White Stone

(Note:This picture was taken before renovations started at Casa Esperanza or House of Hope.)

It had been a while since the group of youthful faces had received a visitor, yet here my husband and I sat among 25 children delighted to host us. In the courtyard/play area, three plastic chairs were arranged. I sat in one, Rob in another, and Ron, the director of White Stone occupied the third. The kids, all various ages, stood among us delighting in selfies and interactions in our broken Spanish.

One precious face leaned back against Ron, whose large frame supported her. She impishly looked up and said something to him in Spanish.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“You are my mattress,” he said with a knowing smile and raised eyebrows.

We laughed, but her comment said it all. Safe, content, loved, family, home—all those words applied.

We were in an orphanage in Acuña, Mexico. just over the border from Del Rio, Texas. I’d heard about it earlier in the day and a friend graciously offered to spend her afternoon driving us across the border for this visit. It had been closed to visitors because of Covid restrictions, but now we had the joy of interacting with this precious group of children, the staff, and Ron the director, aka Papa. The peace and love present were tangible.

Ron, who had a string of credentials to qualify him for the care of these children, when asked how he did this, his simple reply could be viewed on every face and felt in the atmosphere.

“Love,” he said.

He elaborated a bit more. At one point, CPS was questioning how they got the kids to behave so well. One official was not believing it could be so simple as that, so he ran his own test. He decided to bring his 9-year-old niece, who was having significant behavioral issues, to them. He thought they might even be giving them drugs and physically threatening the children. He just couldn’t believe they were such an agreeable community. In spite of this, he was still willing to leave his niece there.

Ron said this girl acted out terribly, but after two weeks and a worn-down staff, she settled in like the rest of the kids. The uncle returned and found a transformed niece. As a result of this and many other positive interactions with the Mexican government, White Stone has an excellent reputation.

Just the other day we received an email from Ron. The Mexican Immigration Department is requesting their help with displaced children.

Ron has responded:

We’ve agreed to care for children who have been either separated from their parents and lost somehow while traveling in the surge of asylum seekers or children rescued from the “coyotes” who actually “rent” the children to single people (mostly men) who need to present themselves as a family unit in order to be accepted by the US Customs agents. Some of these children have been rented 5-6 times, and the physical and sexual abuse they have endured during all this is almost unimaginable. These are children who have been abandoned or even sold to these coyotes by their own parents.

They have no place to send these children. We’ve agreed to take in as many of them as we can house.

We recently cared for one of these children from Guatemala whose family had been caught at the border and arrested. She was filthy, scared, and hungry. Her feet were filled with blisters and pus from walking countless miles. She knew she couldn’t stop, despite the pain, or she’d be left behind. We’re excited to love on children like these and introduce them to Jesus. 

We may only have a short while with them but the seed of Jesus’ love will be planted in them and we believe it will take root in their lives, even after leaving our home. 

As you know, inflation has affected everyone. While we are growing in our impact and ability to touch even more children’s lives, naturally, our cost of operations is going up as well. On top of that, we’ve experienced a significant decline in funding over the last several months. We never want to turn away any of these children who are so precious to Jesus, but if we can’t supplement our income, we won’t be able to take advantage of this beautiful harvest field the Lord has set before us.

So many times I’ve thought what can I do to help children at our border? Here is a group ready and able to do something. I encourage you to ask the Lord about supporting White Stone Ministries or perhaps another group you know of. They are also in need of painting and small building projects. If you know of a missions team, here is a group they can bless. Let’s pray for their needs.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for Ron, his wife, Anna, and their staff at White Stone. We pray for protection, wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of You as they take in more children. We know your heart is for the orphan and you put the lonely in families. We ask for complete provisioning as children come into their home. Place it on donors’ hearts to give generously. The need is great, but you are a Mighty God. You promise to supply all of our needs according to your riches in glory. Let it be.

We ask you for the children already in care to be lights to these traumatized ones. We pray peace on the home as they acclimate and integrate into a new life. Grant great measures of grace all around. Pour out your spirit of hope and joy. Let these little ones begin to play again, a sign of healing.

We pray these same prayers over other places of refuge for the displaced children and for those places you are raising up.

Decrees

We decree the children will be saved and fulfill the plans and purposes you have designed for them.

You are bringing hope and healing into this darkness and planning many divine reversals on behalf of the children.

We decree even when their paths wind through the valley of tears, they dig deep to find a pleasant pool where others find only pain. You give them a brook of blessing. They grow stronger and stronger with every step forward (Ps. 84:6,7).

To learn more about White Stone and Casa Esperanza click the link below.

White Stone Ministries

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