Our Staff
Dean (Director) and Denise Adamek
- Taylor, Jeremiah and Daniel
On September 15, 2001 the leadership of the orphanage was passed on to Dean Adamek of Lakeview Christian Center of New Orleans, LA. They live on the Ranch property along with the staff and the orphan children they care for.
(For more on Dean and his family scroll down under “Our Historyâ€)
Pancho and Martina Santillan
– Daniel, Sebastian and Jonathan
Pancho was brought to Rancho 3M after his father died when he was just eight years old. His mother could not afford to take care of him nor his siblings. At the Ranch he was given food, clothing, a warm bed, an education and most importantly he was given hope as he heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Several years later, Pancho put his faith in Christ. As an adolesent, he and his friends put together the Rancho 3M worship band.
Martina was brought to the Ranch at the age of fourteen. Her family, who lived in poverty, wanted a better life for her. By the grace of God, Martina also became a Christian. She and her friends started the Rancho 3M Girl’s Choir.
After Pancho and Martina grew up, they both began working on staff and later married here in the chapel. Pancho still leads worship here in the chapel on Sundays and Martina often teaches and leads the little ones in children’s songs.
Pancho assists with the logistics of running the Ranch on the Mexican side. He is in charge of the older boys as well as many other staff duties. Over teh decades he has been a stable example for the kids at the Ranch. Martina does a great job being in charge of the little girls and is a fine example to them of a mature Christian woman.
Teo and Lety Reyes
- Abi and Pami
- Abi and Pami
Lety has lived at the Ranch since she was seven years old. Teo did not arrive until he was a teenager. By this time Pancho & Martina were on staff (see above photo). When she was young, Lety put her trust in Jesus Christ; Teo did as well, only later in his teen years.
Both eventually began working on staff. Early on, they fell in love and soon got married here in the chapel. Their first apartment was located inside of the little boys’ dorm (how’s that for romantic)! They both have been greatly used by the Lord to help open and run Rancho 3M’s Christian School (grades pre-K through 6th) which is also open to the community. Teo is the Principal and Lety teaches there. They are both also on staff at the Ranch. Lety is in charge of the older girls. She works on training them in purity, modesty and other issues of Biblical womanhood.
Teo and Lety’s first child, Jair, died at the age of five in 2008 after three years of chemo and cancer treatments. The Lord miraculously kept him alive many times when he could have died earlier. Perhaps the greatest miracle that occurred through all of the agony of these trials was that the Lord taught them to trust Him in a more profound way— to trust that He sovereignly rules over all situations even in sickness and in death. Today this Christian couple is more firm in their faith than ever before, and more dependant on God’s grace to meet them daily as they live with the scar of the death of their only son. God has used them as a living example to the children & staff of Rancho 3M of how to trust God and grow in Him in the midst of suffering.
Jorge and Paty Zapata
- (Diana), Jorge Luis and Jaqueline
- (Diana), Jorge Luis and Jaqueline
Jorge and his family are from Cuactemoc, Mexico. Jorge’s brother-in-law, Nacho, referred them to us (Nacho grew up at the Ranch and is now the pastor of a small church in Juarez where he lives with his wife and four children). Jorge and Paty both teach at our Christian Primary School. Jorge also works on staff at the Ranch and enjoys coaching soccer games for the Ranch boys.  They are both working towards completing their college degrees on Saturdays.  (Diana is not pictured because she is away at college.)
Gerrardo and Luz Zapata
Gerrardo is Jorge’s older brother (see above). He and his wife Luz are from Durango, Mexico. They have three grown sons and three granddaughters. Gerrardo is in charge of the little boys and outdoor maintenance, and Luz is in charge of taking care of the kitchen and preparing most of the meals. Luz has been teaching the older girls how to make traditional Mexican sweet breads and Gerardo built an outdoor adobe oven. They are both diligent and dependable workers and have been a blessing to us.
Matthew and Lee Dwinells
Matthew and Lee are from Trinity Fellowship Church of East New Jersey. They have five grown sons and one granddaughter. The live in the apartment in the little boys’ dorm, where they have been a blessing in the area of supervision and tending to the many needs that arise. For the past three years Matthew has taught English and Computer at our school and Lee has been the secretary in the Ranch office. They both have also shared in other staff duties around the Ranch such as watching the children and cooking. They are in the process of moving to the Philippines soon to serve a church there.
Melissa Schlax
Missy is from Sovereign Grace Church near Raleigh, North Carolina, where she also worked as one of their church secretaries. The oldest of five children, she grew up in a very missions-minded family who spent years bringing teens on short term missions trips to foreign countries under Teen Missions International. Since then she had been praying for an opportunity to work in some area of foreign missions.
After having visited the Ranch for years, God opened that door for her. Dean (director) and his wife Denise noticed her love and interest for the children and her organizational & computer skills. When the need arose for a new secretary, Missy’s father was contacted about the possibility of her working at the Ranch. Missy felt that her prayers had been answered.
After receiving approval from her father and pastors, she moved down to the Ranch. Missy lives in an apartment in the girls’ dorm where she helps in the supervision and care of the girls. She also serves as the Ranch Secretary as well as doing occasional staff duties such as cooking and watching the kids.
Callan Costa
Callan is from Calvary on the Bayou, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She is the second oldest of eleven siblings, with one sister and the rest brothers! Callan has kindly volunteered on many different occasions in the past at Rancho 3M and has a humble heart in the way she looks to serve others. Callan has a sweet disposition and is a pleasure to work with, so we are blessed to have her once again as one of our two English teachers, as well as serving in several staff duties at the Ranch.
David Ford
David (a.k.a. Flash) is from Celebration Church near New Orleans, Louisiana. David knows what it’s like to grow up fatherless, and God has helped him minister effectively to the fatherless boys of Rancho 3M. As he has volunteered at the Ranch over the years, he has won the hearts of the older boys, which have been the hardest group to reach. We are thankful that he has returned once again— now as one of our two English teachers, as well as serving in several staff duties at the Ranch, and discipleship of the older boys.
