Connect and Love the Community
In the beginning of April, we had a medical brigade come to the community and provide check-ups for the children and families of Racham. The vision for the medical brigades is that all can have access to basic medical care. The families and children had the opportunity to learn basic hygenic care and treat basic needs.
During this medical brigade, we had 10 adults and 18 children come and receive check-ups. They also received care packages for hygiene, vitamins to support their immune health, and medication.
The heart is to help the community to learn how to care for themselves and show them the love of Jesus behind coming and caring for them through medical needs.
A week to dive in deeper with the children, teaching them more about Jesus, and giving them an opportunity to be active and creative in a safe environment.
Last Week we had a Vacation Bible School week with the theme of Space and the theme phrase was Brilla La Luz de Jesus (Shine Jesus’ Light). Since Space is known for being vastly dark, then it helped illustrate to the children that Jesus’ light shines so much brighter in contrast to the darkness that is around.
The themed Vacation Bible School was brought to Racham through a lady part of the YWAM Mazatlan staff, and we all came together to decorate and give the children an amazing experience visually, while learning about Jesus.
We had different stations with lessons and activities within them where the children were able to explore, learn, and create things. One station was specifically focused on things that sparked the children’s creativity in crafts, creatings tools that are used to explore things in Space. Many children came out of the station enjoying the things they learned to create and were able to bring them home to show their parents or guardians.
The children were impacted and really taking in the phrase of the week. It was amazing to hear them shouting Brilla La Luz de Jesus! with excitement, and when asked about what they learned they gave explanations about what Jesus does in our lives. They also learned how they can apply what Jesus demonstrates and teaches to their family, friends, and community through simple but great ways. They can show how Jesus’ light shines through their actions of high-fives, hugs, and or sharing. It really showed that the children are understanding what they’re taught and Jesus is making an impact in their lives.
One of the teachers was impacted a lot and made a statement of what teaching the children was like.
«I liked teaching the stories of the Bible, especially seeing the faces of the children that haven’t heard the stories before. Their eyes filled with amazement and surprise.»
Jesus’ light was noticed last week and He will continue to shine brighter and brighter.
On September 30, we had a lot of fun with the children of Cerro del 8, plus we invited many more friends from a feeding center ministry and Loma Bonita to join us for the «Pizza Challenge». We received the invitation to do this event through an Australian friend named David Karamanis. He has done this event in different parts of Latin America, and this was the first time he did it in Mexico. We made the contact through a girl from Ecuador, a friend of Denise, staff of the ministry. She was serving together with Denise in a children’s home in Argentina; knowing the heart of the ministry here in Mexico, she contacted both of us for this purpose.
The purpose behind the event was to show the love of Jesus to the children and give them a safe place to enjoy the day and have fun! Which, we all had a great time. We had many activities prepared, such as different kinds of sports, we played soccer and volleyball, we had an art station, photo opportunities and face painting.
At the end of the day, we all gathered to celebrate with songs and dances and listen to a Gospel message. The children learned that Jesus came to this earth as Lord and Savior for each and every one of us, because we were lost and needed to be rescued.
God is doing so many amazing things all the time! Building connections throughout the world and throughout Mazatlan. Children’s lives are being impacted in beautiful ways that are and will be seen by their families as well as communities. As Racham, we are glad to be able to partner with God to make a difference in their lives through showing the purest love that comes from Jesus.
God has been doing awesome things through Racham, and the vision and mission is expanding to a new location in the community of Loma Bonita.
A while back, land was bought in Loma Bonita for the purpose of connecting with more children and families in need in another community of Mazatlán. It has shown itself as a great opportunity to show many more people the love of Jesus through relationship, and the way things took off after the Pizza Challenge Event held in Loma Bonita has shown God is in this.
We were able to connect with some of the children during the event to begin forming relationships with them, and that has continued during our time spent with them on Thursday afternoons. It’s been a very beautiful time spending time with the children and their families weekly, while speaking to them about the love that Jesus has for them through lessons and Bible Studies.
The goal is to have a building there on the land we have in Loma Bonita to provide the same classes and opportunities for the children and families as we do in Cerro del 8. We know that God will move in this and other great ways because He already has provided so much and will always continue to do so. The community of Loma Bonita is going to be changed by Jesus!
A time to celebrate new beginnings, and in Racham, we recently had a time to do just that.
On January 5th, we had an event called Festiniños where we had an opportunity to invite the children of Loma Bonita to have a fun time with songs, games, listening to the greatest and truest story to ever be told, eat good food, and receive gifts that have travelled from afar. One of the coolest things was the event fell near the time, where in Mexico, they celebrate the Three Kings Day and eat a sweet bread called Rosca, so we had an opportunity to incorporate it in part of the celebration.
The whole event came about months before.
On November 11th, four of us from the Racham ministry team went to a training session for Operation Christmas Child. We learned the whole process from beginning to end, and also how it’s a grand opportunity to share the history of creation and Jesus!
Weeks before the event, everything started coming together in the way that you know God is at work. We had many servant-minded people join us, and the event celebration went amazingly well!
Many children and their families were touched by what they received, and also planned on giving family members and friends that weren’t there some of the gifts they’ve received.
They weren’t the only ones impacted. Many of us volunteering during the event were as well. One young woman mentioned that she was one of the ones that packed the Operation Christmas Child boxes for many years, and it moved her greatly to see the end result of where the boxes of gifts ended up.
It’s only the beginning of how God is going to move through the Loma Bonita community.
At Racham, we seek to help each child in the best way possible. We believe every child deserves to be heard, seen and known.
This year we have incorporated therapy sessions and prevention workshops with a psychologist, to help each child receive the attention they need. We celebrate that now children can be attended and helped in a psychological way, since it is a very necessary resource and previously we did not have this service. We continue to seek to awaken the identity and vocation of each child so that they can discover their abilities and value.
On April 25th, we celebrated Children’s Day in Racham in both Loma Bonita and Cerro. In Mexico, for celebrations such as Children’s Day they go all out. So, we prepared gift bags with many different and fun toys as well as many sweets, had times for games and dancing, a message in the form of a skit, a well-known kids meal, and two piñatas. It’s not truly a celebration without the chance to hit a colorful piñata and see it break open, releasing even more candy.
It was a blast to serve the children and see their excitement, and very heart-warming to learn how Mexico incorporated Children’s Day as one of their annual celebrations on April 30th.
The origin of Children’s Day started many years ago from a conference focused on the well-being of children that was held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. During that time, several countries including Mexico chose to mark a day to celebrate children. It’s wonderful to know that many countries over the world see great importance in children to give them a day to stop and recognize each child deserves to be celebrated and loved.
Racham as a organization our heart and mission is always to love children the way that Jesus calls us to, and celebrating their lives is a privilege. We are cultivating relationship with them, creating memories with them, and instilling in them their value in God that they will carry with them the rest of their lives. Every child deserves to know their importance in every way.
Jesus made it very clear many times throughout his teachings and his life of how precious and important child are. In Luke 18:16 it says, ‘ “But Jesus called for the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” ’
Our aim in Racham is to do just that, allow the children to come and know Jesus and their identity in Him.
