphanage. The location is on the left side of the picture below. A little boy named Mickey clung on to Deron and I. He is a special needs child and really struggles to communicate in Spanish. But we still connected and drew pictures with chalk on the ground.
We fixed hamburgers for approximately 100 children.
The kids line up for meals, from the youngest to the oldest.
Everyone joined in this feast. Of course they do this three times everyday!
After the lunch, we served them ice cream. This was a yummy special treat!
Little things can be very special. Since it was such a hot day the hose was brought out and the concrete slab became a water slide. The orphanage owns quite a bit of land. There is a prayer trail leading up to the cross. It is quite a steep climb. The "Play Doh" cylinder is one of their water tanks.
Door of Faith Orphanage looking down from the cross.
Looking toward the coast from the cross.Right as we were getting ready to leave the orphanage Deron picked up a rock and threw it casually at a post standing in the bushes. And he hit it with a huge bang! The next thing we knew water was gushing out of a pipe. At first there was a subtle grumbling about what had happened but soon because of the hot day folks from our group were under the cool agua rinsing themselves off. Deron became a hero and this became known as Deron's spring. DJ was not fussed by it at all and was able to quickly shut off the valve. By the way, the stick in the pipe was our addition in trying to stop the water before everyone dove in to get cooled off. The Door of Faith Orphanage is run by DJ and his wife. DOFO is located in La Mision, Mexico. They have been there for 16 years. Starting with 35 kids they now are the largest orphanage with 115 children. DJ now helps other orphanages as a consultant. DJ and his wife were originally from Orange County, California, and they come out of the Vineyard in Anaheim. DOFO is one big family. Each child gets a cake on his or her birthday. DJ's wife cuts every child's hair. The older ones help with the younger ones. For DJ and his wife they never had kids of their own because they already had a huge family! When children come into this orphanage they truly become part of a family. We did not get to meet DJ's wife as she was away on a mission trip with some of the kids! They love to have youth groups down for the day, or even volunteers who can come for 6 months or more. If you are interested in any information about the Door of Faith Orphanage please check out their website at http://www.dofo.org/. Note DOFO's vision statement "changing the world one kid at a time"! Sounds familiar!!!After we left DOFO we stopped for a meal at Magana Tacos. Here is a picture of some quesadillas, which were more like what we refer to as burritos. The food was so yummy!This was an awesome day. Deron drove his truck and did fantastic navigating the border traffic! He drove more miles on this one day than he drove in all his days in Australia!
Flipside looks to be taking four trips down this year. If you are interested in joining us on the next one, please contact me for details.
1 comment:
These pics bring back memories from before Deron was born. Precious people...........
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