Julie Bower’s Testimony at the NEXT 2011 Conference

 

I am honored to share with you how I have tried to put my faith and worldview into action.

 

I was privileged to grow up with two incredible parents who taught me about Jesus’ love and the gospel. They also taught me how to biblically handle trials and criticism of my worldview, although I really didn’t think I would need that. But I did, and it all started one night my dad said, “Kids, your mom is very sick. We don’t know how long she has, and things are going to change a lot around here.” My mom had been diagnosed with cancer.

 

Despite her disease, my mom lived in light of eternity every day. She knew that no matter how much pain she had to suffer, the Lord had taken care of her greatest need by dying on the cross for her sins. In the midst of her diminishing life, her worldview was to bring life to others. One way she did this was by sharing the gospel to orphans in Mexico. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Likewise, my mom brought the gospel to orphans by leading a vacation Bible school at Rancho 3M in Guadalupe, Mexico, even though she often had to be carried back to her room at the end of the day from exhaustion.

 

In her last days, my mom became bedridden and went into a coma. I helplessly watched my mom die. Her body had completely failed her, but she reminded me every day that God had not. When I was 16 years old, my mom went home to be with her Savior.

 

Being at Covenant Life Church, with many friends that strengthened and encouraged me, was a blessing. So was having a mom who pushed me into athletics. For most of my life, I played on club soccer teams, and I loved getting to know girls from different religions and worldviews. However, this was where my faith was first truly put to the test.

 

During my mom’s illness, God still gave joy to my family and me. When my soccer teammates saw that my faith did not change despite this severe trial, they questioned me and told me I was crazy for believing in a God who would let my mom die. I began to wonder, “Am I crazy?” But the gospel message ultimately informed my thinking. If I truly believed Christ loved me enough to die on the cross for me, how could he not love me enough to have a purpose for my life? And if he has a purpose for my life, then my mom’s death was a part of that purpose. Christ transformed the way I looked at this trial. When tempted to be resentful toward God, I was able to trust in him because Christ had revealed to me a greater reality — forgiveness of my sins and a new life in him. But it didn’t stop there; I knew God had a calling on my life.

 

Before my mom passed away, she instilled in me a love for missions. She would ask, “If the Bible is true and the commands are really from God, why are we not acting on them?” This question stuck with me. My mom transferred to me a love for the children of Mexico, especially for those at Rancho 3M. I had always wanted to intern there and finally started praying last year about doing one in the summer. However, many of my friends and soccer teammates began to question me. I had always dreamed of playing Division I college soccer and now had the opportunity to do that. They told me I was crazy for wasting my athletic talents. But I knew I was giving too much of my life to soccer and not to my Savior. Though we are called to different areas of service and sacrifice, all of us are called to spread the gospel. Only because of Christ’s love for me was I able to lay down my own dreams and serve at Rancho 3M last summer. During my time there, I met many young children who themselves have experienced grief and loss. I am grateful for the ways that trip built my own faith.

 

Mexico, and especially Juarez, is in a critical point, but God can use our generation to spread the gospel and spark real change in the next generation of Mexico. Rancho 3M provides an opportunity to put your Christian worldview into action. They need support and staff to raise up the younger generation with a biblical worldview to be leaders and influencers for the gospel in a war-torn country. Please visit the Rancho 3M booth in the lobby to see if God could be directing you to serve Rancho 3M from the states or in Mexico.

 

 

Grant Layman shares his thoughts on missions and Rancho 3M.

Joshua Harris, Senior Pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD., and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Dug Down Deep among other books, gives this introduction to Grant Layman:

Grant Layman has served as a pastor at Covenant Life for over 25 years. In his role as executive pastor he uses his unique gifts of wisdom and leadership to help guide a pastoral team made up of 18 men. He also oversees the Sunday worship gatherings, children’s ministry and communications—which in a church of 4,000, is no small task! Grant also leads the church in mobilizing members for short-term mission work in different parts of the world. Grant is a gifted teacher, a devoted husband, and the father of four children.

Here are Grant’s three points:

1. Our theology must inform our practice.

In other words, before we just start going out to serve people in need, we must first go to God’s Word, so that our service is motivated by biblical conviction and not what happens to be in vogue at the time.

The question could be asked – “What makes the church any different from the humanitarian efforts of secular institutions that make charitable donations to the poor or celebrities who adopt children from the world’s orphanages?” As commendable as their actions may be, what makes the church’s mission unique is that it has the gospel in view.

Our goal should not only be to relieve the plight of suffering, but to offer the free gift of salvation. In one scenario man receives the praise, in the other Christ is exalted.

2. The call is to every Christian.

As a pastoral team we have a growing desire to see the adult population of our church involved in mission, both locally and internationally. How are we helping the adults in our church to have a stake in mission? Those in the “middle years” in particular can often be preoccupied with the distractions of entertainment and pleasure or discouraged by the realization of unfulfilled dreams. We want to help people in this season of life finish strong! Some of my most meaningful ministry highlights have been working side by side with men and women in our church on short-term missions.  These can be great opportunities to build community and to rediscover the joy of giving our lives away in service, which often translates into new vigor for mission at home.

3. Choosing what ministries to partner with.

Pastors have the privilege and responsibility of stewarding the resources God has given within our local churches. Before asking our people to invest their time, talent, and money, we must do the hard work of making sure that where we choose to serve is worthwhile gospel work. The key to this is identifying ministries whose leaders are men of character and gifting. Once we are able to establish relationships with such leaders, you can have a confidence that what you invest over the years will be stewarded well for the glory of God. We have found Rancho 3M to be one such place, and we are grateful for our partnership in the gospel with them!

 

~ Dean Adamek, Director of Rancho 3M

Spring is here with the promise of new growth.  Likewise, we here at Rancho 3M are experiencing that same budding and blossoming in many forms.  One of the ways that we look forward to sharing with all of you what God is doing here is through beginning to regularly blog (yes, really!) as well as share on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/rancho3 . For our blog, we will have periodic posts from me, but you can also look forward to reading from guest contributors.

The new growth that is happening here is going to be monumentally transforming and life changing.  This fall we will be starting our own middle school.  Not only does this limit significantly harmful influences, but it better allows us to train and disciple our kids in the ways of Jesus Christ at a critical stage in their life.  We know that the fruit of this endeavor will be great.  However, harvesting fruit does not go without a great deal of tilling the soil and we are laboring now to have everything in order to serve the middle school kids well. The government inspectors will be coming the first of June and we must have all supplies in place or we will not be able to open the school. Please pray that all the needed equipment and paperwork will be provided and accomplished. You can also help with this by going to our wish list, http://www.rancho3m.com/donations/,  and ordering supplies through the internet or finding the listed items elsewhere (even used!) and shipping them to us. Thank you for your support to directly impact our teenager’s lives!

Similarly, this year in the budding process is our baby home.  As we are nearing the completion of the building, the gravity of all that is required to take on new, young lives is sobering.  As Covenant Life in Gaithersburg, Maryland has generously handled the physical building, we are dependent on God to supply the additional staff necessary to take in babies.  We appreciate your prayers for this as well.

We find ourselves in a season of new depth and new frontiers. We are enjoying God’s creativity in the growing discipleship of the kids and continuing our Bible memorization program for the kids.  We are seeing the fruit of salvation with our kids and know that God is using you to allow the seed of new life from the Gospel to be planted and take root.  As a ministry that survives solely on your donations and volunteers, we are amazed by God’s grace through you to see the future of Mexico be changed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ going forth as these kids mature and cultivate the Gospel into the areas that they move on to. Thank you for rolling up your sleeves and digging in with us!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! We are planning to have a large Thanksgiving celebration with all of the children here complete with a turkey dinner, drama and the history of Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for here at Rancho3M. In particular, we are grateful for God’s abundant mercies, His sovereign grace and His kindness that He demonstrates to us through you!!! We thank God for you and the privilege it has been for us to partner with you in the advancement of His Kingdom this past year.

As many of you know, the war has affected almost everyone living here. Everyone that we know knows of someone that has been killed or has seen the brutalities of war. After speaking with the senior pastor Carlos Contreras, of Gracia Soberana de Juarez, we thought it would be good to bless many of the kids in our community this Christmas with a shoe box present. It’s a way to share the love of Jesus Christ and let them know that despite the war, there is still good out there; there is still hope. We will be including a gospel message in each box and an invitation to church.

We realize that many folks & churches in the US already have plans for serving others this Christmas but if you or your church are not yet involved in such a ministry, will you prayerfully consider putting together shoe box gifts for the poor and war stricken children in our community? It could be done individually, as a family or as a church. Through God’s kindness, the kids here at Rancho 3M have already been covered by some very generous and kind folks. We are hoping to receive 600 gift boxes to distribute to the children in the surrounding community.

The boxes can be filled with small gift items, candy, and perhaps some school supplies. They don’t have to be expensive. If the boxes are particular to a gender or age group, would you be so kind as mark that clearly on the outside of the box (ie. older/younger, boy/girl).

The gift boxes can be mailed to:

Rancho 3M
c/o Mision de Gracia
1385 Northwestern Dr
El Paso, TX 79912

Note: This address is only for the community shoe box gifts.

I’ll work on posting some photos after Christmas. Thank you. Further questions can be directed to my secretary Missy at info@rancho3m.com. Thank you in advance for making a difference in the life of a child who is scared by the effects of war and poverty.

Because of the cross of Jesus Christ,

Dean Adamek

The Local Drug War

Some of you are aware of our current situation and the danger that surrounds us. Due to the sensitivity and severity of the drug war here, and the fact that this is going online, I will just be giving you some recent facts in hopes of directing your prayers for us.

This drug war has been going on in Juarez for a while now, but just this July it expanded out to us. The front page of the paper recently said that in the greater Juarez area there were over 300 deaths due to the drug war in September. Even though our fence and gates are complete, our trust is in the Lord. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for continued safety for all staff and children here. Recently, I have personally just missed unknowingly driving through four different gun fights by five to thirty minutes each.

Visits by American teams have been minimal to non-existent at best which also causes another adverse effect for the Ranch. When teams don’t come, our support drops. So we could use prayers for that as well. Teams will be notified when it becomes safe again to serve here.

Thank you very much for keeping us in your prayers!!!! The Lord is a very present help in times of trouble. He has been our refuge and our shield.

Meet Allan

This summer, we accepted a new little boy who has a severe case of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (his mother drank and did drugs when she was pregnant for him). His name is Allan, and although he is seven years old, he has the mind, speech, and motor skills of a two year old. When he arrived it was obvious that he had been neglected and physically abused to the point of cigarette burns on his back, and various scars all over him. His behavior can be wild and alarming at times, and he needs as much supervision as ten little boys. Because of this, I considered the possibility of placing him in a different children’s home, but I knew that no one wanted him.

The staff members, however, were very willing to take him in, even though it meant a lot more work on their part. He seems to love being here and even calls Pancho (one of our staff) Papá. And although Allan is frequently very mean and aggressive with the other children, most of them have been surprisingly patient with him. It is encouraging to see that he has made some progress in his behavior and communication skills over the past months. Please pray for Allan’s healing and salvation, as well as for patience and wisdom for all those who care for him.

Our Christian School

As a result of the drug war in our area, enrollment in our Christian School (kids from the surrounding community) was down by over 80 students at the beginning of the school year. Recently, we have lost about two of these students a week because people are fleeing the area. But because of the extreme kindness of our wonderful supporters we can continue the children’s Christian education at the school, and continue to care for the growing number of kids here at the orphanage. Thank you!!!

New Kids

We have had many new children brought to us recently due to the events of the drug war in Juarez and all the surrounding boarder towns like ours. Most of these children have come from severe abandonment and abuse cases. Many times new children seem sad, scared, or lonely when they first come to us. Please pray that they would find peace in the Heavenly Father through His Son Jesus Christ, who will never leave them nor forsake them.

Fresh Water

Thanks to the Lord, Mark Schlax from Sovereign Grace Church of Apex, NC was able to repair one of our two damaged water tanks. We will be installing the first part of our water purification system in two weeks!!! Thanks to the guys at Hope Builders in Gaithersburg and Mark of Living Water Irrigation in Santa Fe and those that gave towards this project. Thank you!!!

Thank you!!!

We would like send an enormous thank all of you who have generously and sacrificially given to the children and staff of Rancho 3M for the Glory of God. Please accept our deep appreciation for all that you have done to help us. THANK YOU!!!

To catch you up on what has been happening over the last few months, here is our most recent newsletter.

Celebrating 40 Years

With grateful hearts we thank the LORD for His grace and mercy that He has poured out on the children and staff of Rancho 3M since 1969. Pancho came here when he was 8. The Lord saved him, and when he grew up he became a staff member. He recently testified with tears in his eyes, that after being here over 30 years, not a day has gone by that we have had to go without meals, clothing and a place to sleep. Several other staff members who grew up here also shared old stories that day with the children of how God has been faithful over the years. God is still the Father of the fatherless, always providing for the needs of His children, spiritually and materially

Moving On

Sonia Edith

This past November, I had the privilege of walking Sonia Edith down the isle as a pure bride to be united to her long awaited husband, Jason. Thank you to all of you who played a part in encouraging purity and modesty in our young ladies here. God has used your prayers, long talks, examples, and translated materials on the subject, to help us train them in godliness. Thank you.

Sonia & Brenda

Our other Sonia and her twin sister Brenda (not-identical) have been blessed tremendously to have the opportunity to live with a loving Christian family who is making steps to adopt them. They are living in Northern Illinois attending Mike Bullmore’s church and learning English at a local college. Though they have had many challenges in adapting to family life and life in the US, God has been good to them along every step of the way.

Construction Projects

Clean Water

Water has always been an issue here. For most of Rancho 3M’s history we have been blessed with well water (before that, they used to walk to a nearby river that is now dry). Over the past few years we have had the huge blessing of being able to often tap into the city water, which is far less salty and less damaging to everything it touches.
Recently our water was tested by a fellow Christian, Mark B. who owns Living Water LLC in Albuquerque. His tests revealed that our water contains some harmful materials that we were unaware of including arsenic. He told me that it is possible to purify our well-water using a filtration process called reverse osmosis—clean enough to drink. We could also purify the city water we take in by using another simpler filtration process. This would save us a tremendous amount of money in what we spend to regularly replace all of our water fixtures and appliances (water heaters, swamp coolers, washing machines, etc.) due to extreme salt water corrosion. Not to mention what we would save on drinking and cooking water and our clothes.
It sounds like a dream come true, but it ‘aint cheap! To get both systems would cost us a total of $35,000. We already have $12,000 committed. If God has put it on your heart to join in helping pay for these filtration systems for fresh water here at the Ranch, please just write “water” in the memo of your check —Thank you. It would make a HUGE difference in the lives of many people.

Completing the Fence

Due to an increased concern for the safety of the children, four years ago we began the construction of a perimeter fence on our 18.8 acres of land. And thanks to many of you, the fence project is coming to a close! The last 7636 welds were made and 109 panels were installed by the determined Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax, VA. Thank you to all of those who over the years have gladly given themselves to make this fence possible by being post-diggers, cement mixers, skin-stained painters, and of course thank you to all the welders! All that is left are a few details such as paint, caps, etc.

Baby Home

We have had a desire for over 8 years now to be able to accept infants and toddlers at Rancho 3M. There has been an attempt in the past to get this idea off the ground, but it apparently was not in God’s timing. However, over the past several months, there has been a surge of interest in seeing the Baby Home come to fruition.
The physical building will progress in a number of phases. This August will begin phase 2. Please be in prayer for us— we are venturing into yet another unknown territory. Receiving the babies will probably be the easy part, but being able to adopt them out is what we especially need the Lord’s help in. There will be much red tape and legal paper work to be done for the babies to be adoptable.

American Workers

Matthew & Lee

Matthew and Lee Dwinells had committed to 3 years of service here in preparation to fulfill their plans of moving to the Philippines to serve where the Lord leads them. Matthew is the English teacher, Lee is the office assistant and they both do other staff duties around the Ranch as well. With their 3 years complete, we have been making preparations to fill their many responsibilities. Though they will be missed, we are grateful for their years of dedication and sacrifice in order to care for those who are so precious in God’s sight.

Missy

Due to many outstanding qualities that we have seen in her, we have asked Melissa Schlax from the Sovereign Grace church in Raleigh, NC to be Lee’s replacement in the office and to be the “dorm mother” in the girl’s dormitory. To our delight, she had already had a strong desire to work here. We are thankful to the Lord for sending her to us— she has a real heart to love and serve the children here, and she has already helped get us hooked up on a blog so we can keep you up to date!

Flash

David Ford (AKA Flash) has been a huge blessing to us this school year, although he had to return to New Orleans for the summer. Over the past 8 months he has been carefully discipling the older boys— teaching them the Bible and how to follow Jesus even in their most challenging times of trying to become young men without their fathers. He has been a wonderful example for them and we look forward to his return in August.

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Mexican Holidays

Mothers’ Day

In Mexico, they celebrate Mothers’ Day like they do in the US, except— it’s a lot more elaborate. Everyone makes a big deal of it. This can be a bit awkward at an orphanage, so many of our kids give cards or small gifts to the ladies who work here, looking to them as their spiritual mothers. This year our older kids surprised each of the ladies by serenading them through their windows at midnight before Mothers’ Day with a traditional Mexican Mothers’ Day Song and roses!

Kids’ Day

Why not! They celebrate everything here in Mexico! It’s kind of like New Orleans! Kids’ day is usually celebrated with fun activities, food & candy at each grammar school. But this year school was out. Mexico had closed all public places of 30 people or more for over 10 days due to the swine flu scare. So we at the Ranch had our own celebration— complete with space walks, new bikes, and menudo, a traditional Mexican soup made with pieces of the lining of a cow ‘s stomach—the kids, by the way, chose that meal themselves! Special thanks to the Treeby Covenant Group at Lakeview Christian Center for the super fun space walks that even us adults enjoyed jumping in, and to the San Angelo church for the slick new bikes that have given the kids an exciting outlet for all of their energy!

Cousins’ Day

Just Kidding! Thanks for reading this entire newsletter!

Other News

The Children

The kids have been well. We are daily reminded of our need for God’s grace in training up and discipling the children in the ways of Jesus Christ. Virtually no one has been sick for a while. Thank God! We are gearing up for graduation at the end of this month. We have just received two very abused little boys. One of them even has serious mental health challenges.

The Staff

Spiritually, because of His grace we are growing together for the glory of God. Recently, the staff went through a teaching on suffering lead by Mark Mullery (Fairfax, VA). Also, we just finished a seven week course on the gospel given by one of Carlos Contreras’ intern pastors from the Juarez church. And most recently we had a weekend teaching by Billy Raies (Midland, TX) on marriage. We feel privileged to have received such great teaching. The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more in awe we are of the great love the Father has for us.

Prayer Requests

1. That He would pour out His saving grace on all of the children of Rancho 3M, including the staff kids.
2. Dealing with the government regarding the baby home.
3. That God would help the two new little boys learn to obey and that He would heal and save them.
4. That the Lord would grow us all in patience and wisdom in dealing with the new boy with mental health challenges
5. That the kids would see the gospel in our (the staff’s) marriages
6. That God would continue to supply all of our needs as He kindly has for the last 40 years
7. That He would give knowledge and understanding to our translator, Antonio Canchola Castro, from the Juarez church, as he translates, Shopping for Time for us.
8. That the Lord would bless all of the Ranch supporters and teams that so kindly partner with us in the advancement of His kingdom.
9. That He would provide a pastor for the church that will, Lord willing, eventually be planted here.

Dear Friends,

Below is a translated thank you letter from Teo & Lety for all of your care to them when their son was ill. If you know this couple and their story, please skip ahead to their letter. If you are new to Rancho 3M, please allow me a moment to put this letter in context for you.

Teo & Lety both grew up here at Rancho 3M at different times and became Christians here.  Later, they both came on staff and got married here. They soon had their first born son and named him Jair. When he turned two, he was diagnosed with cancer. What followed was over three years of ups and downs including the birth of two more children, Jair almost dying three times and being healed twice. Before he turned six, the Lord did finally take him home. Although he was cancer free, he died during a procedure that is done to help prevent the cancer from returning.

Despite the pain of their loss that they carry daily, it is awesome to see this young couple continue to worship, love, and depend on God like never before. His grace bathes their existence. Currently, Teo is the principal of our elementary school. He and his wife also work on staff here at Rancho3M and attend college on Saturdays. They also minister to folks at the hospitals in Juarez once a month which my wife especially likes since she gets to watch their two little girls. Again, the letter below is thanking all of the folks that cared for them for so long.

Brethren,

We would like to begin by apologizing for not writing to you sooner to thank you for your prayers, and for your concern for us as a family and especially for helping our beloved Jair. Thank you. Please believe us that we were trying to write a thank you letter for months but when starting to write one, tears clouded our vision and kept us from finishing it.

The grief has not vanished and maybe it never will, but the anguished despair that came from the first moments after Jair’s death, fades – leaving way for life. Jair’s life was rich, full, valuable, and has left us with many wonderful memories. Sometimes we find ourselves thinking about something Jair used to do, or say, and we are filled with great tenderness. We remember and think about words, anecdotes, happy moments, and even teachings that we received during that time. With tears still in our eyes, we thank God for the privilege of having shared in our son’s short existence.

Now it is time to value every person who stood with us during this long journey. Thank you for encouraging us, protecting us, and aiding us with financial support. And mainly, thank you for interceding on our behalf and showing us the love of God, which is the same love that strengthens us to accept all and to appreciate what God gives us. It is in His Word where we find that He is loving and that He is taking care of us (Isaiah 43:1-5). We also find the comforting promise that someday we’ll see our son again (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

God lifts our hearts, and He uses our beautiful little daughters to motivate us to keep going everyday, since they demand so much time and attention. Abi is a beautiful girl, the most loving you could imagine. A day hardly goes by without her telling us at least twice, “Mommy, I love you,” and “Daddy, I love you.” Pami, grows more and more every day. She now tries to walk and to speak to her sister. They are a real blessing in our lives.

Working at the school, working with the kids at Rancho 3M, and knowing that brethren keep praying for us, help the days go faster for us. Nevertheless, we long for the time that we will meet in Jesus’ presence, and we will see our brethren again – and among them, our Jair. Each day we imagine how that moment will be and we daily thank our God for his enormous grace towards us. We also pray for all of you, that the Lord would bless your homes in these hard times, and bless your life abundantly in both spiritual and material ways. Although each family may face difficult problems, we know this for sure – that God is good, and he takes care of His children in any situation they are in. Thank you again.

With love,
Teo and Lety Reyes

I too would like to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you for serving the Ranch by serving this couple. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

We are putting together a (surprise) book of photos of their son for them, so if you have any photos of Jair (sick or well) would you be so kind as to email them to me at dean@rancho3m.com.

Thank you!

Please look for more Ranch news coming soon-believe it or not…

Dean Adamek